The Ukrainian parliament today approved Kyiv's accession to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the hope of punishing Russia for alleged war crimes committed in Ukraine, according to several MPs.
The issue is highly sensitive in Ukraine, with many fearing that armed forces fighting the Russian army will in turn be targeted by the ICC, whose mission is to prosecute perpetrators of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes and aggression.
A total of 281 MPs voted in favor of ratifying the Rome Statute, the ICC's founding treaty, with a minimum of 226 required, several MPs announced on social media.
This decision will open up "greater possibilities for punishing Russians and will further isolate Russia," said Yevgenia Kravchuk, a member of the ruling party, on the social network Facebook.
According to her, Ukraine invoked Article 124 of the Rome Statute, which allows a seven-year exemption for any Ukrainian, civilian or military, from war crimes trials by the ICC.
The ratification of the document submitted to Parliament this month by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is part of Kyiv's commitments to the European Union (EU).
"This is a necessary, fully justified and safe step," Yevgenia Kravchuk added.
An opposition MP, Iryna Gerashchenko, who did not support the document, as did her party (European Solidarity), reported "difficult discussions" in Parliament before the vote.
"The military requested that the ratification be postponed until the end of martial law," she said on the Telegram social network.
"No one has explained what will happen after" the seven-year exemption provided for in Article 124, Gerashchenko said.
Ukraine has been at war with Russia in the east of the country since 2014, when the Russians annexed Ukraine's Crimea peninsula and then, on February 24, 2022, when they launched a full-scale invasion of Ukrainian territory.
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