The event took place on May 9 in Lviv, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal reported on Telegram.
“It is symbolic that the meeting of the Coalition of States took place on the days when the world marks the 80th anniversary of the victory over Nazism in World War II. The devastating russian terror against the civilian population is the same as what the Nazis did. Since the beginning of the full-scale war, the russians have destroyed or damaged more than 218,000 civilian infrastructure objects. Residential buildings, schools, hospitals, churches. The putin regime killed 616 and wounded over 1,800 children. Over 19,000 more children were deported to russian territory”, - Shmyhal noted.
He emphasized that Ukraine has documented more than 167,000 crimes of aggression and war crimes committed by russia. Each of them has a name. And it is important that these people are held accountable for criminal orders and for carrying them out.
“Ukraine is already doing this work. 735 individuals have been served with suspicion for war crimes. 471 cases have been sent to court, and there are 241 verdicts. Suspicions have been announced to 40 russian officials. But we must bring the top political and military leadership of russia to justice”, - Shmyhal stated.
He recalled that 40 countries united in a coalition to create this special tribunal within the framework of the Council of Europe. The main task of the Special Tribunal is the investigation, criminal prosecution, and trial of those most responsible for the crime of aggression against Ukraine.
“Today, a political decision was made to approve the work of the legal teams of the coalition member states. The next step is to launch the legal procedure for creating the tribunal. It will be done shortly. Thank you to the Government of the Netherlands for its readiness to host it in The Hague. I also thank everyone who worked tirelessly for three years to bring this idea to life — the Council of Europe and the European Union, and the legal teams of all the states who are already laying the foundation for future justice”, - the Prime Minister emphasized.
