Tuesday, 13 June ‘23
This week’s overview of key events and links to essential reading.
Also see
Ukrainian National Convicted of Treason and Robbery
Senior gunner told the court he understood that he was committing an offence but “could not fail to carry out the order”.
Tuesday, 13 June ‘23
This week’s overview of key events and links to essential reading.
Prosecutors Open Investigation Over Dam Destruction
On June 11, Ukrainian prosecutor general Andrii Kostin met representatives of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Kherson region to investigate the destruction of the Nova Kakhovka dam.
Kostin stated that given the complexity of the situation, his office gathered an unprecedentedly large group of prosecutors, including 172 from four regional prosecutor’s offices and others from the specialised environmental prosecutor’s office.
Kherson regional prosecutor's office started a pre-trial investigation for ecocide and violation of the laws and customs of war (Article 441, Part 1 of Article 438 of the criminal code) following the June 6 explosion that destroyed part of the dam over the Dnipro river in the southern city of Nova Kakhovka. The breach released millions of gallons of water, flooding settlements, including Kherson, and causing huge destruction.
The dam has been under Russian control since February 2022. Oleksiy Khomenko, first deputy prosecutor general of Ukraine, told reporters that “investigations are ongoing and the fact that the crime was committed in the temporarily occupied territory complicates them”.
Ukraine’s prosecutor general Andriy Kostin stated that the breach was a “war crime” and that Kyiv was ready to provide evidence to the International Criminal Court (ICC) “to punish all those involved in this crime”.
Ukraine’s largest hydropower-generating enterprise, Ukrhydroenergo, also appealed to the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) over the destruction of the power plant.
The state-owned enterprise stated that “the organised undermining of the dam, which is an object of critical social infrastructure, violates the Geneva Convention, in particular, the First Additional Protocol to the Geneva Conventions relating to the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts of June 8, 1977”.
Russian Commander Reported for Death of Seven in Kherson Region
Police investigators in the Kherson region issued a suspicion in absentia against Dmytro Nesterov, a commander of the Russian Navy’s Black Sea Fleet, for treason and fr violating the laws and customs of war by a group of persons (Parts 1 and 2 of Article 111, Part 2 of Article 28 and Part 2 of Article 438 of the criminal code).
According to the investigation, in 2014 the Ukrainian national joined the Russian army in Crimea and received Russian citizenship.
From March 2022, Nesterov took part in the occupation of settlements in the Kherson region. In April 2022, he was reportedly in the village of Pravdyne where, together with subordinates, he detained locals near the village, as well as a girl. Six men and the girl were taken to a private house, where they were shot. The house with the dead bodies was then blown up.
In November 2022, after the de-occupation of the village, investigators and forensic experts found signs of violent death on the bodies, including skull injuries from bullet wounds and bound wrists
