“Putin is a war criminal,” Carla del Ponte told the Swiss newspaper Le Temps in an interview published Saturday. In an interview with Swiss media about the release of her latest book, the Swiss lawyer overseeing the UN investigations in Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia said that clear war crimes had been committed in Ukraine. She said she was particularly shocked by the use of mass graves in Russia’s war against Ukraine, which is reminiscent of the worst wars in the former Yugoslavia. “I hoped not to see mass graves again,” he told Blick. “These dead people have loved ones who do not even know what happened. This is unacceptable”. Other war crimes he identified in Ukraine included attacks on civilians, the destruction of political buildings and even the demolition of entire villages. Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting with top officials on March 31. Mikhail Klimentyev / Sputnik / Kremlin Pool Photo / AP He said the search in Ukraine would be easier than in Yugoslavia because the country itself had requested an international search. The current ICC Prosecutor General, Karim Khan, visited Ukraine last month. If the ICC finds evidence of war crimes, he said, “you have to climb the chain of command until you reach those who made the decisions.” He said even Putin could be held accountable. “You must not give up, keep searching. When the investigation into Slobodan Milosevic began, he was still president of Serbia. Who would have imagined then that one day he would be judged? “Nobody,” he told Blick. Del Ponte added that investigations into possible war crimes committed by both sides should be carried out, and also noted reports of alleged torture of some Russian prisoners of war by Ukrainian forces.
