An international office to investigate Russia for its invasion of Ukraine has been opened on 3 July in The Hague. This is the first step towards a possible tribunal against the leadership in Moscow.

The International Centre for the Prosecution of Aggression (ICPA) has prosecutors from Kyiv, the European Union, the United States, and the International Criminal Court (ICC).

This office will investigate and gather evidence, in a move seen as a temporary measure before the establishment of a special tribunal that could bring Kremlin officials to justice for the start of the war in Ukraine.

Several high-ranking officials from the ICPA will hold a press conference later in the day. The conference is expected to feature Ukrainian Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin, ICC prosecutor Karim Khan, U.S. Deputy Attorney General Kenneth Polite, and EU Commissioner for Justice Didier Reynders.

Calls for the creation of a special tribunal for Ukraine have increased because the ICC, the court for war crimes also based in The Hague, does not have the mandate to investigate the broad crime of aggression.

The ICC is investigating more specific war crimes and crimes against humanity in Ukraine and in March issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin, related to allegations of child deportations.

Kyiv has been calling for the creation of a special tribunal since the discovery of hundreds of bodies after Russian troops withdrew from the city of Bucha, near the Ukrainian capital, in April 2022.

International support for this idea has grown, and the European Commission announced the creation of the ICPA in February.

Brussels has stated that this center has “the main objective of criminally prosecuting those responsible for the occupation” of Ukraine.

The involvement of the United States has given more strength to the efforts to establish a special tribunal, despite the fact that Washington still refuses to become a part of the ICC.