DOJ bolsters support for Ukraine's pursuit of Russian war criminals

WASHINGTON – The Justice Department on Monday bolstered its support for Ukraine's pursuit of Russian war criminals, announcing the U.S. will detail a prosecutor to the Netherlands to assist in the daunting effort.

Attorney General Merrick Garland, appearing with Ukraine's Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin, said the U.S. official would be deployed to The Hague's European Union Agency for Criminal Justice Cooperation to focus on crimes against Ukraine as part of an existing seven-nation partnership.

Garland also said that a "legal adviser" would be dispatched later this summer to the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv to provide additional assistance.

"For over a year, Russia has engaged in an unjust war against Ukraine, committing atrocities at the largest scale of any armed conflict since the Second World War," Garland said. "And for over a year, the people of Ukraine have fought with courage and conviction to protect their country.  

"They have worked with unflagging resolve to record the brutalities committed against thousands of Ukrainian men, women, and children – and to hold the perpetrators of those atrocities accountable under the law."

Kostin said the country is "grateful" for the continuing U.S. support, adding that the deployment of a prosecutor to the International Centre for the Prosecution of the Crime of Aggression Against Ukraine represented the "first practical step" toward establishing a special prosecution tribunal.

The Justice Department meeting comes as Kostin and Deputy Attorney Lisa Monaco prepare to testify before separate congressional committees this week spotlighting Russian war crimes.

Kostin is expected to appear Wednesday before the House Foreign Affairs Committee, along with two survivors Russian atrocities. Monaco also is slated to testify Wednesday before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Moscow has repeatedly denied allegations that Russians are committing war crimes in Ukraine, where it maintains it is conducting a "special operation."

Widespread evidence of systemic war crimes, which are considered to be among the most serious violations of international law, have been well documented in Ukraine. They include the bombing of civilian infrastructure, forced deportation of minors, raping of women and children, mass graves and torture chambers.

Contributing: Francesca Chambers