Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has said that Russia is culpable of a war crime after heavy shelling in the city of Kharkiv killed scores of civilians on Monday.
Zelensky said that eyewitnesses reported civilians being deliberately targeted as the city sustained heavy shelling.
Videos have been circulating on social media which show rockets landing in the city of Kharkiv, with some describing it as a typical cluster munition strike on a dense urban area, which maximises civilian casualties.
Russia has denied that it has deliberately fired on civilian targets.
The International Criminal Court [ICC] which investigates and prosecutes individuals for war crimes, crimes against humanity and acts of genocide, is poised to launch an investigation into the allegations made by Ukraine. While chief prosecutor Karim Khan cannot officially begin a probe until the ICC approves it, he has ordered his staff to begin collecting evidence of suspected abuses.
Khan said that there was a “reasonable basis” to believe war crimes or crimes against humanity had taken place during Russia’s latest assault on its neighbour, and that his team would also explore events from 2014 when Russia invaded the country’s south and annexed the Crimean Peninsula before providing logistical and arms support to pro-Russian rebel groups in the breakaway regions of Donetsk and Luhansk.
Tuesday comes as the sixth day of the latest invasion, with Russia’s advance continuing to be slowed by heavy Ukrainian resistance. However, there are reports that a 40-mile armoured military convoy is closing in on the capital city of Kyiv. The UN reports that over half a million people have fled Ukraine since the assault began.
Russian and Ukrainian representatives did meet at Ukraine’s border with Belarus for peace talks on Monday, but no agreement was reached. Both sides are due to meet again in the coming days.
Zelensky has urged the West to consider implementing a no-fly zone over Ukraine, while UK prime minister Boris Johnson has pledged to provide more military support after what he called the “barbaric Russian airstrikes against innocent civilians”.
Johnson is travelling to Poland on Tuesday to meet with NATO allies for talks over the situation in Ukraine, with the BBC reporting that the UK is considering asking for Russia to be suspended from the UN Security Council.
Photo taken from Wikimedia Commons
