Ukraine, ICC simultaneously investigating Russia's July 8 missile attack
Kostin said this in an exclusive comment to Ukrinform's correspondent in The Hague.
"I provided information about massive attacks on peaceful Ukrainian cities, about the number of civilian casualties and destroyed infrastructure, including Okhmatdyt - the largest children's hospital in Ukraine, which was damaged in the attack. I informed [Khan] that we would provide all this information and evidence to the ICC team working in Ukraine. We agreed on the further receipt of this evidence by ICC," he said.
According to him, a criminal case has been registered, with the Security Service of Ukraine and the Prosecutor General's Office conducting a pre-trial investigation.
"We started collecting evidence immediately after the strikes. Examinations and relevant investigative actions are currently being conducted. Prosecutors and investigators document the consequences of crimes and receive statements from witnesses and victims. The collected evidence will be transferred to the ICC team. According to a similar principle, we interact on other proceedings related to Russian war crimes," Kostin added.
He noted that the ICC investigation was being carried out simultaneously with the national investigation, thanks to which the parties can exchange information on the proceedings and supplement the collected evidence.
"The ICC investigation will run simultaneously with our national investigation. This is a normal practice that we follow in our cooperation. This allows us to add any necessary information and collected evidence to the ICC proceedings at any time," he said.
Teams of the Ukrainian Prosecutor General's Office and the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court cooperate on a daily basis in several main areas regarding the investigation of international crimes committed by Russia, Kostin said.
On July 8, Russia carried out a massive missile attack on Kyiv, Dnipro, Kryvyi Rih, Kramatorsk and Sloviansk. More than 40 missiles of various types were launched. Residential buildings, infrastructure and the Okhmatdyt children's hospital were damaged.
