Kostin: U.S. decision to share evidence of Russia's war crimes with ICC is a good signal

Ukrainian Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin said this in an interview with Ukrinform.

"I can confirm this information. This is a good signal. Back in December last year, the U.S. parliament passed a respective law, which gives them the right to cooperate with the ICC. And this is the result of our joint communication with a wide range of partners, including our colleagues from the U.S. Department of Justice, the State Department, the Senate and the House of Representatives of the U.S. Congress. With our joint efforts, such a decision has been adopted and is being implemented," he said, commenting on an order by U.S. President Joe Biden.

According to Kostin, due to this decision by the U.S. leader, the ICC will receive additional information about perpetrators of war crimes in Ukraine.

"We are talking not just about those who fulfilled an order but about the entire command chain up to Russia's top leadership. We really need this information," he said.

Asked if this means that new arrest warrants could soon be issued for top Russian officials for shelling Ukrainian civilian infrastructure, Kostin said that joint intense work is underway with the International Criminal Court on large-scale war crimes.

On July 26, The New York Times reported that Biden had quietly ordered the U.S. government to begin sharing evidence of Russian war crimes in Ukraine with the International Criminal Court in The Hague.

American intelligence agencies are said to have gathered information including details about decisions by Russian officials to deliberately strike civilian infrastructure in Ukraine and forcibly deport thousands of Ukrainian children from occupied territory.

In March, the ICC issued arrest warrants for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russian Children's Ombudswoman Maria Lvova-Belova due to the deportation of Ukrainian children.