Evidence of war crimes in Ukraine must be collected, EU commissioner says

PRAGUE, April 8 (Reuters) – Testimony and other evidence of suspected war crimes in Ukraine after Russia’s invasion must be collected from fleeing refugees so the acts will not go unpunished, EU Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson said on Friday.

“We have all seen the pictures, the videos of the result of war crimes. And unfortunately I think that we are going to see even more,” she said at a news conference in Prague with the Czech interior minister.

“It is so important that these war crimes will not go unpunished.”

Since Russia’s invasion on Feb. 24, more than 4.3 million refugees have fled Ukraine, with most crossing into the EU through Poland. More than 300,000 refugees have arrived in the Czech Republic.

Johansson said it was necessary to collect evidence of war crimes from people “so that this can be prosecuted”.

Russia denies targeting civilians and says it launched what it calls a “special military operation” to demilitarise and “denazify” Ukraine. Kyiv and its Western allies reject that as a false pretext.

Photo – A member of the Ukrainian army looks at a mass grave in front of an Orthodox church, in Bucha, northwest of Kyiv, Ukraine. EPA-EFE/ROMAN PILIPEY