Zelensky calls in The Hague for Putin to be sentenced while Moscow ramps up bombing

“The aggressor must feel the full power of Justice. It is our historical responsibility”. With these statements, Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky urged Russian President Vladimir Putin to be tried for crimes committed in the conflict he ordered against his neighboring country.

To do this, the Ukrainian president called for the creation of a war crimes court separate from the International Criminal Court (ICC), based in The Hague, from where he delivered a speech on Thursday, May 4.

“Only one institution is capable of responding to the original crime, the crime of aggression: a court. Not a compromise that allows politicians to say that the case is supposedly closed, but a true and complete court,” Zelensky said.

The petition comes after the ICC issued an arrest warrant against the Kremlin leader on March 17 for alleged war crimes. Although there are multiple atrocities committed by his troops, Putin is accused as the main person responsible for the kidnapping of thousands of Ukrainian children who during the current invasion would have been transferred to Russia.

However, Moscow dismissed the measure, calling it “insignificant” and noting that it does not recognize the figure of the highest court. And it is that Russia does not forms part of the Rome Statute of courtso the road to holding Putin to account is paved with obstacles.

Given the lack of jurisdiction, the European Commission, among other bodies, has already given its support to the creation of an independent international center for the prosecution of the crime of aggression in Ukraine, which would be established in The Hague.

“We all want to see a different Vladimir here in The Hague, the one who deserves to be punished for his criminal actions here, in the capital of International Law. I am sure that this will happen when we win (…) Whoever brings the war must receive the judgment Zelensky reiterated in his speech.

There are still important legal and practical questions to be resolved regarding how such a court would be legitimized, either by a group of countries that support it or with the approval of the United Nations General Assembly.

Since it ordered the conflict that it refers to as a “special military operation” to “denazify” Ukraine, the Kremlin denies having committed crimes in its neighboring country, despite the chilling testimonies of survivors and documentation from organizations such as the UN, which in September 2022 concluded that Russia has committed war crimes.

Russia accuses the US of attempted attack on the Kremlin; Washington rejects it

The Russian government accused the United States on Thursday of being behind the denounced attempted attack on the Kremlin facilities that would have occurred on Wednesday, May 3.

Moscow changes its accusations direction one day after it held Kiev directly responsible for the events, which it assures would have had the objective of assassinating Vladimir Putin, who was not at the scene.

Both kyiv and Washington refuse to be involved. The Government of Volodímir Zelenski even pointed out that the Kremlin would be fabricating a “pretext” to justify greater attacks against Ukrainian cities in the coming days.

“The attempts to repudiate this, both in kyiv and in Washington, are, of course, absolutely ridiculous. We know very well that decisions about such actions, about such terrorist attacks, are not taken in kyiv, but in Washington,” Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

Without presenting any evidence, Peskov asserted that Washington frequently selects both the targets for Ukraine to attack and the means to carry it out.

“This is also often dictated from the other side of the ocean. We know it well and we are aware of this (…) In Washington they must clearly understand that we know it,” he insisted.

In recent hours, White House national security spokesman John Kirby indicated that Moscow’s claims are “false” and that the United States does not encourage or allow Ukraine to attack outside its borders.

According to images disseminated by social networks and that have not been independently verified, in the midst of darkness there have been explosions near the dome that houses the headquarters of the Russian Senate.

Following the complaint, Russia maintains that it reserves the right to retaliate. Putin’s hardliners, such as former President Dmitry Medvedev, have gone further, saying the country should “physically remove” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Moscow launches new wave of assaults on Ukrainian soil

While the Kremlin continues with the accusations, its troops increase the onslaught against the country that they have been invading for more than 14 months.

Between Wednesday night and early Thursday morning, May 4, cities such as Kherson and Odessa, in southern Ukraine, and Kiev, the capital, located in the north of the country, were hit by new bursts of Russian projectiles.

The authorities assured that in total, the air defenses shot down 18 of 24 “kamikaze” drones before dawn.

In the capital it was the third attack in the last four days. The kyiv Administration indicated that Russia probably fired ballistic missiles and drones, but they were all shot down by their forces.

“The Russians attacked kyiv using munitions and Shahed loitering missiles, probably of the ballistic type,” he stressed.

In Odessa, out of 15 drones fired, 12 were shot down. However, three reached a university campus, specified the southern military command.

In the eastern Donetsk region, shelling damaged a power plant but no casualties were reported, the energy ministry said.

Meanwhile, in Kherson, the death toll from a Russian airstrike on Wednesday May 3 rose to 23, regional governor Oleksandr Prokudin confirmed.

With Reuters and AP