The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dmytro Kuleba, addressed the International Criminal Court's missions and international organizations asking them to come to Bucha and other cities of the Kyiv region as soon as possible to gather evidence of Russians' war crimes and crimes against humanity.
He stated this on air on the British radio Times UK Radio, the Foreign Ministry's press service reports.
"I urge the International Criminal Court and international organizations to send their missions to Bucha and other liberated towns and villages in the Kyiv region and cooperate with Ukrainian law enforcement agencies to gather all evidence of Russians' war crimes, paying as much attention to details as possible," Kuleba said.
The MFA (Ministry of Foreign Affairs) has already sent a correspondent request to the International Criminal Court.
Kuleba noted that this evidence would be used in international and foreign courts to bring those who committed these atrocities to justice.
"We are still looking for bodies and collecting them, but the number has already reached hundreds. The bodies of dear people are lying in the streets. They killed civilians while staying in these villages and towns and leaving them," the minister added.
Kuleba spoke about the mass crimes of the Russian army in Ukraine, including murders, torture, looting, and rape.
"It was impossible to imagine this in the 21st century, but it is happening in front of our eyes. Russia is worse than ISIS. Earlier, I told you that I would put maximum efforts to bring all the perpetrators to justice, but now I am sure this is the work of my life, the work I will do until my last breath, until all those responsible for crimes are punished," said the Minister of Foreign Affairs.
Earlier, the SSU (Security Service of Ukraine) launched a service to collect evidence of war crimes of the Russian army.
After the liberation of the Kyiv suburbs from Russians, the atrocities of the occupiers became evident. The Bucha City Mayor reported that 280 people were buried in a mass grave; all of them are civilians. Also, in the liberated city people continue to discover bodies of tortured and killed citizens, some of them less than 16 years old. Russians shot all of these people in the back of the head. Many of the dead were wearing white bandages, indicating that they were civilians.
At the end of February, the Hague International Criminal Court prosecutor, Karim Khan, initiated an investigation into Russia's crimes against Ukraine. He describes the actions of the Russian military as "war crimes" and "crimes against humanity." The prosecutor noted that Ukraine is not a state member of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) or "Court," meaning that Ukraine cannot transfer the situation to the prosecutor's office.
As of 25 March 2022, forty-one countries have appealed to the ICC, supporting Ukraine. Prosecutor General of Ukraine, Iryna Venediktova, has appointed Howard Morrison as her adviser; he has ten years of experience as a Hague International Criminal Court judge. He will consult the Ukrainian Prosecutor's Office on Russian war crimes.