PGO hopes Ilovaisk tragedy to become subject of ICC investigation

KYIV. Aug 27 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The Prosecutor General’s Office (PGO) hopes that the International Criminal Court (ICC) will start an investigation into the facts of Russian military aggression against Ukraine, including the tragedy near Ilovaisk in 2014.

At a briefing in Kyiv on Friday, Head of the PGO department for overseeing criminal proceedings for crimes committed in the context of an armed conflict Yuriy Rud said that during the investigation into Ilovaisk tragedy, the Ukrainian investigation takes into account the "legal environment" that existed in 2014, the regime carrying out the ATO. He said that in the ATO format such a method of using the Armed Forces as defensive actions and exit from the encirclement is not provided.

"Nobody could have imagined that there would be such a large-scale anti-terrorist operation in our country and the invasion of our northern neighbor," Rud said.

Speaking about the direction of the investigation, which concerns the massacre of Ukrainian servicemen, the department’s head said that currently four generals of the Russian Armed Forces are suspected of this crime.

"These are First Deputy Chief of the General Staff General Bogdanovsky; Deputy Chief of the General Staff, Chief of the Main Directorate General Kartapolov; Chief of the General Staff, First Deputy Commander of the Russian Ground Forces General Istrakov and Chief of the Central Command Post of the General Staff of Russian General Mizintsev were involved in organizing the invasion of the armed forces of Russia in August 2014 on the territory of Donetsk and Luhansk regions, organizing the further treacherous murder of Ukrainian servicemen while leaving the encirclement," Rud said.

He said that all these generals are wanted.

The head of the PGO department drew attention to the fact that materials about the war crimes of Russia near Ilovaisk are contained in information messages sent by Ukraine to the ICC, among other evidence of Russia’s armed aggression. He said that in December 2020, the ICC prosecutor notified of the completion of a preliminary study of the situation in Ukraine, and the ICC report states that in the course of the direct conflict on the territory of Ukraine, numerous facts of war crimes and crimes against humanity have been established.

"The next step that we expect from the Prosecutor’s Office of the International Criminal Court is to apply directly to the ICC to obtain permission to start a full-fledged investigation," the head of the PGO department said.

He said: "Given the scale of the crime, the murder of Ukrainian servicemen in Ilovaisk region in August 2014, as well as the subjects who directly organized the commission of these crimes, we hope that both these crimes and these generals will become the subject of an ICC investigation, and high-ranking officials in the future they will appear before the court," he said.

Noting the advantages of the ICC over a national investigation, Rud drew attention to the fact that Interpol does not declare a wanted list for crimes committed in the context of a military conflict. "Accordingly, we cannot ensure the detention of them [suspects] on the territory of other states. However, the ICC, in the event of an investigation […] has the right to issue warrants that are valid on the territory of all countries participating in the Rome Statute," Rud said.

Thus, according to him, although Russia is not a member state of the Rome Statute, the suspects can go to the territory of the state, which is such and "then their real prosecution can be ensured."

"Another advantage of cooperation with the ICC is that the current Criminal Procedure Code is overly formatted. The use of sound recordings of telephone conversations of Russian servicemen, obtained not within the secret search activities […] is impossible under Ukrainian law," he said.