Kaja Kallas, the EU’s foreign policy chief, has said Russia must be held accountable for war crimes committed in Ukraine.
Addressing the European Parliament in Strasbourg on Tuesday, Kallas said Russian war crimes in Ukraine could not be denied. Highlighting civilian killings in Bucha three years ago, she said the evidence was “overwhelming.”
“We know exactly who the perpetrators are,” she said. “With the technology we have at our fingertips today, impunity for war crimes is frankly impossible, so long as we put the work in[to] it.”
She said the scale of war crimes committed in Ukraine is “simply beyond belief.”
“Russia’s campaign against human life and dignity truly knows no limits,” she said. “We also see this in reports of enforced disappearances, torture, extrajudicial executions, sexual violence against civilian detainees and prisoners of war by Russian armed forces in occupied territories.”
She said the EU would continue to pursue justice for the victims of Russian “atrocities” including the forced deportation of Ukrainian children, which she described as “one of the gravest crimes and an extreme violation of human rights.”
Kallas went on to call for a “just, comprehensive and lasting peace based on the UN Charter and international law,” which she said must include the exchange of all prisoners of war as well as detained civilians and deported children.
She said that most criminal cases, around 170,000, have already been opened and will be investigated and prosecuted by Ukrainian authorities, with the support of the EU.
“And for the specific crime of aggression, the EU is leading the work on the establishment of a special tribunal,” she added.
She added that recovery for Ukraine would come not only through reconstruction, but through “the pursuit of justice and accountability for the heinous crimes committed by Russia,” enabling victims to rebuild their lives.
“We know exactly who the perpetrators are,” she said. “With the technology we have at our fingertips today, impunity for war crimes is frankly impossible, so long as we put the work in[to] it.”
She said the scale of war crimes committed in Ukraine is “simply beyond belief.”
“Russia’s campaign against human life and dignity truly knows no limits,” she said. “We also see this in reports of enforced disappearances, torture, extrajudicial executions, sexual violence against civilian detainees and prisoners of war by Russian armed forces in occupied territories.”
She said the EU would continue to pursue justice for the victims of Russian “atrocities” including the forced deportation of Ukrainian children, which she described as “one of the gravest crimes and an extreme violation of human rights.”
Kallas went on to call for a “just, comprehensive and lasting peace based on the UN Charter and international law,” which she said must include the exchange of all prisoners of war as well as detained civilians and deported children.
She said that most criminal cases, around 170,000, have already been opened and will be investigated and prosecuted by Ukrainian authorities, with the support of the EU.
“And for the specific crime of aggression, the EU is leading the work on the establishment of a special tribunal,” she added.
She added that recovery for Ukraine would come not only through reconstruction, but through “the pursuit of justice and accountability for the heinous crimes committed by Russia,” enabling victims to rebuild their lives.
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