Q&A: Ukraine Prosecutor General: ‘More than 20 countries’ to investigate Russian war crimes

During his visit to Washington, Ukrainian Prosecutor General Andrei Kostin briefed VOA on US-Ukrainian cooperation to ensure justice for crimes committed by Russia during the war against Ukraine, the importance of US aid to Ukraine and how to make Russia pay for its aggression cost. .

Costin emphasized cooperation with the U.S. Department of Justice in prosecuting war crimes. “It’s not just Ukraine that is bringing war criminals to justice, not just the International Criminal Court, but also third countries,” Kostin said, noting the U.S. government’s recent decision to charge four Russian soldiers with war crimes in Ukraine.

Kostin also advocates seizing Russian sovereign assets and compensating victims of Russian aggression through a compensation mechanism set up in The Hague.

This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.

Oksana Bedradenko, VOA: What were your impressions of your meetings with U.S. lawmakers and Department of Justice partners?

Andriy Kostin, Prosecutor General of Ukraine: In areas where we ensure justice, we see all elements of our system fully supported.Talking about specific results – last December, the United States was the first country to charge four people with war crimes for torturing an American citizen in the temporarily occupied Kherson region. [in southern Ukraine]. This is very important because it means not only Ukraine bringing war criminals to justice, not only the ICC, but also third countries. We are establishing a network of more than 20 countries to investigate Russian war crimes on Ukrainian soil and will bring additional charges. The Lithuanian prosecutor’s office filed the first charge.

Importantly, the United States participated in the work of 16 prosecutors from six countries at Eurojust in The Hague [to] Prepare case materials for special courts.

Voice of America: The U.S. Congress has yet to pass a supplemental spending package for Ukraine. Does this have an impact on your collaboration plans?

advantage: This is a very important issue and part of my communications with members of Congress and Senators. It is important that assistance continues and that we have confidence that this help will continue for years to come.Training of investigators and assistance of prosecutors is very important in these areas, since these are areas where not only Ukrainian prosecutors lack experience, but also prosecutors from other countries [need training]. For example, we investigate crimes against the environment as war crimes. No one has done this before, not even the International Criminal Court.

In meetings with senators and congressmen, I try to explain to them that it is important not only to hold criminals accountable, but to prevent these crimes from happening. This means weapons, long-range weapons and air defense systems to protect civilians. If Russia goes further, it will behave in the same way – not on our soil, but on the territory of other countries.

It is important to explain to our partners that the sooner we liberate our lands, the fewer victims of war crimes there will be.

Voice of America: What should come first: peace or accountability?

advantage: we bring [perpetrators] Even now as the war continues, we are not the only country to bring criminal charges. We have 530 charges and 82 convictions issued by Ukrainian courts. The International Criminal Court has issued two batches of arrest warrants.Our colleagues in the United States and Lithuania have already taken some steps, and I believe there will be more [charges] during this year. Therefore, it is very important for us not to wait until the war is over but to start doing our job today.

Voice of America: The United States is already seizing the assets of Russian oligarchs. In Europe, there is new impetus in discussions about the seizure of Russian assets. In some cases, however, the West appears unwilling to take responsibility for confiscations for fear of litigation.

advantage: There is a sense that we are approaching a decision point. It is difficult to say whether this would involve seizing assets or using them as security to obtain funds that would then be transferred to the Ukrainian state, for example to the international compensation mechanism operating in The Hague. This is very important because we are already expecting the first applications from victims to the Register of Damage in April this year. The Compensation Committee – another component of the compensation mechanism – will then decide who will be compensated and how much. Compensation means money, which is supposed to be funds received from seized sovereign assets of the Russian Federation.

Voice of America: The United States joins a coalition to repatriate forcibly deported Ukrainian children. What specific steps are expected here?

advantage: It is important that the United States joins this initiative. The more countries that have the ability to search for children, the better. It’s not always easy. Our US partners help us locate the children through a very important project – the Yale Conflict Observatory.

Another issue is developing a strategy for returning the children to Ukraine. There should be regulatory measures, such as the prosecution of such crimes, and documents should be adopted at the level of international organizations such as the United Nations, condemning such crimes and demanding the return of children. It’s a complicated line and we wish the union had happened sooner, but the important thing is that it has happened and we want all Ukrainian children returned. Our goal is to get everyone home.