Germany has gathered evidence of war crimes in Ukraine, the country’s attorney general said in an interview published in Welt am Sonntag on Saturday, adding that an international trial was needed, Reuters reported.

War in Ukraine: unknown civilians buried in the cemetery in Buch, Kyiv regionPhoto: Serhiy Supinsky / AFP / Profimedia Images

“At the moment, for example, we are focused on the mass killings in Buch or attacks on Ukrainian civilian infrastructure,” Peter Frank told the Welt am Sonntag newspaper.

Currently, the prosecutor’s office has “three-digit” evidence, he added, without elaborating.

Ukraine and its Western allies have accused Russian forces of committing atrocities in Buch, a satellite city of Kyiv, shortly after they launched their invasion last February. Moscow denies the accusations. Russia has also shelled key infrastructure in Ukraine, but denies that it deliberately targeted civilians.

Germany began gathering evidence in March 2022 to prosecute possible war crimes, including by interviewing Ukrainian refugees and assessing available public information, Frank said, adding that German prosecutors had not yet investigated specific individuals.

“We are preparing for a possible further legal process – whether we are in Germany, or it is our foreign partners, or it is an international court,” he added.

When asked who should be tried, Frank answered that the leaders of the Russian state and those who implement decisions at the highest military level should be brought to justice.

Ukraine is pushing for a special tribunal to prosecute Russian military and political leaders it considers responsible for starting the war.

The International Criminal Court launched its own investigation into alleged crimes against humanity and war crimes days after Moscow’s February 24 invasion, but has no jurisdiction over the aggression in Ukraine.

The head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, who visited Kyiv, announced on Thursday that an international center for the prosecution of war crimes committed by Ukraine will be established in The Hague.

Moscow rejected accusations of war crimes by Kyiv and Western countries. The Kremlin says it launched a “special military operation” to protect its own security.

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