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On February 24, 2022, the entire world watched as Russia launched an all-out military invasion against Ukraine. This date marks the start of Russia’s most brutal and unprovoked aggression against Ukraine. It’s too late to predict what will happen next. Now is the time for the civilized world to respond firmly to Russia’s actions in Ukraine.
All of Ukraine has joined the battle against Russia’s armed forces: Ukraine’s president, the government, the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the national guard, diplomats, doctors, firefighters, volunteers, adults and children and, together with them, allied countries which provided Ukraine with military, logistic, tactical, and diplomatic support.
There is no doubt that Russia bears sovereign responsibility for what it has done. Russian soldiers and their commanders who committed war crimes will be held responsible. One question, however, remains open: Should the Russian officials responsible for committing the crime of aggression be held criminally liable? The crime of aggression is often called the “mother of all crimes”—the supreme international crime, which absorbed all other international crimes. And yes, we are talking about Putin and the members of Russia’s National Security Council, who publicly supported the military invasion of Ukraine.
Over the past six months, the Ukraine government and international organizations have registered and are investigating tens of thousands of criminal proceedings involving Russia’s war against Ukraine. They include hundreds of criminal proceedings in allied countries, but not a single proceeding on the crime of aggression—the fundamental crime, from which stems the commission of other war crimes.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, which is investigating Russia’s crimes against Ukraine, can prosecute genocide, crimes against…
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Source : time
