Eurojust, the European judicial authority, has established a new center to investigate crimes committed in Russia's aggression in Ukraine as the Kremlin's full-scale invasion of its neighbor ends its first year.
The Hague-based Eurojust said on February 23 that the center will be part of the current support structure for the joint investigation team (JIT), which ensures an "optimal alignment" between the investigations into war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide, and the crime of aggression in Ukraine.
"While the damage caused by the Russian invasion can never be undone, we can make sure that those responsible are brought to justice," Myroslava Krasnoborova, the liaison prosecutor for Ukraine at Eurojust, said in a statement.
Since launching its invasion of Ukraine on February 24 last year, Russia has been accused by the United States, the European Union, and many human rights groups of committing "crimes against humanity," with its forces having pursued "widespread and systemic" attacks against civilians in the country.
Moscow has denied targeting civilians despite widespread evidence to the contrary.
Earlier this week, a report by Human Rights Watch and the SITU Research group said "strong evidence" indicates that an April 8 missile attack on the train station in Kramatorsk in eastern Ukraine that killed 58 fleeing civilians and wounded 100 was launched from Russia-controlled territory and represents an "apparent war crime."
The JIT was set up in March 2022 to probe allegations of war crimes in Ukraine following Russia's invasion. The team will also coordinate with the International Criminal Court, the world's permanent war crimes tribunal, which opened its own investigation in Ukraine days after the invasion was launched.
Eurojust said the new center will comprise two parts: a core international crimes evidence database and a new international center for prosecution of the crime of aggression. Both will work closely with the JIT.
"The international legal community is incredibly determined to ensure accountability for the crimes committed in Ukraine," Margarita Sniutyte-Daugeliene, said Eurojust vice president and national member for Lithuania.
"The wish to make justice prevail clearly transcends national, continental, and organizational boundaries," she added.