Ukraine War | Ukraine pushes for "Tribunal for Putin"

"At Home" was the title of President Volodymyr Zelensky's video message from Thursday evening, in which he reported on another exchange of Ukrainian and Russian prisoners of war. Primarily soldiers under the age of 25, as well as the injured and sick, were returning home from Russian custody .

Thursday's exchange was the seventh in June. Although both sides did not provide details on the number of those released, they emphasized how important the continuation of the releases was to them. The Ukrainian news portal "New Voice" quoted Defense Minister Rustem Umerov as saying that they are already awaiting the next exchange. And Russian human rights commissioner Tatyana Moskalkova wrote on Telegram that they are working nonstop every day to secure further releases.

Before the soldiers can return to their families, they will receive medical and psychological care. Reports on their time in captivity are not yet available.

Human rights activists want “tribunal for Putin”

Meanwhile, three Ukrainian human rights organizations – the Kharkiv Human Rights Group, the Ukrainian Helsinki Union, and the Center for Civil Liberties – reported at a joint press conference in Kyiv on the impact of imprisonment and wartime captivity on Ukrainians. Together, the human rights groups have submitted the "Tribunal for Putin" initiative to the International Criminal Court (ICC). They want to have the treatment of detainees in Russia classified as war crimes and crimes against humanity.

According to Yevhen Sakharov, director of the Kharkiv Human Rights Group, his organization alone is aware of 990 cases of torture, including those of 24 children, in Russian custody and under Russian occupation.

Nine men sit in a cell for two

Sakharov reports inhumane prison conditions, overcrowded and cold cells lacking fresh air and daylight. The supply of food, drink, and medicine is severely inadequate. In Kupiansk near Kharkiv, a prison built for 140 prisoners housed 500 inmates. Often, nine men were held in cells designed for two.

Torture involves beatings on the hands and feet, using rifle butts, rubber batons, and belts. Victims reported electric shocks and mock executions. Many lost consciousness during the torture.

According to Sakharov, 33 torture sites were discovered in the Kharkiv region after the recapture of several towns. If Russian troops have captured a Ukrainian town, men who fought between 2014 and 2021, including police officers, border guards, rescue workers, civil servants, local politicians, activists, businesspeople, journalists, and priests, are particularly at risk of being arrested and tortured, Sakharov said.

"Under conditions where international law in its former form practically no longer functions, it is imperative to develop a new system of norms and institutions."

Leonid Newslin Former Russian politician

Special tribunal a “step of great importance”

On Thursday, President Zelensky and Alain Berset, Secretary General of the Council of Europe, signed an agreement establishing a special tribunal to gather evidence of crimes committed by the Russian leadership in the war against Ukraine. The panel of judges is intended to hold representatives of the Russian leadership accountable. "All war criminals must know that justice will be done," Der Spiegel quoted Zelensky as saying. Berset, according to Der Spiegel, stated that the establishment of the tribunal marks a "decisive step."

Leonid Nevslin also considers the decision to establish a special tribunal a " step of great importance ." "Under conditions where international law in its previous form practically no longer functions, it is imperative to develop a new system of norms and institutions. Without this system, war crimes will only multiply," Nevslin wrote on Facebook. Nevslin, an associate of Russian opposition oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky, worked on the 1996 election campaign team of then-Russian President Boris Yeltsin.

Critics: Tribunal will not end the war

Odessa-based blogger and publisher Leonid Shtekel, however, has nothing positive to say about this agreement. He doesn't believe it brings peace any closer. While the demand for a special tribunal for Putin sounds impressive, the benefits are "less than zero." Zelenskyy has no plan for ending the war, Shtekel suggests on Facebook.

Meanwhile, new hopes are being pinned on further prisoner exchanges. "Ukraine plans to discuss a meeting between President Volodymyr Zelensky and dictator Vladimir Putin after the conclusion of talks with Russia on humanitarian issues," the news portal RBK quoted Defense Minister Umerov as saying. When it comes to negotiations with Russia, few in Ukraine are as well informed as the Foreign Minister, who recently led the Ukrainian delegation at the talks in Istanbul.