Ukraine to launch ‘Book of Executioners’ to identify and punish Russian war criminals
World

Ukraine to launch ‘Book of Executioners’ to identify and punish Russian war criminals

Ukrainian prosecutors say more than 12,000 war crimes, involving over 600 suspects, have been committed since the Russian invasion.

   
A man walks through a nearly deserted Maidan Square in Kyiv, Ukraine | Photographer: John Moore/Getty Images via Bloomberg

A man walks through a nearly deserted Maidan Square in Kyiv, Ukraine | Photographer: John Moore/Getty Images via Bloomberg

New Delhi: According to a CNN report, A “Book of Executioners”, or a documented system to put together “Russian war crimes” in Ukraine, would be launched next week, President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his daily address Tuesday night.

The President said the dossier would record “specific facts about specific people who were guilty of specific violent crimes against Ukrainians”.

He said the book would detail actions of not only the direct perpetrators – the soldiers – but also their commanders, “those who gave the orders”.

Zelensky said this book would be the bedrock of his promise to Ukrainians about holding accountable those who “killed, raped or looted” his country and countrymen.

Ukrainian prosecutors say they have evidence of more than 12,000 war crimes, involving over 600 suspects, since the Russian invasion began 24 February.

Last month, in the first war crime conviction, a 21-year-old Russian soldier was imprisoned for life for shooting dead an unarmed elderly man in the early days of the invasion.

Russia has repeatedly denied these allegations, claiming that its army was not killing or targeting civilians. This claim, however, has been proved hollow by Reuters and multiple other reports from the ground.


Also read: US, UK & Europe have sent Ukraine weapons worth billions. Their post-war fate is stoking worry