Ukraine seeks International Criminal Court investigation

Ukraine wants the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate all alleged recent war crimes in Crimea and eastern Ukraine, Ukraine's foreign minister Pavlo Klimkin said in an interview.

Ukraine has already given the global court the authority to investigate alleged crimes on its territory from November 21st, 2013, to February 22nd, 2014, the period leading up to the fall of Ukraine's former president Viktor Yanukovich. Ukraine's government now wants the court to expand its investigation to crises in Crimea and the east since conflict erupted in the region in 2014.

“We are quite optimistic about more, definitely more, engagement of the ICC,” Pavlo Klimkin told reporters before a meeting with the court’s president and prosecutor.

An ICC referral would cover “everything under the [ICC] mandate, including crimes against humanity”, Mr Klimkin said.

Mr Klimkin said the attack on the port of Mariupol in east Ukraine that killed 30 in January was an example of a crime against humanity.

“The shelling killed, in seconds, more than 30 people and heavily wounded 100 people.”

“If you . . . deliberately shell cities, killing civilians, it’s a completely different situation [from military operations] and we have to engage the ICC.”

The wider inquiry proposed by Mr Klimkin would, for the first time, consider allegations of direct Russian involvement in the conflict in east Ukraine, which Moscow denies.

ICC prosecutors began their preliminary inquiry last April after the government of Ukraine asked them to look into allegations that Mr Yanukovich’s troops had killed more than 100 protesters in Kiev and other cities.

The referral period runs up to just before Russia’s annexation of Crimea, so the investigation thus far excludes any crimes that might have been committed by Russian-backed troops.

Alex Whiting, a former senior ICC prosecutor, said a new referral could force an ICC investigation of the wider Ukraine conflict.

“[In Crimea and east Ukraine] there have been widespread allegations of war crimes and even crimes against humanity, so it will be much harder to ignore.”

US paratroopers

The Kremlin said the arrival of about 300 US paratroopers in Ukraine to train Kiev’s National Guard could destabilise the situation in the east of the country, where pro-Russian separatists are fighting Ukrainian government forces.

Ukraine has repeatedly asked for international help to boost its defensive capabilities. Western countries have so far declined its requests to supply weapons, while offering non-lethal military aid and training.

"The participation of instructors or specialists from [other countries] on Ukrainian territory, where the domestic Ukrainian conflict is unresolved . . . could destabilise the situation," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters in Moscow.

Mr Peskov was speaking on the arrival of the US paratroopers in western Ukraine this week to begin a six-month training rotation with three battalions.

Ukraine and the West have accused Russia of interfering in the year-old conflict by sending in troops and weapons. Moscow has denied those charges and warned against excessive Western influence in Ukraine.

The training mission, which was first announced in August last year, had been due to start in March but was put on hold until further progress was made in implementing a ceasefire deal, agreed in February, to end a conflict in which more than 6,100 people have been killed.

The truce technically remains in force, despite almost daily reports of casualties and ceasefire violations.

Britain has already sent military personnel to train Ukrainian troops, while Canada and Poland have pledged to send 200 and 50 instructors respectively this year.

Reuters