The German prosecutorʼs office investigated Russiaʼs first specific war crime in Ukraine and identified the Russian occupiers who fired on civilians in Hostomel in the spring of 2022.
Federal Minister of Justice Marko Buschmann informed about this, as “Spiegel” reports.
According to him, the suspects in the shooting and the officers responsible for such an order have already been identified. Proceedings for this crime began back in July.
“If we catch a criminal, we will press charges. If they are caught by Ukraine or another country with which we cooperate, we will provide evidence in such a way that they can be used to bring charges," the minister added.
The Federal Prosecutorʼs Office interviewed witnesses who were refugees from Ukraine in Germany. German authorities launched an appeal in Ukrainian, Russian and English to persuade people to share their experiences with the police.
In the first incident of the full-scale war, which is being investigated by Germany, the Russian occupiers killed or wounded not only Ukrainians, but also another person with German citizenship.
Germany has the principle of universal jurisdiction — it can investigate crimes committed outside the country and regardless of the citizenship of suspects and victims.
- In October 2023, the Clooney Foundation "For Justice" appealed to the German prosecutorʼs office to investigate three alleged war crimes by Russians in the war against Ukraine, including the shelling of the village of Sergiyivka in Odesa region, the killing of four men in Kharkiv region, and murder, torture, sexual violence and robbery in Kyiv region in March 2022.