Ukraine: Tearful captured Russian soldier fed by locals

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The former lawyer has revealed to The Telegraph that plans are being drawn up to identify and capture fugitives suspected of committing acts of brutality. This comes as Boris Johnson openly accused Vladimir Putin of war crimes during Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday.

The Prime Minister condemned the attacks on civilians as “abhorrent”, with Downing Street later confirming that the Russian airstrike on the Babyn Yar Holocaust memorial constituted a war crime.

No 10 said: “Obviously, formally it will be for a criminal court to make that ruling but I think no one can be in any doubt that what we’re seeing daily, almost hourly now, are horrific acts that would certainly appear to be war crimes.”

Mr Raab said he had discussed the matter of prosecuting war criminals with Foreign Secretary Liz Truss.

While the “precise role” of the UK in these trials is unclear, Mr Raab said it was “important to lay down a marker now”.

He added: “What we really want to do is get this message to Putin but also any commander in the field who may be thinking about what he is going to do with an illegal order that may cause him to commit war crimes.

“They need to know there is a very real chance that they will face the dock of a court in The Hague and a jail cell.

“That’s why we will support the International Criminal Court, technically but also in terms of any other ways.”

The UK is one of 38 countries that have referred reports of atrocities in Ukraine to the International Criminal Court (ICC), making it the largest referral in their history.

Such a referral will speed up the process of prosecution as the prosecutor does not need the approval of ICC judges before opening an investigation.

ICC prosecutor Karim Khan confirmed that they had begun an investigation into the war in Ukraine following the referral.

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He said in a statement: “I have notified the ICC presidency a few moments ago of my decision to immediately proceed with active investigations in the situation.

“Our work in the collection of evidence has now commenced.”

Liz Truss said that the UK “will work closely with allies to ensure justice is done”.

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