On February 24, 2022, the armed large-scale invasion of Ukraine by the Russian army began a new stage of the Russian-Ukrainian war, which has been going on since 2014 (the armed invasion of Crimea in February-March 2014, followed by the military occupation of the peninsula, and the outbreak of war in Donbas since April 2014). The open-armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine since 2014 has been accompanied by gross violations of the principles and norms of international law, including international humanitarian law.

Ukraine, as a state directly affected by armed aggression, has the right to return all annexed and occupied Ukrainian territories, to compensate for all damage caused to it, and to bring those responsible for the armed aggression and war crimes and crimes against humanity to individual criminal liability.

According to the Office of the Prosecutor General, as of December 27, 2023, 119,789 crimes of the aggressor have already been registered, including war crimes (violation of the laws and customs of war (Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine; planning, preparation or unleashing and waging of aggressive war (Article 437 of the CC of Ukraine); propaganda of war (Article 436 of the CC of Ukraine), and others. Despite the fact that the crime of aggression is one of the most serious international crimes, it should be noted that its international legal regulation lags far behind other international crimes (genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity). The problems caused by the external aggression against Ukraine, as well as the impossibility of referring the situation regarding the investigation and condemnation of the crime of aggression to the ICC, leave the issue of establishing a special tribunal to investigate and condemn the crime of aggression against Ukraine, which began in the first days of Russia’s full-scale attack on Ukraine, relevant.

The purpose of this article is to find the best option for the establishment of a special tribunal capable of legally ensuring the investigation and prosecution of the top military and political leadership of the Russian Federation for planning and conducting an aggressive war against Ukraine.

Bibliography

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