Russia Will Try Zelenskyy As A War Criminal If They Capture Him, Senior Lawmaker Says

A senior lawmaker in the Donetsk People's Republic has told Russian state media that the region will try President Zelenskyy as a war criminal.

Yelena Shishkina told Russian news agency Tass that the DPR – a Russian-backed breakaway state in Ukraine – is seeking to charge lawmakers who have led Ukraine since Putin annexed Crimea in 2014.

According to Shishkina, the likes of Zelenskyy, former acting president Oleksandr Turchynov and former president Petro Poroshenko are among those the region intends to bring war crime charges against.

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"Perpetrators of military crimes are not just those who hold weapons in their hands and pull the trigger. Those are also generals, who issue orders, and presidents, too.

"Ukraine has put in place conditions that allowed neo-Nazi organisations to function on its territory, including amnesty for their members, failures to bring them to criminal responsibility, and legislative endorsement of crimes committed against Russians," she added.

"When sufficient evidence is presented by law-enforcement agencies … then, of course, those guilty will be punished."

Ever since Putin launched his 'special military operation' in Ukraine back in February, the Kremlin leader has continued to push the narrative that his invasion intends to 'denazify' the country.

Despite saying civilians wouldn't be targeted, more than 4,000 have been killed so far in the war - although the figure is believed to be much higher.

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"Overall, to date, we have corroborated 7,061 civilian casualties, with 3,381 killed and 3,680 injured across the country since the beginning of the armed attack by the Russian Federation. The actual figures are higher and we are working to corroborate every single incident,” Matilda Bogner, head of the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission, said last month.

The International Criminal Court has since confirmed it would be investigating possible war crimes committed during Russia's invasion, as world leaders continue to call for Putin to be held accountable for the rising number of civilian deaths in the country.

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According to Ukrainian chief prosecutor Iryna Venediktova, an estimated 15,000 alleged war crimes have been reported in Ukraine since the start of the invasion on 24 February, with several thousand of the suspected crimes having been identified in the eastern Donbas region - which has been the backdrop of particularly intense conflict between Russian and Ukrainian troops.

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