Ukraine, G-7, partner states discuss possible tribunal on Russian war crimes: Zelensky

by Jared Gans - 09/17/22 5:47 PM ET

Emergency workers dig into the grave of a civilian during an exhumation in the recently retaken area of Izium, Ukraine, Saturday, Sept. 17, 2022. Ukrainian authorities discovered a mass burial site near the recaptured city of Izium that contained hundreds of graves. It was not clear who was buried in many of the plots or how all of them died, though witnesses and a Ukrainian investigator said some were shot and others were killed by artillery fire, mines or airstrikes. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in an address to the Ukrainian people on Friday that the country’s officials pitched to world leaders the idea of creating an ad hoc international tribunal to punish Russia for war crimes it has committed during its invasion of Ukraine.

Zelensky said the proposal was made during a meeting of a group working to advance Ukraine joining the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), an intergovernmental association of democracies with market-based economies that work to stimulate economic growth.

“This is an extremely important direction, which is important both in the context of European integration and in the context of the internal transformation of our state,” Zelensky said.

He said ambassadors from the G-7, a forum of the world’s seven largest economies, and other partner states were present at the meeting.

Evidence of Russian war crimes in Ukraine have been recorded since Russia’s full-scale invasion of the country began in February.

Ukrainian officials found a mass burial site in the recaptured city of Izyum this week, and Zelensky said in his Friday address that “torture chambers” where civilians were abused were found in areas of the Kharkiv region that were liberated from Russian occupation.

The United Nations said on Friday that investigators already in Ukraine will examine the mass burial site in Izyum.

Mass burial sites were also found in the city of Bucha, north of the capital Kyiv, after Russian forces withdrew earlier this year.

Ukraine has been seeking to integrate itself further with the rest of Europe since the war started. The country applied to join the OECD in May and became an official candidate to join the European Union in June.