Could Vladimir Putin end up being charged with war crimes over Ukraine invasion

Vladimir Putin faces being tried for war crimes, international prosecutors said last night as global revulsion for his atrocities grows.

Lawyers at the International Criminal Court revealed they were preparing for a full inquiry ‘as rapidly as possible’.

Boris Johnson said: ‘There’s no doubt that [Putin] is already using barbaric tactics, bombing civilian areas.

‘I have seen the reports about cluster bombs and thermobaric weapons.’

‘Everybody involved in the Russian onslaught should understand that all this will be collated in evidence to be used at a future time in what could be proceedings before the International Criminal Court.’

Vladimir Putin faces being tried for war crimes, international prosecutors said last night as global revulsion for his atrocities grows

Speaking during a visit to Poland, yesterday, he added that the Russian president had decided to ‘send missiles into tower blocks, to kill children, as we are seeing in increasing numbers’.

Justice Secretary Dominic Raab urged Russian commanders to disobey orders that break international law, adding: ‘There will be no impunity for war crimes. 

‘There is a clear determination from the international community to make sure that any war crimes are held to account, whether it is Putin or those around him in Moscow or commanders on the ground.

‘They must know that if they carry out those orders, there is a reasonable prospect… that they will end up spending their twilight years behind bars.’

Mr Raab, a former Foreign Office lawyer, previously worked at the ICC in the Netherlands, helping to bring war criminals to trial.

Asked whether Putin might face trial at the ICC, Mr Raab said: ‘We will not allow those responsible just to sit it out and wait and hope international attention will move elsewhere. 

‘We’ve just shown that with Radovan Karadzic, one of the butchers of the Balkans. He ended up, after years, in the dock in The Hague, and he’s now in a British high security prison where he will see out his days.’ 

The US is also looking at whether Russia has committed war crimes, White House Press secretary Jen Psaki said, citing ‘reports that are horrifying about barbaric tactics, whether it’s cluster bombs or other tactics we’ve seen that could be classified as a war crime’.

Lawyers at the International Criminal Court revealed they were preparing for a full inquiry ‘as rapidly as possible’. Boris Johnson said: ‘There’s no doubt that [Putin] is already using barbaric tactics, bombing civilian areas. I have seen the reports about cluster bombs and thermobaric weapons’

Irish foreign affairs minister Simon Coveney said there was ‘indisputable evidence’ of war crimes in Ukraine, and Canada is to petition the ICC to act.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said: ‘Russian forces brutally fired on Kharkiv from jet artillery. It was clearly a war crime.

‘Kharkiv is peaceful, there are peaceful residential areas, no military facilities. Dozens of eyewitness accounts prove this is not a single false volley, but deliberate destruction of people. 

‘The Russians knew where they were shooting.

‘There will definitely be an international tribunal for this crime – it’s a violation of all conventions. No one in the world will forgive you for killing peaceful Ukrainian people.’

The ICC’s chief prosecutor, British lawyer Karim Khan, said he expected a full investigation as soon as possible.

An ICC report published just over a year ago found ‘conduct constituting war crimes and crimes against humanity’ relating to Russian acts in Ukraine since 2013.

‘There is a reasonable basis to believe war crimes and crimes against humanity have been committed in relation to events assessed during the preliminary examination,’ he said. 

‘Given the expansion of the conflict, it is my intention that this investigation will encompass any new alleged crimes.’