crime of aggression

A man and a woman attacked two Ukrainian teenagers in the Polish city of Bydgoszcz solely because they were conversing in the Ukrainian language, the Consulate General of Ukraine in Gdańsk reported on Aug. 16.

A man verbally confronted a group of Ukrainian girls in the Polish city of Bielsko-Biała, telling them to return to Ukraine and hurling insults at them, according to a video of the incident shared on social media on July 13.

The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe on May 15 approved an enlarged partial agreement establishing the Steering Committee for the Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine — a step Kyiv and its partners see as critical in closing one of the biggest accountability gaps in international law. While international courts can prosecute war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide, holding political leaders accountable for launching a war of aggression remains far more complicated. In an interview with The New Voice of Ukraine, Maksym Vishchyk, legal adviser with the Global Rights Compliance Foundation, explained why the decision is significant, how long the tribunal could take to become operational, and what legal and political challenges still lie ahead. 

Cyprus is set to join the initiative to establish a Special Tribunal on Russia's crime of aggression against Ukraine, as the coalition of supporting nations continues to grow, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha announced on X on May 12.

The International Register of Damage for Ukraine has expanded its list of available services, and Ukrainian legal entities and state agencies can now officially record losses caused by Russian aggression, Pavlo Frolov, head of the Special Commission on the Protection of IDPs, reported on Telegram on April 30.

The Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers has approved an initiative to establish a special tribunal to hold Russia accountable for the crime of aggression committed during its war against Ukraine, the Council’s press service reported on May 14.