A Russian soldier stands near a bombed building in Mariupol, August 2022. Photo: YURIY KOCHETKOV/EPA-EFE/SHUTTERSTOCK
Russian troops bombed food distribution points and vital infrastructure as part of a deliberate plan to starve civilians during the Battle of Mariupol, a new legal report claims.
Global Rights Compliance, an international legal foundation working in tandem with Ukrainian prosecutors, said Russian troops should be held accountable for the war crime of starvation after a year-long review of open-source evidence found a “deliberately calculated” use of the tactic starvation during hostilities. 85-day siege
His 76-page report, published today, is due to be submitted to the International Criminal Court prosecutor as part of a wider file of war crimes evidence compiled by Ukraine's prosecutor general.
The capture of the Azov seaport of Mariupol was one of the main goals of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022.
Russian troops surrounded the city in the first week of the invasion. The subsequent siege and urban battle ended only after the last Ukrainian defenders of the Azovstal metallurgical plant surrendered on May 20.
A a shell hit the Azovstal metallurgical plant, May 2022. Photo: MINISTRY OF INTERNAL AFFAIRS OF THE DONETSK PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC/REUTERS
Much of the city was destroyed, and municipal authorities in exile estimated that at least 25,000 civilians were injured when it fell. killed in action.
A report released Wednesday said much of the destruction was deliberate, rather than collateral damage, and was aimed at hastening capitulation by making the city uninhabitable.The investigation was carried out as part of the Atrocities Advisory Group, an initiative funded by the EU, UK and US, which was created in 2022 to help Ukrainian prosecutors investigate war crimes.
It analyzed 1.5 billion square meters of satellite images, as well as photographs, videos, official public statements and other digital data collected between May 2022 and February 2024.
The report also includes evidence provided by Ukrainian authorities, as well as never-before-seen photographs , made during the blockade.
Residents of Mariupol at the market, December 2022 Photo: SERGEY ILNITSKY /EPA-EFE/SHUTTERSTOCK
Investigators determined that shelling was critical infrastructure began on or before February 27, when Russian troops struck a major power line, cutting off power to about half the city.
This was “immediately followed by a four-day shelling that left more than 450,000 Ukrainians completely without electricity and gas,” the report said.
The report said Russian forces damaged or destroyed 90 percent of medical facilities. institutions in the city and at least 22 supermarkets, which were used to distribute basic necessities. The March 16 bombings of the Mariupol Drama Theater and the Neptune swimming pool, which were used as aid points, were also part of this scheme.
The attacks “disrupted access to critical resources for the civilian population of Mariupol” and were combined with Russian troops blocking access to humanitarian aid and evacuation routes, “part of a ruthless plan to starve the city’s population,” the report said.
The damaged roof of the Neptune swimming pool
The purpose of the civilian famine was to “accelerate the takeover of the besieged enclave, with such efforts clearly escalating and culminating in the declared capture of the city of Mariupol on May 20, 2022,” it added.
Catriona Murdoch, Director of Famine and Humanitarian Crises Global Rights Compliance and co-author of the report told the Telegraph that her team had identified Russian military units and individual suspects they believed could be charged with war crimes related to the famine, but said they would not be named publicly. the investigation is ongoing.
“I call on the International Criminal Court to consider these crimes and the collective punishment of innocent Ukrainian citizens, seeking justice for the Russian leadership, right up to the Kremlin,” she said.
Destroyed maternity ward of City Hospital No. 3
Starvation of civilians as a weapon of war was prohibited by the Rome Statute by the International Criminal Court in 1988, but has never been prosecuted internationally.
Neither Russia nor Ukraine are state parties to the Rome Statute, but Ukraine has accepted the jurisdiction of the ICC over alleged crimes occurring on its territory. Russia denies war crimes during the invasion.
The ICC has issued arrest warrants for Vladimir Putin in connection with the alleged mass deportation of Ukrainian children in July 2023, as well as two senior Russian officers in connection with the explosion of a civilian power plant. infrastructure.
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