More than 71,000 Russian war crimes already recorded in Ukraine

"As of this morning, 71,147 war crimes were recorded over the past year," Yuriy Bielousov, Head of the Department for Combating Crimes Committed in Conditions of Armed Conflict of the Prosecutor General's Office, said during the press conference "International Military Tribunal: What has changed in a year?" at Ukrinform news agency.

He noted that the prosecutor's office brought charges against 293 Russians. "These are persons whom we identified and found to be involved in the commission of a specific war crime. This is a wide range, starting from strikes on civilian objects, ending with sexual violence, murder of our citizens, torture and other types of war crimes," Bielousov clarified.

The official said that the cases against 105 people were submitted to court, and national courts already passed 29 sentences in war crime cases.

As noted, 210 prosecutors in Ukraine are investigating war crimes committed by the Russian Federation.

"We are trying to work within the limits of the available resources [number of employees is meant]. We conduct reorganization. Previously, there were no specialized units in the regions. Now, we have a total of 120 prosecutors investigating war crimes in the nine regions bordering the contact line. Moreover, 90 prosecutors work in our department. That is, there are 210 prosecutors who investigate war crimes only," the official explained.

Bielousov noted that representatives of other departments of the prosecutor's office should be involved in this process as there are more than 70,000 war crimes.

The Head of the Department for Combating Crimes Committed in Conditions of Armed Conflict specified how the prosecutors’ performance is increasing. First, a corresponding specialization appeared. Second, investigative standards were developed for regional prosecutors. Third, international partners are involved. In this context, Bielousov emphasized that the partners do not investigate anything on their own, but only help, since Ukraine is a sovereign country. He expressed hope that assistance will be expanded.

In particular, the official noted that Ukraine constantly insists on investing in the Ukrainian investigative system and expert institutions.

As Bielousov informed, technical assistance is involved while investigating war crimes. "The largest number of war crimes is the destruction of civilian objects of various kinds. For example, it takes much time to inspect a destroyed hospital and record everything properly so that later this can be used in court. We use modern methods: drones, 3D scanners that make 3D models of destroyed buildings. This allows us to save time and increase our efficiency," he explained.

According to the Prosecutor General’s Office data, during the year of the full-scale war, Russia destroyed or damaged more than 81,000 civilian objects with targeted attacks: more than 62,000 residential buildings, more than 2,300 educational institutions, and more than 450 healthcare facilities.