The UN Human Rights Council overwhelmingly approved, on Tuesday, the extension of the mandate for a committee investigating the potential commission of war crimes since Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Twenty-eight countries supported the extension of the independent international commission's mandate on Ukraine for one year. Seventeen countries abstained from voting, and two countries opposed the committee, which Ukraine claims is necessary to hold Russia accountable for its crimes.
Ukrainian Ambassador to the UN in Geneva, Yevhenia Filipenko, stated before the vote: "The scale and brutality of the atrocities committed by Russia in Ukraine simply exceeds (the capacity of) any human to comprehend." She added, "We firmly believe that the continued work of the committee in conducting further investigations, documenting, and reporting on human rights violations and international crimes committed against people in Ukraine can save the lives of more innocents and contribute to holding perpetrators accountable and achieving justice for victims."
In a report published last month, the committee concluded that some crimes committed by Russian forces in Ukraine, including the use of torture and attacks on the country's energy infrastructure, could amount to crimes against humanity.
