Ukraine pushes to try alleged war crimes as fighting rages

By ERIKA KINETZ
Associated Press

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — The appeal of Ukraine’s first war crimes conviction has been adjourned. The hearing for former Russian soldier Vadim Shishimarin was postponed until July 29 due to his lawyer’s ill health. It comes as Ukrainian prosecutors are pushing ahead to hold Russia legally accountable for atrocities even as fighting rages in Ukraine’s south and east. Around the capital region, where Russian forces pulled out four months ago, much of the work of documenting crime scenes and interviewing witnesses has been done. Now a more difficult phase in the search for accountability is underway. Ukrainian prosecutors have registered over 20,100 potential war crimes, and police in the Kyiv region have exhumed more than 1,300 bodies.