Ukraine and France agree to join international team probing Russian war crimes

In the latest development regarding Putin’s unprovoked military assault on its eastern neighbour, France has said that it will cooperate with Ukraine in probing Russian war crimes. On Friday, Ukraine’s Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova signed an agreement with French officials wherein the latter agreed on providing mutual legal assistance on Russian crimes against humanity, war crimes, and genocide. It is pertinent to note that Moscow’s brutalities first came into the limelight in April after maimed and tortured bodies were discovered in the Kyiv suburbs of Bucha and Irpin. Thereafter, mass graves were unearthed in several other towns and villages across Ukraine.

Earlier this week, Venediktova inked a similar pact with the Austrian Ministry of Justice. "We signed a Memorandum of Coop. with the Austrian Ministry of Justice in the investigation of the most serious Russian War Crimes. We`ll exchange information on the collection and recording of evidence. Thanks for strengthening the legal coalition, Österreich!," she wrote on Twitter. Meanwhile, the International Criminal Court prosecutor announced his plans to open an office in Ukraine in a bid to bolster his investigation on the same. 

The Emmanuel Macron Administration had, in April, sent a scientific team to the war-hit country to o assist Ukrainian forces in investigating the war crimes committed around Kyiv. “France is resolutely committed alongside the Ukrainians, its international partners and the courts to prevent impunity for unsustainable acts constituting war crimes,” the govt said adding "France will not look away from such atrocities.”

Ukraine registers 5889 crimes of aggression & war crimes 

Earlier, the Prosecutor General of Ukraine said that it registered 5889 crimes of aggression and war crimes by Russian armed forces. Russia has been chastised by the international community and is accused of committing war crimes after Russian troops retreated from the outskirts of Kyiv regions. After the Russian forces departed regions surrounding Kyiv, images of dead bodies had surfaced from Bucha and other regions, according to AP. 

Notably, the country's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited Bucha to see for himself what he called the “genocide” and “war crimes” in Bucha. In a video address, Zelenskyy committed that Ukraine would make efforts along with the European Union and the International Criminal Court to find the Russian troops responsible for the atrocities.

(Image: AP)

(With inputs from agencies)