Ukraine files communication on Ilovaisk tragedy and defense of Donetsk Airport to ICC

The Prosecutor General’s Office has filed a communication to the International Criminal Court (ICC) on the facts of the assassination of the Ukrainian military during the Ilovaisk tragedy and the defense of the Donetsk Airport.

“Deputy Prosecutor General Giunduz Mamedov signed and filed yet another communication to the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court on serious violations of international humanitarian law by representatives of the Russian Federation and Russian-backed illegal armed groups in Donetsk region,” the press service of the Prosecutor General’s Office informs.

Prosecutors of the Department for Crimes Committed amid Armed Conflict at the Prosecutor General’s Office collected facts and evidence confirming the treacherous killing and wounding of Ukrainian service members during the events near Ilovaisk on August 29, 2014, and during the defense of the Donetsk Airport on January 19-21, 2015.

The communication was prepared on the basis of files of criminal proceedings, photos and videos from open sources, as well as collected material evidence.

“The treacherous killing and wounding of members of the Armed Forces and other military formations of Ukraine took place against the background of humanitarian agreements. Ukrainian servicepersons, who had laid down their arms, and a car with the Red Cross emblem on it came under intensive fire as they were moving along a ‘green corridor’ to leave the encirclement in Ilovaisk area. As a result, 366 Ukrainian servicepersons were killed, 429 more were wounded, 300 soldiers were taken prisoner, and 24 service members went missing,” the statement reads.

During the defense of the Donetsk Airport, representatives of the Russian occupation administration in Donetsk region – the so-called DPR Defense Minister – and the Armed Forces of the occupying power called for a ceasefire regime to evacuate the bodies of the dead and wounded. However, the ceasefire was used to covertly plant mines on the positions of the Armed Forces and further blow them up. As a result, 25 servicemen were killed, 22 were taken prisoner, and one prisoner was killed.

Assassination amid an armed conflict is a war crime and violation of Article 37 of the Additional Protocol to the 1949 Geneva Conventions which prohibits “killing, injuring or capturing an adversary by resort to perfidy.”

In December 2019, the Ukrainian prosecutors already informed the ICC Prosecutor's Office on extrajudicial executions of Ukrainian servicepersons during the Ilovaisk tragedy. The Prosecutor General’s Office filed a total of 19 communications to the International Criminal Court on violations of international humanitarian and human rights law in the temporarily occupied territories of Crimea and Donbas.

As reported, on March 9, the Prosecutor General’s Office prepared a communication to the Prosecutor’s Office of the International Criminal Court on the facts of Russia’s shelling of civilian objects in Luhansk region.

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