WASHINGTON: US Attorney General Merrick Garland was in Ukraine Tuesday (June 21) to discuss the prosecution of individuals involved in war crimes in the European country invaded by Russia in late February, a Justice Department official said.
Garland is meeting with Ukrainian Attorney General Iryna Venediktova near the Polish-Ukrainian border, the official said.
They will discuss US and international efforts to help Ukraine “identify, apprehend and prosecute those involved in war crimes and other atrocities in Ukraine,” the official said.
Garland stops in Ukraine on his way to the US-EU Ministerial in Paris.
Nearly four months after Russia invaded Ukraine, Kiev says it has identified thousands of suspected war crimes cases.
Most notorious are the allegations of willful murder of dozens of civilians in Bucha, just outside the Ukrainian capital.
The US State Department announced in May the creation of a new unit to investigate, document and disclose alleged war crimes committed by Russia in Ukraine.
