An international investigative office tasked with investigating Russia’s invasion of Ukraine opens Monday in The Hague, the first step toward a possible tribunal to try Russian leaders, AFP and Agerpres reported.

International Criminal Court in The HaguePhoto: Sjoerd van der Hucht / Alamy / Profimedia Images

The International Center for the Investigation of Crimes of Aggression Against Ukraine (ICPA) unites prosecutors from Kyiv, the European Union and the United States and the International Criminal Court (ICC).

This form of prosecution has the mission of gathering evidence and investigating. This is seen as the first step towards creating a special tribunal to try high-ranking Russian officials for the war in Ukraine.

As part of the inauguration of the ICPA, a press conference will be organized at the Hague headquarters of Eurojust, the judicial agency of the European Union, at 09:15 GMT.

Prosecutor General of Ukraine Andriy Kostin, Prosecutor General of the International Criminal Court Karim Khan, Deputy Attorney General of the United States Kenneth Polite and European Commissioner for Justice Didier Reynders, Eurojust are participating in the press conference.

Requests for the creation of a special court dedicated to the war in Ukraine have increased, since the ICC does not have jurisdiction to try war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Ukraine.

An arrest warrant in the name of Putin

In March, the ICC, also based in The Hague, issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin for the alleged deportation of Ukrainian children.

Ukraine has consistently pushed for the creation of a special court after the discovery of hundreds of bodies following the April 2022 withdrawal of Russian troops from the Ukrainian city of Bucha, located outside Kyiv.

International support for this approach has grown, and in February the European Commission announced the creation of the ICPA. Brussels declared that “the ultimate goal of this center is to bring to justice those responsible for the invasion” of Ukraine.

The difficult issue of the functioning of such a court remains in limbo. Ukraine is pushing for a UN General Assembly resolution, but several Western supporters of Kyiv fear that the initiative lacks international support and favor a mixed court made up of judges from Ukraine and other nationalities.

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