Prosecuting a leader like Vladimir Putin accused of war crimes is difficult. But the trial of Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic in the early 2000s offers a potential playbook.
British citizens Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner and Moroccan Saaudun Brahim.
AP Photo
The prosecution and death sentences handed out to two British and one Moroccan national fighting alongside Ukrainian troops contravenes the Geneva Conventions.
Britons Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner with Moroccan Brahim Saadoun, who were captured after the siege of the the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol.
Image taken from footage of the Supreme Court of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic
A digest of the week’s coverage of the war against Ukraine.
Britons Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner with Moroccan Brahim Saadoun, who were captured after the siege of the the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol.
Image taken from footage of the Supreme Court of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic
A digest of the week’s coverage of the war against Ukraine.
The trial of Russian soldier Vadim Shishimarin could be mirrored with similar war crimes prosecutions by Moscow.
Maxym Marusenko/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Holding war crimes trials during active hostilities is rare. Proceedings in Ukraine also open the risk of Russian show trials, argues a law of war expert.
There have been calls to charge and prosecute Russian President Vladimir Putin for war crimes in Ukraine.
Beata Zawrzel/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Countries would likely need to set up new courts to prosecute Vladimir Putin for illegally invading Ukraine – but this isn’t a sure bet he would ever be held accountable for his crimes.
Evidence: war crimes investigators examine a mass grave in Bucha, Kyiv, April 2022.
EPA-EFE/Oleg Petrasyuk
When it comes to war crimes in Ukraine, the Kremlin is intimately following the Syrian playbook. To prevent further atrocities, leaders must now draw the lessons from the conflict in Western Asia.
A forensic worker exhumes several bodies from a grave in Bucha, Ukraine, on April 12, 2022.
Anastasia Vlasova/Getty Images
Evidence of atrocities in districts retaken by Ukrainian forces suggest that Russian soldiers are as complicit in war crimes as their leader Vladimir Putin.
Evidence: the hard and often heartbreaking work of forensic investigators.
EPA-EFE/Roman Pilipey
The grisly work of forensic investigators at the scene of a possible war crime.
Rapes, torture and killings have all been reported from Bucha, Ukraine, where soldiers and investigators look at charred bodies lying on the ground.
AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd
An expert on rape during war examines the emerging evidence from Ukraine that Russian soldiers raped Ukrainian women and explains the role rape plays in conflicts.
Soviet Russia had a policy of denying its responsibility for war crimes. It looks as if Putin’s Russia may be following suit.
Royal Canadian Air Force personnel load non-lethal and lethal aid at CFB Trenton, Ont., on March 7, 2022. The cargo was bound for Ukraine via Poland.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick
Nisha Shah, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of Ottawa
The laws of war and what is considered acceptable and unacceptable weaponry suggest there’s a right and wrong way to kill. It’s unlikely any of the victims of war would appreciate the distinction.