AZOV … Wagner … Mercenaries; all that is so bad about war. There are war crimes. Russia’s President Vladimir Putin is targeted by prime ministers present and past to appear before a tribunal for the crime associated with “AGGRESSION”. To keep a sense of equity; we must also account if Ukraine resorts to war crimes? Hopefully they will retain fairness and dignity. Source: THE GZERO NEWSLETTER SIGNAL

Will Ukraine investigate its own war crimes?

In recent days, images, video, and personal testimonies from Ukrainian villages liberated from Russian occupation strongly suggest that Vladimir Putin’s armies have committed war crimes. Moscow denies the allegations, despite mounting proof. Now it’s the Ukrainian side’s chance to do better.

On Wednesday, the New York Times confirmed the veracity of a video that appears to show Ukrainian forces executing one Russian prisoner of war and leaving another to die on a road near Kyiv. The revelation puts Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in a tough spot. He has framed Ukraine’s fight as a struggle for democracy, human rights, and the rule of law.

Holding Ukrainian forces accountable for war crimes would be consistent with that. At the same time, it’s not easy, politically, to prosecute your own soldiers while they are holding off a brutal invasion. What’s more, the large presence of irregular, volunteer fighters on the Ukrainian side could complicate accountability for crimes like this. Asked about the incident on Thursday, Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said “the Ukrainian army observes the rules of warfare” and pledged that any “isolated incidents will definitely be investigated.” We are watching to see if it happens.