Case Explained: Destruction, Loss and War Crimes — Accountability Must Follow – Legal Perspective

Four years ago, Russia launched its illegal full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Since the first day of that invasion — and to this day — Russia continues to kill civilians, torture and rape Ukrainian people, abduct Ukrainian children, use starvation and cold as weapons, and destroy civilian and critical infrastructure. Hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian service personnel have been killed and injured bravely shielding defenceless civilians from the horrors of Russian occupation. 

The scale of destruction is immense. 

According to official Ukrainian sources, 4,456 educational institutions have been damaged by bombing and shelling, 408 of them completely destroyed. In the healthcare sector, 2,562 medical infrastructure facilities have been damaged or destroyed, including 328 that have been entirely levelled. Cultural life has been systematically targeted: 1,640 cultural heritage sites and 2,446 cultural infrastructure facilities have been damaged or destroyed. 

Ukraine’s energy system has remained under relentless attack. Since the start of 2026 alone, there have been at least 217 recorded attacks on the country’s energy infrastructure. Since the beginning of the 2025 heating season, Russia has struck critical thermal infrastructure facilities on a near-daily basis. As of April 2025, 63,000 energy infrastructure facilities across Ukraine had been damaged. 

The consequences of war are not measured in numbers alone. They are measured in daily loss, enduring trauma, and the resilience of millions of Ukrainians who continue to defend their independence and their future. 

The very least the world can do is to support Ukraine not only in resisting aggression, but in securing justice. 

Supporting Accountability: GRC’s Contribution

From the earliest stages of the full-scale invasion, Global Rights Compliance (GRC) has worked alongside Ukrainian authorities to ensure that international crimes are properly documented, investigated, and prosecuted. 

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GRC supports Ukrainian law enforcement agencies through Mobile Justice Teams operating across the country. These teams are part of the Atrocity Crimes Advisory Group for Ukraine (ACA), a multilateral initiative established by the United Kingdom, the European Union, and the United States to assist Ukrainian investigators and prosecutors in addressing international crimes committed during the full-scale war. 

Over the past year, GRC has conducted more than 160 comprehensive case reviews — structured legal assessments designed to strengthen evidence, refine legal qualifications, and enhance prosecutorial strategy. GRC has also completed over 30 reviews of draft notices of suspicion, helping to ensure that charges are robust, precise, and aligned with international legal standards. 

In addition, GRC has delivered over 50 legal opinions and produced 10 detailed legal reports addressing complex issues of international humanitarian and criminal law. Beyond these efforts, nearly 30 draft strategic plans, investigative plans, and standard operating procedures have been developed with GRC’s support, contributing to the institutional strengthening of Ukraine’s war crimes investigations framework. 

This work is undertaken in close cooperation with the Office of the Prosecutor General, the Regional Prosecutor’s Offices, the Security Service of Ukraine, and the National Police of Ukraine. The cases supported span a wide range of international crimes, including wilful killing, torture and ill-treatment, sexual violence, unlawful confinement, deportation and forcible transfer, attacks on civilians and civilian objects, environmental war crimes, genocide and its incitement, forced imposition of nationality, seizure and appropriation of property (including pillage), terror-related acts, persecution, and the crime of aggression. 

GRC’s Mobile Justice Teams have conducted 146 field missions to de-occupied regions, working directly in areas where international crimes have been committed. Alongside operational support, GRC has delivered around 50 specialised trainings covering atrocity crime investigations, case-building, command responsibility, the crime of genocide, environmental war crimes, the crime of aggression, the PEACE model of interviewing, conflict-related sexual violence, the crime of starvation, crimes against and affecting children, and the appropriation of natural resources. 

To further strengthen courtroom readiness, GRC organised and delivered two mock trials: one addressing torture and sexual violence in a detention centre involving a Ukrainian prisoner of war, and another focusing on child-sensitive and trauma-informed approaches. Both exercises brought together investigators, prosecutors, defence counsel, and judges in realistic simulated proceedings — enhancing practical skills and inter-institutional cooperation in complex war crimes cases. 

GRC also contributes as an implementing entity within eight thematic ACA–OPG clusters, including the crime of genocide, the crime of aggression, crimes against and affecting children, cyberwarfare, environmental war crimes, targeting of critical infrastructure, conflict-related sexual violence, conflict-related civilian detention, and attacks on cultural heritage. 

Wayne Jordash KC, President of Global Rights Compliance

To paraphrase Orwell’s famous warning, Russia tells us to ignore the evidence of your eyes and ears. It is their most essential command. Accordingly, we in the democratic world must do everything we can to prevent the autocrats of this world from continuing to destroy the world order. As regards Putin and Russia and their illegal invasion of Ukraine, it starts with the truth of their unlawful aggression and their ongoing violations of international law, especially their war crimes and crimes against humanity in Ukraine. This is why the civilised world must support the Prosecution’s documentation of these crimes, and we must find and insist upon the truth of their persecution and butchery of the Ukrainian population in furtherance of their dark, imperial aims.

MJT Leads on Working with Injustice in Ukraine

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