VISTING a town destroyed by missile strikes and laying a wreath
to commemorate civilians killed in the conflict were all part of
the Attorney General’s visit to Ukraine as she travelled to
discuss international accountability for Russian war crimes last
week.
KC MP took part in a
three-day visit to the war-torn country between March 2-4. She
first met Ukrainian counterparts and key stakeholders in Kyiv and
visited Bucha and Borodiankia, the scenes of widespread and
significant allegations of international crimes, before
travelling to Lviv to represent the UK at the United for Justice
Conference.
The Attorney General said:
Images of the war in Ukraine regularly flash up on our TV
screens, but nothing prepares you for seeing first-hand the
devastation being wrought upon innocent people.
This is a live and brutal conflict, and it is extraordinary,
unparalleled even, that Ukraine is bringing prosecutions for war
crimes as they are happening.
The UK has a long, proud tradition of accountability – and what
we’ve seen in the last twelve months in Ukraine requires a
response from the international community. We must unite to
create an international moment of accountability. This will be
challenging, but the rule of law matters, and it is worth
fighting for.
In Kyiv, the Attorney General was hosted by Prosecutor General of
Ukraine, Andriy Kostin, who is responsible for investigations
into war crimes being prepared for domestic Ukrainian legal
proceedings. His office has recorded more than 70,000 potential
war crimes cases so far.
They were able to discuss the UK and wider international support
to Ukraine’s domestic prosecutions, including through the
UK-US-EU Atrocity Crimes Advisory Group. The Attorney General met
representatives of Ukrainian civil society and the Ukrainian
judiciary to hear about further progress and areas of focus
within Ukraine on Russian accountability.
With members of Prosecutor General Kostin’s office, the Attorney
visited the town of Borodyanka, some 30 miles North-West of Kyiv,
which was hit by a number of Russian missile strikes last year –
destroying one large apartment block completely. Later, alongside
the Prosecutor General, they laid a wreath in Bucha at a site
where last year, 116 people were uncovered in a mass grave.
The Attorney General then went on to Lviv to attend the United
for Justice conference, which opened to a keynote address by
President Zelenskyy. She gave informal opening remarks alongside
Ministers from the wider international community, before
attending the conference’s panel discussions.
