Five of Putin's Worst War Crimes in Ukraine

The war between Russia and Ukraine has entered its fourth year, and from the beginning, Russian forces have faced accusations of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity in Ukraine. There is no guarantee that these cases will be examined in a court in Kyiv, The Hague, or anywhere else. Russia shows no willingness to investigate these allegations; the Kremlin has even awarded honors to military units accused of committing the worst crimes. The effectiveness of the International Criminal Court, which has been ignored by Russia and faced severe criticism from the U.S., is becoming increasingly limited. Meanwhile, Yuri Blouosov, the head of war crimes investigations at the Ukrainian Prosecutor General's Office, told Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, "These crimes will not be forgotten, and we will await justice. History has shown that holding those responsible for these crimes accountable may take years." Ukrainian prosecutors are examining over 153,000 cases related to these crimes. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty has reviewed the most severe cases among these: Where have the children gone? One of the first cases that the International Criminal Court addressed was the allegation that Russian officials at the highest level were engaged in an organized plan to transfer Ukrainian children from occupied areas of Ukraine to Russia. On March 17, 2023, the court issued arrest warrants for Vladimir Putin, the President of Russia, and Maria Lvova-Belova, the Kremlin's representative for children's affairs, on charges of "war crime of illegal transfer and deportation of children." The names of nearly 20,000 children suspected of being transferred to Russia are registered in the official database of the Ukrainian government. Human rights activists, journalists, and researchers have collected multiple pieces of evidence regarding the forced transfer of Ukrainian children from occupied areas to Russia. Russian officials claim that the transfer of these children is a "humanitarian step" to help children who were left "without shelter, food, and supervision due to the disruption of public services" in areas controlled by Russian forces. However, according to investigations, Russian officials find a guardian or new family for these children in Russia in an "organized and forced manner," without considering the presence of parents, relatives, or legal guardians of these children in Ukraine. Reports have been recorded that many Ukrainian children have been sent to Belarus for summer vacations but have been forced into the Russian education and indoctrination system there. Forced transfer of thousands of Ukrainian children to Russia under the pretext of "saving Ukrainian children" Bodies in the streets In the early weeks of the massive Russian invasion of Ukraine, Russian forces faced fierce resistance from Ukrainians, especially in the north of Kyiv, and after about a month of heavy fighting, retreated from the outskirts of the Ukrainian capital. After these forces withdrew, Ukrainian officials and journalists found hundreds of civilians killed in the city of Bucha, shot dead; some had been executed with their hands bound, and their bodies were left in the streets or basements. In the city of Irpin, neighboring Bucha, the bodies of locals, often with bullet wounds, were buried in fresh graves. Images released from Bucha shocked the world and disrupted negotiations between Kyiv and Moscow. Russia faced severe criticism, and support for Ukraine increased. The U.S. subsequently imposed visa restrictions on the commander of a Russian airborne regiment stationed in Bucha for "extrajudicial executions." International experts have pointed to signs of "war crimes." Ukrainian prosecutors have opened criminal cases against 21 Russian soldiers for war crimes in Bucha. A few weeks after these images were released, Vladimir Putin issued a decree praising the 64th motorized brigade stationed in Bucha and its surrounding areas. Attacks on civilian infrastructure After initial setbacks, Russia changed its military approach in Ukraine. General Sergey Surovikin, in his role as the new commander, ordered that Ukraine be targeted with extensive airstrikes. During these attacks, not only military targets but also civilian infrastructure was attacked. Although Surovikin was dismissed following the failed rebellion of Yevgeny Prigozhin, Russian attacks against Ukraine have continued. Russia has deliberately targeted Ukraine's electrical infrastructure using cruise and ballistic missiles, suicide drones, and other weapons. Ukrainian officials and their allies believe that the aim of these attacks is to put pressure on the Ukrainian people during harsh winters "to make them tired and lose their morale." Last spring, the Hague court held Sergey Kobilash, a lieutenant general of the Air Force, and Viktor Sokolov, an admiral of the Navy, responsible for the Russian attacks on Ukraine's electrical facilities and issued arrest warrants for these Russian military officials. According to international law, attacks on civilian infrastructure are prohibited unless these facilities are used for military purposes. For example, if a military unit is stationed at a power plant, attacking that power plant is permissible in wartime. Executions at the front In December 2022, Alexander Matsievski, a soldier of the Ukrainian army's volunteer forces, went missing during fighting in the city of Bakhmut. Three months later, a 12-second video was released on Russian Telegram channels showing him in a tired and disheveled state surrounded by Russian soldiers. While Russian soldiers mock him and record the video, Matsievski shouts "Glory to Ukraine" and is shot dead. He is remembered as a hero in Ukraine. Experts say he was a victim of a war crime, as the Geneva Conventions, a treaty that has defended the rights of prisoners of war for years and which both Russia and Ukraine are signatories to, prohibits the execution of a prisoner of war. According to UN reports, at least 71 Ukrainian prisoners have been executed by Russian forces, and at least 21 others have died in Russian captivity. Hundreds have reported torture and sexual assault. At the same time, hundreds of Russian soldiers in Ukrainian captivity have complained about harsh treatment and torture. The UN has recorded the execution of at least 26 Russian prisoners in Ukraine. Exclusive to Radio Free Europe; leaked information indicates over 160,000 Russian casualties in the Ukraine war. A lake of blood at a train station On the morning of April 8, 2022, hundreds of people at the train station in the city of Kramatorsk were targeted by a Tochka-U missile armed with cluster munitions. At least 58 civilians were killed, and over 100 were injured. This was one of the bloodiest attacks against Ukrainian civilians since the beginning of the massive Russian military invasion of Ukraine. Although both the Russian and Ukrainian armies use Tochka-U systems, sufficient evidence has shown that Russian forces fired missiles at the train station in Kramatorsk. Russian officials denied responsibility and claimed that such a weapon system is not in the possession of the Russian army. According to international law, intentional attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure constitute a war crime. In principle, international law obliges military commanders to make extra efforts to prevent civilian infrastructure from being targeted. However, the attack on the Kramatorsk train station is by no means an exception. Last summer, a Russian missile attack destroyed "Okhmatdyt," the largest children's hospital in Kyiv, although it is unclear whether the attack on this hospital was intentional or not. From the perspective of human rights defenders, the siege of Mariupol during the first four months of the massive Russian military invasion is also a war crime, as the residents of this city endured a long time without access to electricity, water, and heating, resulting in thousands of civilian deaths and injuries. According to UN reports, since the beginning of Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine, more than 12,600 Ukrainian civilians have been killed, and last year the number of civilian casualties increased compared to the second year of the war. Yuri Blouosov, head of war crimes investigations at the Ukrainian Prosecutor General's Office, told Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty that Russian forces often use the tactic of "double tap on a target": they attack a target and 30 to 40 minutes later, when rescue workers, police, and prosecutors are present at the site, they attack the same location again. According to him, "Many people who were collecting evidence of war crimes were killed or injured in this second attack."