The Government of Lithuania announced Monday that it will ask the International Criminal Court (ICC) to open an investigation against Russia and Belarus for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in the framework of the military invasion of Ukraine.
The Executive has indicated in a statement that “the question of the responsibility of specific individuals is being raised for decision-makers in the regimes of (Vladimir) Putin and (Alexander) Lukashenko”, referring to the presidents of Russia and Belarus.
Lithuanian Justice Minister Evelina Dobrovolska denounced Russia’s “brutal aggression” against Ukraine and stressed that “immediate action” was needed, before stressing that on Sunday she conveyed to Kiev that Lithuania “would exercise its right to file a petition with the ICC Prosecutor’s Office, according to the Rome Statute”.
In this regard, he stressed that the Ministry of Justice has collected materials necessary for the initiation of an investigation and added that the situation in Ukraine involves “a systematization of violations of international law,” according to the statement published on the Lithuanian government’s website.
Putin announced on February 24 in a televised speech a military offensive against Ukraine, days after he recognized the independence of the self-proclaimed republics of Donetsk and Lugansk.
