To punish as an example: the Russian Federation collects dossiers for the tribunal of the Kiev leaders

Russia is preparing evidence for a future tribunal on crimes of the Kiev regime, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told Izvestia. According to her, a new Nuremberg will be needed to assess Kiev's crimes, but so far it has not been possible to repeat the unique experience of the 1940s. Then the USSR, the USA, France and Great Britain organized an adversarial and objective court. The Nazi leaders were allowed to defend themselves, and in 1946, 10 major German criminals were executed. See the Izvestia article about the unique experience of Nuremberg and whether it will be possible to repeat it in the future.

The global significance of the Nuremberg Trials

At night 80 years ago, in the gymnasium of the Nuremberg prison, a legal point was made in the history of the Third Reich. Within minutes of each other, ten top leaders of Nazi Germany ascended the scaffold, from Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop to Chief of Staff of the Wehrmacht High Command Wilhelm Keitel. Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring decided to avoid the noose by poisoning himself in his cell two hours before his execution. However, his corpse was taken to the gallows anyway to have his death officially recorded. All the bodies were secretly burned in Munich, and the ashes were scattered over the waters of the Isar River in order to permanently exclude the appearance of places of pilgrimage for neo-Nazis.

The grim but fair outcome was preceded by the Nuremberg Tribunal and an unprecedented 11-month trial marathon that began on November 20, 1945. 24 major Nazi criminals were brought before the International Military Tribunal, which was established by the victorious powers of the Second World War - the USSR, the USA, Great Britain and France.

In the dock are war criminals brought to trial by the International Military Tribunal in Nuremberg.

Photo: RIA Novosti/Victor Kinelovsky

During 403 public hearings, the court examined mountains of chilling evidence: kilometers of newsreels from death camps, thousands of documents, and testimony from hundreds of witnesses. The main result was the recognition of the key institutions of Nazi Germany as criminal — the leadership of the Nazi Party (NSDAP), the Gestapo, the SD and the SS. As a result, in addition to the death sentences, three were sentenced to life in prison, four were sentenced to prison terms ranging from 10 to 20 years, and three were fully acquitted.

Interestingly, the Soviet Union played a major role in ensuring that Nuremberg was held in a civilized court format, while British Prime Minister Winston Churchill initially advocated the summary execution of the Nazi leadership. The Soviet prosecution, led by Roman Rudenko, presented to the world the irrefutable facts of the genocide of the civilian population of the USSR, destroying any attempts by the German generals to justify themselves by "blindly following orders."

"Court of Nations": 80 years ago, Nazi criminals were executed by the verdict of the Nuremberg Tribunal

12 defendants were sentenced to death by hanging.

Today, there is every reason to assert that it was possible to maintain the objectivity and competitiveness of the Nuremberg trials, Dmitry Surzhik, senior researcher at the Institute of Universal History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, explained in a conversation with Izvestia. The judging panel consisted of two representatives from the winning countries - the USSR, the USA, Great Britain and France. A similar principle applied to the prosecution. At the same time, the defendants themselves had an unconditional right to defense, and Nazi leaders, including Hermann Goering, sometimes professionally broke down individual arguments of the prosecutors, the expert notes.

In addition to legal transparency, the process was characterized by global press coverage. Reporters from all continents, from Europe to Latin America, were recruited to work in Nuremberg. As a result, the tribunal became a truly global event, the course of which was openly watched by the whole planet.

International Military Tribunal for the Far East - trial of Japanese war criminals

The global significance of the trials in Nuremberg and Tokyo, where Japanese war criminals were tried, lies in the fact that they consolidated the universal condemnation of the ideas of Nazism and fascism, including the concept of "crime against humanity," says Alexander Chubaryan, scientific director of the Institute of Universal History of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

"After the completion of the trial, it was unacceptable to justify Nazism"

Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences, historian Alexander Chubaryan — on the Nuremberg Tribunal and the relevance of its lessons today

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The Nuremberg verdict, coupled with the statute of the tribunal, has revolutionized international law, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in an interview with Izvestia. According to her, the unique historical experience of impartial justice in Nuremberg and Tokyo has not been replicated by modern international organizations. The structures that claimed this role, including the International Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda, failed to perform their functions and did not make a real contribution to conflict resolution.

The Yugoslav court demonstrated open bias by handing down over 60% of all convictions to the Serbs and at the same time acquitting the leaders of other parties to the conflict, which only deepened the Balkan crisis. In turn, the Rwanda Tribunal, at enormous financial cost, turned into an organ of "victorious justice", completely ignoring the crimes of the other side of the conflict and failing the task of interethnic reconciliation.

— It's even embarrassing to talk about the authority of the International Criminal Court (ICC). This quasi-judicial body and justice are very far from each other. He is engaged in working out political orders, violates the norms of general international law and his own statute," Zakharova said.

Photo: TASS/REMKO DE WAAL

She stressed that the ICC, starting with the persecution of African leaders, pointedly ignored the serial crimes of Western countries during the fighting in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya. Today, this body is trying to impose its jurisdiction on States that have not signed the Rome Statute, including Russia, Belarus, Myanmar and the Philippines, which grossly violates the fundamental principles of international law.

In these circumstances, Moscow has relied on concluding agreements with partners that, on the basis of reciprocity, guarantee the protection of citizens from the politicized persecution of the ICC. The crisis has also affected UN structures such as the Human Rights Council and UNESCO. The Russian Foreign Ministry notes that these institutions have actually joined the hybrid war of the collective West, stubbornly ignoring the crimes of the Kiev regime against the civilian population. In the current situation, Russia has moved to independently collect evidence of Ukraine's crimes for the inevitable new tribunal.

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— The crimes of the Kiev regime are now being carefully documented by Russian law enforcement agencies and activists of the International Public Tribunal for the Crimes of Ukrainian Neo-Nazis. Ordinary perpetrators who fall under our jurisdiction are already being brought before a Russian court. The question is still open: whether the high—ranking perpetrators of the atrocities will be involved at the national or supranational level," Maria Zakharova said.

The dormitory room of the Starobilsk College of Lugansk State Pedagogical University, which was attacked by drones of the Armed Forces of Ukraine

Photo: RIA Novosti/Evgeny Biyatov

At the same time, optimism is inspired by the professional and unbiased position of the International Court of Justice, which has consistently rejected Ukraine's claims accusing Russia of "terrorism," "racial discrimination," and "abuse of the Genocide Convention," the diplomat added.

A repetition of Nuremberg in its purest form is hardly possible today, Dmitry Surzhik believes. Potential justice will require a completely different format, for example, involving judges from neutral states not involved in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Nuremberg was summing up the results of the world War, which had engulfed most of the countries of the planet, which was why there was no neutral side.

Nevertheless, the chance for an objective trial remains, since historically the legitimacy of the court has always depended on the will of the prosecutors. During the current Ukrainian crisis, a number of countries, including China, Turkey, as well as Arab and African states, have already expressed a desire to become mediators. It is possible that they may become a neutral party in the future tribunal.