The Russian Embassy assessed the risk of detention in the Netherlands of ex-members of its

Although the criminal law of the Netherlands can hardly be applied to citizens of the Russian Federation for the very fact of participating in a special military operation (SVO), there are risks of detention and persecution. This was stated to Izvestia at the Russian Embassy in The Hague.

"The criminal law of the Netherlands can hardly be applied to citizens of the Russian Federation who participated in the SVR, for the very fact of participating in hostilities. Therefore, criminal prosecution in the Netherlands of a Russian citizen in connection with his participation in the SVR is unlikely," the diplomats said.

At the same time, when analyzing the relevant risks, it is necessary to take into account the existing socio-political context in the West, in which the thesis about the alleged commission of "war crimes" by the armed forces of the Russian Federation is groundlessly dispersed, the Russian Embassy noted.

"Similar insinuations have been repeatedly voiced by the Netherlands, including regarding the events in Bucha in March 2022," the diplomatic mission recalled.

Diplomats warn that it must be borne in mind that international law allows a State to establish criminal jurisdiction in accordance with a universal principle ("universal jurisdiction") when it comes to international crimes, which traditionally include military crimes.

"The ban on calculating the statute of limitations in relation to war crimes actually makes the risks of hypothetically bringing Russian citizens to criminal responsibility for alleged war crimes in Ukraine indefinite, making them significantly dependent on the political situation. There are criminal legal mechanisms for prosecuting a person for war crimes under universal jurisdiction in the Netherlands," the Russian Embassy said.

The Russian Embassy also does not rule out a situation in which a Russian citizen who took part in the SVR and ended up in the Netherlands may be accused of "war crimes" by the Ukrainian authorities.

Read more in the exclusive Izvestia article:

Arrest actions: embassies warned Russians about the risks of detention in the EU