For three years now, the suffering of the Ukrainian population has reverberated far beyond the country’s borders. Ukraine has stood at the forefront of defending the fundamental principles of international law and a rules-based international order. During this time, grave atrocities committed on Ukrainian territory and against Ukrainian civilians have been documented on a large scale, including summary executions, torture, deportation of Ukrainian children, environmental crimes, conflict-related sexual violence, and the displacement of millions of people.
As Ukraine continues to fight against the Russian Federation’s full-scale invasion and remains in dire humanitarian need, recent economic aid cuts, geopolitical tensions, and potentially reduced US military aid jeopardize the path to just and lasting peace.
Ukraine’s peace process must not come at the expense of accountability. Significant efforts have been made in this regard, including by Ukraine itself. Since 2022, Ukraine’s Prosecutor General’s Office has launched over 150,000 investigations into war crimes and other conflict-related abuses, and in 2024 alone, Ukrainian courts convicted 66 individuals of war crimes.
One of Ukraine’s main achievements in strengthening international justice was the formal ratification of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC). Following the adoption of the Law Ratifying the Rome Statute of the ICC and its Amendments by the Verkhovna Rada on 21 August 2024, Ukraine deposited its instrument of ratification on 25 October, officially becoming the 125th State Party to the ICC on 1 January 2025. Previously, on 3 May 2022, the Verkhovna Rada adopted the Law on the Amendments to the Criminal Procedural Code of Ukraine, establishing a direct mechanism of cooperation of the Ukrainian prosecutorial and judicial authorities with the ICC, while designating relevant domestic authorities to serve as focal points for the communication with the ICC. Now, the next crucial step is aligning Ukraine’s legislation with the Rome Statute to ensure the effective prosecution of serious crimes within its domestic criminal justice system.
At the international level, the ICC’s ongoing investigation has seen further progress. In 2024, four new warrants of arrest were issued by the Pre-Trial Chamber II against individuals suspected of war crimes and crimes against humanity, in addition to the ones already pending against Mr. Putin and Ms. Lvova-Belova. These developments occurred despite the increasing threats against the Court, including acts of intimidation and cyber-attacks, as well as Russian arrest warrants targeting ICC officials, ICC President, Judge Tomoko Akane; ICC Prosecutor, Karim Khan; and Judges Rosario Salvatore Aitala, Sergio Godinez, and Haykel Ben Mahfoudh.
