Zelensky wants international prosecution “on the entire Russian system”
02:00 | Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky wants everyone involved in the Russian invasion of his country to be held accountable before an international tribunal. Zelensky is not only concerned with “the people who carried out the plans”: according to him, “the political and military leadership of the terrorist state” should also be examined.
“We will dismantle the entire Russian genocidal system and prosecute them,” Zelensky said in his daily video address. “Responding to Russian crimes” is in the interests of the “long-term future security of both Ukrainians and other countries,” the Ukrainian president said.
On Tuesday, Zelensky spoke in the capital Kiev with Karim Khan, chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC). Khan is already investigating whether war crimes have been committed in Ukraine by both sides of the conflict. However, the court cannot currently take action against the Ukrainian or Russian leadership, as neither country is a party to the Rome Statute, which is the court’s legal basis. That is why in September Zelensky asked the UN General Assembly to establish a special tribunal on the war in Ukraine.
Ukraine sends reinforcements to besieged Bachmut
00:00 | Ukraine is sending reinforcements to Bachmut, in the east of the country, which has been besieged for months by the Russians. The extra units should prevent the loss of the city, which would mean a big symbolic victory for Moscow.
The deputy defense minister said that certain decisions still need to be made on Bach which, according to the media, cannot be announced. The city was now largely surrounded.
Around Bachmut, “the intensity of the fighting is only increasing,” Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky said in his latest daily commentary on the progress of the battle. According to him, that’s where “the greatest difficulties” lie.