War and justice
In the three years since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Ukrainian law enforcement has documented over 150,000 war crimes. These crimes occurred wherever the Russian military has set foot. The staggering scale suggests Russia’s coordinated intent and policy aimed at the destruction of Ukraine as a nation. Yet the national justice system paints a different picture. Ukrainian courts have not been able to reflect the true scope of Russia’s crimes against the Ukrainian people. Anna Rassamakhina, MIHR’s expert in international humanitarian law, explains what needs to be done to straighten things out.
3 April 2025
In Strasbourg, the members of the Coalition of States held a final meeting to finalize the technical work on the draft documents necessary to establish a special tribunal for the crime of aggression against Ukraine.
25 March 2025
Eduard Shevchenko, a former commander of the 73rd Naval Special Operations Center and a former official of the Ochakiv City Council, is now on trial in Mykolaiv. According to the investigation, Shevchenko, who had fought in intense battles while serving in the ATO zone, betrayed his oath and began working for the Russians after their full-scale invasion. Allegedly, under their orders he attempted to recruit the mayor of Ochakiv and reported on the aftermath of shelling.
4 March 2025
Only three out of 45 petitions submitted by MIHR for online court broadcasts were granted. This is stated in the analytics report presented by MIHR today. MIHR experts emphasize that the lack of online access to hearings significantly limits opportunities for public monitoring of courts, which is critically important during wartime.
7 February 2025
The convicts received sentences ranging from 9 years to life imprisonment.
16 January 2025
After attending two court hearings, speaking with Karamalikov and his lawyer, analyzing information in the Kherson media, and reading the book, the Media Initiative for Human Rights (MIHR) accounts for the trial’s progress.
18 December 2024
In late October 2024, President Zelenskyy signed the second law implementing the Rome Statute. As a result, a new Article, “Crimes against Humanity,” was finally added to the Criminal Code of Ukraine. At the same time, the rules imposing criminal responsibility cannot apply retrospectively, which means that the crimes against humanity committed during the last 10 years of the war cannot be prosecuted by the Ukrainian law enforcement bodies.
7 November 2024
Three more sentences have been published in the Register of Court Decisions. They were imposed on Russian soldiers for crimes committed during the occupation and military operations. Two Russian soldiers were sentenced to life imprisonment for shooting civilians who were trying to evacuate. One officer received 11 years in prison for ordering to capture the Borodianka Psychoneurological Nursing Home and use 500 residents as a human shield. A Russian soldier was sentenced to 12 years in prison for robbing a house.
16 October 2024
Nikolay Kartashev, a 22-year-old Russian serviceman from Rostov Oblast, is charged with killing a civilian during the occupation of Bucha in 2022. He is accused of violating the laws and customs of war. This is one of the few war crime cases that are tried not in absentia, that is, Kartashev is in the dock.
15 October 2024
The Chernihiv Raion Court held the first hearing on the merits of the case against Russian serviceman Semyon Solovov, call sign “Klen”, who is charged with violating the laws and customs of war (Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine). The prosecutor’s office established that it was he who had ordered to hold civilians from the village of Yahidne in the basement. Those who carried out this order have already been convicted.
18 September 2024