France dispatches team to Ukraine to investigate Russian war crimes

By Shweta Desai

PARIS (AA) - An expert French crime investigation team has arrived in Ukraine to investigate possible war crimes by Russian forces, France’s Foreign Ministry said Monday.

“France is resolutely committed alongside the Ukrainians, its international partners, and the courts to prevent impunity for unsustainable acts constituting war crimes,” the ministry said, adding: “France will not look away from such atrocities.”

The team is the first such deployment to Ukraine from a NATO country.

On Twitter, France’s Ambassador to Ukraine Etienne de Poncins said that the team in Lyiv, western Ukraine, will get to work tomorrow and that France is the first country to provide such help to Ukraine.

The technical team includes two forensic doctors and about 15 gendarmes from the National Gendarmerie's Criminal Research Institute with expertise in ballistics, explosives, DNA, and fingerprints. It was dispatched at President Emmanuel Macron’s instructions after massive abuses by Russian forces, particularly in the city of Bucha near the capital Kyiv came to light, the statement said.

This team will set up a DNA laboratory with a rapid and projectable genetic analysis device and examine and identify dead bodies in areas previously occupied by Russian forces. It will assist the Ukrainian authorities in the collection of evidence and also contribute to the International Criminal Court investigation, the statement added.

As term president of the Council of the European Union, Paris will also set up a European initiative with the agencies Europol and Eurojust and member countries to investigate possible war crimes in Ukraine.