“On May 9, 2025, it became one of the landmark dates for Ukraine, its Western allies and international justice as a whole. In Lviv, almost 40 countries of the world – mainly the Council of Europe and the G7 countries – have expressed political support for the creation of a special tribunal. He should be criminally liable by the Russian political and military leadership for a crime of aggression against”, – WRITE ON: ua.news
On May 9, 2025, it became one of the landmark dates for Ukraine, its Western allies and international justice as a whole. In Lviv, almost 40 countries of the world – mainly the Council of Europe and the G7 countries – have expressed political support for the creation of a special tribunal. He should be criminally liable by the Russian political and military leadership for the crime of aggression against Ukraine.
An international judicial authority that will investigate the fact of armed aggression and make appropriate sentences will appear almost for the last 80 years. Until now, such a mechanism has not existed, although the crime itself was recognized as international law.
The special tribunal is unofficially called “new Nuremberg” or “Putin’s tribunal”. Since the higher leadership of the state, which gave orders, is considered responsible for the crime of aggression.
UA.news tells about the creation of a special tribunal for Russia, how the process of justice will be organized and when to wait for sentences against the Kremlin regime.
How did the Tribunal for the Russian Federation
From the first months of the Great War, Ukraine and its Western allies were the task of creating a separate independent tribunal, which would condemn the Russian dictator of Putin and other Kremlin officials for an armed attack. They could not rely on the International Criminal Court (ISS) in Hague, since it has no authority to consider the crime of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine for several reasons:
- Russia is not a participant in the Roman Statute.
- The ISS cannot investigate the crimes of aggression without the approval of the UN Security Council, where Russia is vetoed and can block any decision.
In March 2022, Ukraine, together with partners, initiated the creation of a special about a journey for the ruling top of the Russian Federation and this proposal was supported by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, the European Parliament, NATO representatives, the OSCE and individual states. In total, 38 countries were included in the Coalition (SORE Group).
The precedent of the creation of such a body of international justice was already in the last century. In January 1942, in London, representatives of nine states signed a declaration that laid the foundations of the Nuremberg Tribunal.
Leading international law experts in Ukraine and South countries have worked on the constituent documents of the Tribunal for Russia for almost three years. In February 2025, the 13th meeting of the main group of jurists took place in Brussels, which agreed on the legal basis for the establishment of such an international judicial body.
On May 9, during a meeting of the Coalition of States (Core Group) in Lviv, nearly 40 countries agreed on a joint statement about political support for the creation of a Tribunal for the Russian Federation.
Foreign Ministers and Coalition Representatives stressed that the support of the special journey is based on the provisions of the resolutions of the UN General Assembly and the Vienna-Ryz statement, adopted on November 22, 2024.
The coalition congratulated the completion of technical work on the prosets of legal instruments necessary for the launch of the tribunal within the Council of Europe. It also confirmed the dedication of the rapid launch of the tribunal and ensuring its full and efficient work.
Whom the tribunal will be judged and what sentences are envisaged
The special tribunal will be located in the Hague (the Netherlands). Its activities will be based on its own charter and international law. If these rules are not enough, the judges and prosecutors will be guided by Ukrainian law, as well as the practice of other international tribunals, including those who took place for Yugoslavia and Rwanda.
The list of criminals judged by the tribunal will include only political and military high -ranking officials who gave orders for armed invasion of Ukraine. It is expected that in the initial stage will investigate the actions of three representatives of the Russian top: Putin’s dictator, Mishustin Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. But they can only be judged after they leave the posts. Subsequently, the Belarusian dictator Lukashenko and North Korea leader Kim Jong -in will be able to get into the tribunal.
As for other criminals from Putin’s environment, they can be judged in absentia. According to this procedure, Ukrainian courts are already submitted by Russian military criminals. The correspondence format will allow to hold a tribunal over the former head of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation Shoigh, Deputy Secretary of the Radbeza Medvedev, Chief of the General Staff Gerasimov and others.
Unlike the Nuremberg process, the tribunal in the Hague will not be condemned to death. Life imprisonment will be the highest punishment. But there are also possible limitation of a term of up to 30 years, as well as awarding fines and confiscation of property.
The case to the tribunal in the Hague will be sent by the Prosecutor General of Ukraine. The International Center for Pursuing Aggression against Ukraine (ICPA) will submit all the evidence of the Attorney General’s office collected. There are already a general case about Russian aggression, which include representatives of the Russian authorities of all levels, law enforcement, propagandists and other figures involved in the crime of aggression.
When the tribunal works
The special tribunal for Russia may work in 2026, did not exclude the head of European diplomacy Kai Callas during a press conference in Lviv on May 9.
“The Council of Europe is engaged in the creation of the whole structure and determines how much time it takes. Therefore, it is difficult to say, but I would not like to name any specific dates, although in the documents I have seen, maybe everything will be ready by 2026 ”, Callas suggested.
In general, to start working on affairs, the tribunal, as an international organization, must undergo several stages of legal design. Foreign Minister Luxembourg Ksavier Bettel stated that a formal procedure for launching a special -tribunal on aggression committed by Russia against Ukraine may take place next week.
“The tribunal will be launched next week in Luxembourg, where the Council of Ministers of the Council of Europe will be held, where the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine will make official requirements”, Said the Foreign Minister. In addition, Luxembourg will have an official delivery of documents for the creation of a special joint.
In the future, a package of documents should be formally approved in Strasbourg. After that, Ukraine and the Council of Europe will sign an agreement to create a tribunal as an international organization and its charter. The agreement should be ratified in the Council of Europe and the Ukrainian Parliament. Subsequently, several additional agreements are signed.
“We are now actively working with the Council of Europe. Here I would like to emphasize the role of the Council of Europe. The Council of Europe is a central institution, the central element of this process. So today we accept political dock Ument – Lviv Declaration. And we give political support and start at the level of the Foreign Ministry of EU countries, ”, – Andrey Sibiga, head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, commented with partners.
In 2025, the composition of the special journalist should also begin: they will recruit judges, the Secretariat, implement rules and regulations of work, procedures.
When there are sentences
On May 9, when the Russian dictator Putin welcomed the military parade in Moscow, European high -ranking officials in Lviv confirmed that the special tribunal would pass sentences for armed aggression crime that Kremlin political elite and generality.
“Without aggression, there would be no war crimes committed in Ukraine without this crime.”– said the high representative of EU Kai Callas security and foreign policy.
According to her, aggression is a “leadership crime”, which involves the guilt of the country’s leaders. She also suggested that there was a possibility of sentences before the arrest of Russian leaders.
“Can they be convicted in absentia? Yes, it’s possible. But there is a restriction as long as they are in office ”, Callas said.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy also emphasized the importance of sentences for the political leadership of Russia.
“It is the highest moral heritage of the twentieth century: there should be responsibility. Especially – responsibility for the war. Because even one war goes unpunished, new wars will come. That is why Putin began a full -scale war against Ukraine – he escaped punishment for previous wars, as a bandit, who was never responsible for the committed. This can no longer be allowed. “
Volodymyr Zelenskyy, President of Ukraine
The very possibility of creating such a tribunal for Russia, according to the figures tangent to this process, gives hope for the sentences for violations of international law and mass victims, including among civilians. However, it should not be expected that future lawsuits over the Russian top will resemble the Nuremberg tribunal. Since the trial of the Third Reich himself was possible only after the losing Hitler in World War II.