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.
President Biden said that Vladimir Putin had committed war crimes, after news emerged of mass civilian murders in Bucha, Ukraine. Three stories from our archive explain what this means.
Vladimir Putin celebrated Russia’s annexation of Crimea on March 18, 2022, the eighth anniversary of the move.
Mikhail Klimentyev/Sputnik/AFP via Getty Images
None of the available methods for holding Russian President Vladimir Putin accountable are likely to actually punish him, and they may even make new atrocities more likely.
A pregnant woman is carried away from a shelled maternity hospital. She later died.
AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka, File
Vladimir Putin has a history of flattening cities in time of conflict. But alleged war crimes in Chechnya and Syria never resulted in charges, let alone prosecutions. Will Ukraine be any different?
Evacuees from Ukraine stand under a destroyed bridge as they flee the city of Irpin on March 7, 2022.
Dimitar Dilkoff/AFP via Getty Images
Tens of thousands of Ukrainians are using humanitarian corridors to leave the country. But these routes are often announced for political reasons and do not always offer safety
Vladimir Putin: is the Russian leader guilty of war crimes?
EPA-EFE/Mikhail Klimentyev/Kremlin/Sputnik
The International Criminal Court is launching an investigation into possible war crimes in Ukraine. But significant hurdles remain, and it’s uncertain anyone will ever be brought to justice.