Russia requested by investigative committee to provide info on Ukraine's illegal actions

Russian Defence Ministry has been requested by the country's investigative committee to provide information on “the illegal actions of Ukrainian armed formations related to the use of civilian objects for military purposes”, said the Russian ministry of defence in the latest update issued on Telegram. Without producing evidence, the ministry claimed that “the Azov Battalion used the buildings of kindergartens and schools to equip barracks."

The statement added that the members of the ‘Aidar’ battalion also equip firing positions in places not intended for the same and posed a real danger to the civilian population. According to the Russian Defence Ministry, in the Dnepropetrovsk region, Ukrainian forces set up military operations in hospitals and the “staff and patients of medical facilities are being held as human shields”.

The statement concluded, “As part of the criminal cases under investigation, the investigative committee will record this information and continue to establish all the circumstances of the incident, as well as the Ukrainian security forces involved in this.”

ICC deploys 'largest-ever' investigating team in Ukraine

Russia reiterated that its forces are not harming the civilians in Ukraine as the International Criminal Court (ICC) has sent a 42-member war crime investigating team to Ukraine which is also the largest such deployment in its history to look into the possible war crimes committed during the Russia-Ukraine war. ICC Prosecutor Karim AA Khan confirmed on Monday that his office has deployed the team which includes investigators, forensic experts and support personnel to Ukraine to advance the probe into the crimes that fall into ICC’s jurisdiction and provide support to Ukrainian national authorities. 

Khan said, “This represents the largest ever single field deployment by my Office since its establishment.”

ICC Prosecutor noted that the deployment of the team “will significantly enhance the impact of our forensic and investigative actions on the ground. In real terms, it will allow us to collect more testimonial accounts, support the identification of relevant forensic and digital materials and ensure that information and evidence are collected in a manner that strengthens its admissibility in future proceedings before the ICC.”

Image: AP