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ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda. Stock Photography.
Prosecutors at the International Criminal Court (ICC) want permission to initiate a formal investigation into possible war crimes and crimes against humanity in Ukraine.
Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda, who has been examining events in eastern Ukraine since 2014 at the request of Kiev, says there are “reasonable grounds to believe that war crimes and crimes against humanity have been committed.”
Russia entered the Crimean peninsula in March 2014, and clashes broke out in eastern Ukraine shortly thereafter between pro-Russian groups backed by the Russian army and the Ukrainian army.
Bensouda was not more specific in any accusation, he avoided naming suspects or singling out any of the parties to the conflict.
Russia is not a member of the International Court of Justice based in The Hague.
It is up to the ICC judge to decide on an investigation. Bensouda will end his term in June.
Ukraine’s foreign minister described the decision as historic.
