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The court will find: the Russian Federation is working on a tribunal for Ukrainian war criminals
Russia is considering the creation of a tribunal for Ukrainian criminals, while foreign countries could act as guarantors of its compliance with all legal norms. This was stated to Izvestia by Ambassador-at-large of the Russian Foreign Ministry Rodion Miroshnik. Kiev has significantly increased attacks on Russian civilian targets. On the night of June 3, a UAV attacked a regular bus in the city of Yenakiyevo, seven victims were killed. Earlier, an academic building and a dormitory in Starobilsk were hit, where 21 people died. In response, Moscow launched retaliatory strikes against Ukraine's military infrastructure, energy sector, and defense industry. About why diplomacy is still inferior to military operations — in the material of Izvestia.
Ukrainian strike on a regular bus
Ukraine has intensified attacks on Russian civilian targets in recent days. In particular, in the early morning of June 3, a UAV attacked a regular bus en route from Moscow to Simferopol. As a result, seven people were killed and 11 others were injured in various degrees of severity. It is noteworthy that there were not only Russians in the transport, but also Poles, said Nella Yakunenko, chief physician of Gorlovka City Hospital No. 2.
This week, the Ukrainian Armed Forces also attacked a Tavrida passenger train en route to St. Petersburg at the Dzhankoy railway station in Crimea. In addition, on May 22, an academic building and a dormitory in Starobilsk came under fire, killing 21 people. There were teenagers and very young people in the building at the time of the impact. Vladimir Putin, who convened a meeting on June 1 on measures to support victims in the LPR, stressed that by committing the most serious crimes against children and adolescents, "the Kiev leadership decided to open a new page in the series of their crimes, to give a new quality to the conflict as a whole."
The burnt–out regular bus "Moscow - Simferopol" as a result of the attack of the drone of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in Yenakiyevo
In this situation, the Russian Federation has launched "retaliatory strikes" against military infrastructure, energy and defense industry facilities in Ukraine. The first Russian Armed Forces struck on the night of May 24. In addition, on June 2, according to the Russian Defense Ministry, as a result of the use of precision weapons in Kiev, 10 enterprises, including UAVs, were hit. Among them are the association "Abris PT", the enterprise of the radioelectronic industry "Special Design Bureau "Spectrum", JSC "Mayak Plant" and the state company "Ukrspetsexport".
— I want to remind you about the statement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which says that our responses will be systematic. They are, in fact, already systemic in nature," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on June 3.
Media representatives near the wreckage of Ukrainian drones that attacked the buildings of the academic building and the dormitory of the Starobilsk Professional College of Lugansk State Pedagogical University
According to Oleg Karpovich, head of the Department of the MGIMO Diplomatic Academy of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Russia is faced with "unprecedented terrorist attacks by the Kiev regime on civilians and non-military targets." Among the reasons are failures on the battlefield and attempts to force Moscow to take tough countermeasures in order to enlist additional support from NATO countries.
"Zelensky's clique is in a state of agony, nerves are giving out, and the realization of the inevitability of punishment for crimes against humanity is becoming clearer," he added.
The Russian side is considering the possibility of setting up a tribunal over Ukrainian malefactors, Rodion Miroshnik, the Russian Foreign Ministry's ambassador-at-large for crimes of the Kiev regime, told Izvestia.
The consequences of an unmanned attack by the Ukrainian Armed Forces in Luhansk. A drone struck an apartment building in the Artemovsky district of the city, killing a woman.
— The work is already underway. Crimes are committed in the area of jurisdiction of the Russian legal system — in the constitutional territories of the Russian Federation, in the frontline territories," the diplomat said. — Other states could act as guarantees that the fair trial procedure complies with certain standards. But now, of course, the main work is carried out by the Russian courts.
According to him, Russia has its judicial and legal capabilities to bring to justice those who violate the norms and principles of international humanitarian law and commit war crimes.
The list of possible defendants is already being formed in the framework of criminal cases that have been initiated by Russian authorities in recent years. It may include not only the direct perpetrators and unit commanders, but also senior officials of the Ukrainian government, as well as politicians who, according to the Russian side, created conditions for genocide on the territory of Ukraine, he said.
— It is necessary to initiate the creation of a tribunal. It is important to keep a record of crimes and hold public meetings," Natalia Eremina, a professor at St. Petersburg State University, added in an interview with Izvestia.
A truck injured as a result of a UAV hit by the Ukrainian Armed Forces near the village of Chkalovo, Kherson region
According to the statements of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation, more than 10,000 criminal cases have been initiated in Russia against the military personnel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. For example, after the strike on Starobilsk, charges were brought against Andrei Klimenko, commander of the 414th separate brigade of the unmanned forces of Ukraine "Birds of Magyar", Robert Brovdi, commander of the forces of unmanned systems of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Oleg Ivashchenko, head of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine.
According to Miroshnik, the creation of a full-fledged international tribunal under the jurisdiction of the United Nations is impossible in the current realities. The Western camp in the UN Security Council — the United States, Britain and France — can veto any initiative of Moscow.
In the 20th century, only a few international tribunals were established. The most resonant are the Nuremberg and Tokyo ones after the Second World War. In the 1990s, the United Nations established the Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and for Rwanda. In addition, hybrid courts appeared in different periods — they were created on the basis of agreements between the United Nations and specific states, combining local and international law. Examples include the Special Court for Sierra Leone or the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia.
The Nuremberg Trials. November 20, 1945
Meanwhile, the countries supporting Ukraine in the conflict are trying to create their own special tribunal through the Council of Europe (a separate organization that does not belong to the European Union — the Russian Federation withdrew from it in March 2022). This tribunal has no legitimacy, it is being created without a UN mandate and the consent of most countries of the world. Rather, we are talking about another anti-Russian project, for which the EU has already allocated €10 million. So far, 36 countries have joined it, including Germany, France, Great Britain, the Netherlands, Poland, Moldova and Ukraine itself, as well as non—European countries - Australia and Costa Rica.
The case "Ukraine v. Russia" under the Genocide Convention is currently being considered at the UN International Court of Justice in The Hague. At the same time, in December 2025, the court declared the counterclaim of the Russian Federation acceptable. The trial is now focused on mutual accusations of States violating the 1948 Convention.
Creation of a public tribunal
The evidence base on Kiev's crimes is also being collected by the International Public Tribunal for Crimes of Ukrainian Neo-Nazis, Alexander Brod, a member of the Presidential Council for the Development of Civil Society and Human Rights, told Izvestia. This structure was established in March 2022.
"This is a community of experts, human rights defenders, scientists, and journalists who are engaged in collecting evidence of the Kiev regime's war crimes, analyzing this evidence, transmitting data to investigative authorities, widely publishing this data, holding public events, exhibitions, and expert platforms," he said.
A fragment of a Ukrainian drone on one of the streets of Lugansk
According to Brod, the tribunal includes about 70 people from 35 countries, including representatives of the United States, Germany, France, Spain and Serbia. The reason for the creation of such a mechanism is the lack of a proper response from international structures to Kiev's crimes, he said.
Representatives of the Tribunal regularly travel to the war zone, interview eyewitnesses and victims, record evidence on video, and then prepare information and analytical reports. These materials, according to Brod, are translated into English, distributed to international organizations, diplomatic missions and presented on foreign platforms, where possible.
— A large number of eyewitness accounts, photos and videos, publications, and reports have been submitted to the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation. There is hope that our materials, along with the numerous criminal cases initiated by the Investigative Committee on war crimes of Ukraine, will be used in the future, especially if it is possible to form a tribunal for crimes of the Kiev regime," he said.
According to Natalia Yeremina, the creation of public tribunals cannot be overestimated, since they cannot send the perpetrators to prison. Nevertheless, they contribute to breaking the information blockade. An example is the so-called Russell Tribunal, which investigated war crimes in Vietnam. In the 1960s, the official US media covered up the scale of the tragedy. But it was the tribunal created by Nobel Prize winner Bertrand Russell and French thinker Jean-Paul Sartre that forced the world community and ordinary Americans to learn about the use of napalm, Agent Orange and carpet bombing of peaceful villages.
Resumption of the negotiation process
The arrival of information about the crimes of the Ukrainian Armed Forces to residents of Europe and the United States will create additional pressure on the leadership in Kiev. After all, Brussels and Washington will have to explain one way or another why NATO is so actively supporting the Ukrainian authorities who are attacking civilian targets. And this could be a turning point for Ukraine to take a more constructive approach to the negotiation process with the Russian Federation, which has been on pause.
The last face-to-face international contacts on conflict resolution took place in February 2026 in Geneva. Since then, the parties have not met, and we should not expect a sharp intensification of the process, despite the announced visits of American negotiators to Kiev and Moscow, says Denis Denisov, an expert at the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation.
"This is primarily due to the conflicting positions of Russia and Ukraine on the territorial issue,— he told Izvestia.
Participants of the trilateral meeting of the delegations of Russia, the United States and Ukraine in Geneva. February 17th, 2026
Moscow insists on the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from the territories of Russia, while Kiev wants to first fix the existing line of contact between the parties, and only then conduct full-fledged negotiations. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said earlier that the conflict in Ukraine could be ended "before the end of the current day" if Zelensky ordered troops to leave the territory of the Russian regions.
The resumption of negotiations is not facilitated by Ukrainian initiatives to involve European partners in this process, Denisov believes. The potential participants named by Zelensky, represented by the leaders of Great Britain, Germany, France or the Scandinavian countries, have in recent years positioned themselves as parties to the conflict, unconditionally supporting Ukraine. The United States, under the leadership of Donald Trump, has taken a more restrained position. And although Washington is still providing assistance to Kiev, the White House has stopped engaging in regular anti-Russian propaganda, unlike its European partners.
Turkey can now assume the main role of mediator, as its territory has already been used for negotiations on Ukraine. The Middle Eastern monarchies — the UAE and Saudi Arabia — are not suitable in terms of the conflict between the United States and Iran, at least from the point of view of security, and the Russian side does not trust Switzerland.
At the same time, the lack of progress on the Iranian settlement only complicates the whole process, since the Americans first need to reach a deal with Tehran, and only then try to promote dialogue between Moscow and Kiev.
In this situation, according to Denisov, the parties are not approaching a diplomatic settlement of the conflict.
— However, one should not perceive the situation as definitely aimed at the total freezing of such a track. Now the resumption of negotiations depends mainly on the situation on the battlefield and the success of one of the parties," he concluded.
Vladimir Putin stressed earlier that the situation on the line of contact suggests that the conflict is nearing an end. But he did not mention the exact dates at a press conference following his visit to Astana last week.
Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Independence Palace in Astana during a press conference following a meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council. May 29, 2026
Much will now depend on the EU's ability to supply Ukraine with intelligence and weapons. Without external help, Kiev is unable to resist. However, there is a risk that part of the European elite is betting on the Republicans losing their majority in the upcoming midterm elections to the US Congress. There is speculation that the return of Democrat control over the chambers may lead to a tightening of Washington's position towards Moscow and the resumption of stable financing for Ukraine. And in 2028, the next presidential election is expected in the United States, where European allies expect to maintain continuity of course and win a supporter of military assistance to Ukraine from the ranks of the Democratic Party.
Nevertheless, in the event of further military successes by the Russian army, the Europeans may not be able to keep the Ukrainian Armed Forces afloat alone. The fact that the EU is now actively discussing a politician who could represent the interests of the union in a dialogue with Moscow indicates that it is becoming more difficult for Western countries to finance and pump Kiev with weapons. As a result, Brussels may become a force that itself will begin to push Kiev to negotiate with the Russian Federation.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
