Attorney General Merrick Garland and his Ukrainian counterpart, Andriy Kostin, signed an agreement Tuesday aimed at formalizing cooperation over joint efforts to prosecute alleged war crimes committed by Russian forces in the war in Ukraine.
The two men signed the memorandum of understanding after meeting at Justice Department headquarters in Washington, a show of partnership to step up international pressure amid evidence of new mass atrocities discovered after Ukrainian forces took back wide swaths of territory in recent weeks.
Ukrainian authorities have said they are investigating a mass grave with more than 400 bodies found in Izyum, where Russian forces terrorized residents during a six-month occupation. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the spring said a previous massacre of civilians in Bucha amounted to “genocide.”
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Garland said the agreement would build on the work of a war crimes accountability team he announced in June after visiting Ukraine and meeting with local authorities. That team, led by Eli Rosenbaum, a 36-year veteran of the Justice Department, is charged with providing technical and legal assistance to Ukrainian officials, including help on evidence collection and forensic analysis.
“America and the world has seen the horrific images and heart-wrenching reports of brutality and death caused by the unjust Russian invasion of Ukraine,” Garland said at the signing event. “In our meeting just now, I reiterated the Justice Department’s commitment in standing with the people of Ukraine in the face of those horrors.”
Kostin has made the rounds in Washington to amplify the urgency of holding Russia accountable for its brutality. During an appearance on CBS News’ “Meet the Press” on Sunday, he said Ukrainian authorities had documented 34,000 war crimes.
At the Justice Department, Kostin said he had received word, just two hours before meeting with Garland, of newly discovered atrocities in Kharkiv, where another grave with 100 bodies was found.
“This evil should be fought and defeated by common efforts,” he said. “Those that commit international war crimes should be held accountable.”
War in Ukraine: What you need to know
The latest: Grain shipments from Ukraine are gathering pace under the agreement hammered out by Ukraine, Russia, Turkey and the United Nations in July. Russia’s blockade of Ukrainian Black Sea ports had sent food prices soaring and raised fears of more hunger in the Middle East and Africa. At least 18 ships, including loads of wheat, corn and sunflower oil, have departed.
The fight: The conflict on the ground grinds on as Russia uses its advantage in heavy artillery to pummel Ukrainian forces, which have sometimes been able to put up stiff resistance. In the south, Ukrainian hopes rest on liberating the Russia-occupied Kherson region, and ultimately Crimea, seized by Russia in 2014. Fears of a disaster at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Station remain as both sides accuse each other of shelling it.