Fixation of Evidentiary Information on the War Crimes, Committed in Ukraine

Abstract

Large-scale Russian aggression against Ukraine led to the huge number of war crimes commitment. The pre-trial investigation of this category of criminal proceedings led to problems in fixation of evidentiary information and collection evidence. Problems at this stage are associated with the dangers of conducting investigative (research) actions, the need to obtain information from the occupied territories, the presence of misinformation and countermeasures from the aggressor country. A separate problem was the departure of witnesses and victims abroad, the fear of giving statements to law enforcement agencies. Therefore, the most valuable information has become digital information and digital evidence, since their collection is possible remotely. In order for this information to become evidential, it is important to comply with the collection standards according to the relevant protocols. Today, the law enforcement agencies of Ukraine, which carry out pretrial investigations into crimes committed during the Russian aggression against Ukraine, work in difficult conditions of the growing number of atrocities of the aggressor’s army, the implementation of hostilities, the lack of safe conditions for recording and collecting evidentiary information.