AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – Ukraine’s prosecutor general is investigating potential war crimes committed by Russia in its attacks on Ukraine’s agriculture infrastructure since July, as stated by the office in an interview with Reuters on Thursday.
The intensity of shelling on agriculture installations increased after Russia’s withdrawal from the Black Sea Grain Initiative export deal with Ukraine on July 17.
The prosecutor general’s office stated, “Overall, since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, Russian forces have conducted more than 100 attacks on Ukraine’s grain and port infrastructure.”
They added, “Ukraine is investigating these acts as potential war crimes.”
Currently, Ukrainian authorities are reviewing over 97,000 reports of suspected war crimes and have pressed charges against 220 suspects in domestic courts.
Ukraine’s prosecutors, in collaboration with the International Criminal Court in The Hague, are investigating a winter campaign of air strikes targeting national Ukrainian energy and utilities infrastructure, as well as the attack on the Nova Kakhovka hydroelectric dam in the southern Kherson region, as potential war crimes.
Moscow has previously defended its targeting of energy infrastructure, claiming it is a legitimate military target.
Russia has characterized the recent attacks on Ukraine’s grain infrastructure as retaliatory actions in response to a Ukrainian strike on a bridge across the Kerch Strait, which is used to supply Russian troops in southern Ukraine.
On Wednesday, Russian state news agency RIA reported that the infrastructure hit in the port of Izmail was housing foreign mercenaries and military hardware, and a naval repair yard was also targeted. However, Reuters could not independently verify this report.
(Reporting by Anthony Deutsch; Editing by Alex Richardson and Alison Williams)
Credit: The Star : News Feed
