After the U.S. and its partners reached a major breakthrough in delivering heavy weapons to Ukraine, Kyiv’s top law enforcement official is pushing allies to show similar determination to punish Russia in the courtroom.
“The instruments of delivering justice should be as strong as weapons we receive in order to fight for our independence,” Ukrainian Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin told The Hill.
He is visiting Washington this week for meetings with his counterpart, Attorney General Merrick Garland, other administration officials and lawmakers to push for further U.S. support in Ukraine’s legal battles against Russia.
Kostin’s visit follows President Biden’s decision last week to supply 31 M1 Abrams tanks to Ukraine, in tandem with similar commitments from Germany and other NATO allies. Ukraine has now renewed its push for modern fighter jets.
“The very difficult decisions to give us more and more weapons really went in parallel with decisions to support us in our justice initiatives,” Kostin said.
While Biden has described Russia’s aggression against Ukraine as committing “genocide,” Kyiv wants such crimes prosecuted in an international court, plus a special tribunal to punish Russian President Vladimir Putin for launching an invasion of the country on Feb. 24.
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Tanks, jets and justice: Ukraine’s top prosecutor tries to rally US on legal battle
