UK to offer support for probe on 'Russian war crimes'

UK Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab will visit the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague on Monday to offer "practical support" from the UK for investigating alleged war crimes in Ukraine.

Raab will meet ICC Prosecutor, Karim AA Khan QC, its Registrar, Peter Lewis, and President of the Court, Judge Piotr Hofmanski. The UK Ministry of Justice, in a statement, said Raab will emphasise UK support for the Court and respect for its independence.

Dominic Raab, who is also country's Lord Chancellor, and Secretary of State for Justice, said: "Tomorrow I will go to The Hague to offer the ICC UK technical support in bringing those responsible for war crimes in Ukraine to justice - including support with the immediate priority of gathering and preserving evidence."

"Russian commanders carrying out war crimes should know they cannot act with impunity. Like Radovan Karadzic and Charles Taylor before them, their actions risk landing them in a jail cell."

Separately, Dominic Raab will meet ambassadors from a range of countries to build a coalition able to provide extra assistance and cooperation to the Office of the Prosecutor to investigate war crimes in Ukraine.

The visit follows a virtual meeting last week with Ukraine's Prosecutor General, Iryna Venediktova, and Attorney General Suella Braverman to discuss what help the country needs to collect and preserve evidence of war crimes.

This is the latest in a series of efforts to provide Ukraine with economic, diplomatic, humanitarian and defensive support alongside lethal aid. The UK Government is also investigating how to stop Russian oligarchs from using the British legal system to intimidate and silence their critics.

Separately, last week the Attorney General, Suella Braverman, signed a statement with Ukraine's Prosecutor General which reaffirms the UK's support for holding Russia to account for war crimes committed in Ukraine.

Russia launched a "military operation" in Ukraine on February 24, which it claimed was a response to calls from the breakaway republics of Donetsk and Luhansk for protection against attacks by Ukrainian troops.

The Russian Defense Ministry said the special operation is targeting Ukrainian military infrastructure only and the civilian population is not in danger.