Courts have handed down sentences to 29 Russian military personnel for crimes committed in Bucha

Based on the results of investigations into war crimes committed in Bucha and the surrounding area, courts have already handed down 29 convictions against Russian servicemen, including a 12-year prison sentence for one prisoner of war. 

This was announced by Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko during the Bucha Summit, according to Ukrinform. To date, law enforcement officials have officially notified 215 individuals of their status as suspects, and cases involving 157 of them have already been referred to the courts.

Investigators have identified elite Russian units, specifically the 234th Regiment of the 76th Division, which were present in the city during the occupation. In total, nearly 900 war crimes have been documented in Bucha, and the bodies of 358 victims have been recovered, most of whom were civilians and children. Law enforcement officials have conducted over 4,000 investigative actions, gathering evidence of the occupiers’ involvement in the murders of 59 civilians and the brutal mistreatment of another 37 people.

The scope of investigations across the country covers more than 218,000 registered war crimes during the full-scale Russian invasion. To date, charges have been filed against 1,153 individuals, and courts have handed down a total of 240 convictions. The Prosecutor General emphasized that efforts to establish the chain of command from the perpetrators to the higher command are ongoing, as such crimes have no statute of limitations.

The European Union insists on the need to hold Russia accountable for the crimes committed in Bucha at the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

The foreign ministers of the European Union member states have expressed their support for the creation of a special tribunal to investigate Russia’s war crimes in Ukraine.