Since the early morning of February 24, all Ukrainian cities and towns have been under heavy shelling and air strikes. Numerous civilian targets – houses, residential areas, hospitals, schools, kindergartens, power stations – were all hit by the Russian army.
Unable to capture Kyiv and Kharkiv within hours, as initially planned, the Russian President Vladimir Putin grew increasingly frustrated and ordered his military to hit civilian targets. As a result, civilian objects in Kyiv, Kharkiv, Maryanivka, Okhtyrka, Kherson, Vuhledar, Melitopol, Chernihiv and many other Ukrainian cities and towns were severely damaged.
Russian air force and missiles, using the territory of the Republic of Belarus, are constantly targeting civilians. As a result of one of such numerous attacks, 354 civilians, including 16 children, have been killed and 1684, including 116 children, wounded. Russian troops attack medical units, commit acts of perfidy and blatantly violate international humanitarian law.
These are just few examples of the Russian army’s war crimes and crimes against humanity, the list of which is growing longer every hour. These crimes are being carefully
documented and require immediate reaction.
We recall that pursuant to the declaration of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine On the recognition of the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court by Ukraine over crimes against humanity and war crimes committed by senior officials of the Russian Federation and leaders of terrorist organizations “DNR” and “LNR”, which led to extremely grave consequences and mass murder of Ukrainian nationals dated 4 February 2015, the Office of Prosecutor may exercise its jurisdiction over and investigate any crimes against humanity or war crimes committed within the territory of Ukraine since 20 February 2014 onwards. The International Criminal Court has already opened an investigation into the crimes committed in the Crimea and the East of Ukraine since 2014.
Today, given immense human suffering and commission of numerous crimes punishable under the Rome Statute, we, the Ukrainian MPs, call on ICC Prosecutor Karim A.A. Khan QC to promptly examine the situation and open an investigation into the ongoing full-scale Russian and Belarusian aggression against Ukraine started on 24 February 2022.
We also express our support for the referral of the situation to the ICC by the Republic of Lithuania and note that the crimes being committed on the territory of Ukraine are a source of grave concern for the entire international community.
Considering all the above-mentioned, it is our firm conviction that the Prosecutor Khan’s prompt action can greatly contribute to deterrence and prevention of further atrocities and alleviate human suffering across our country.