President Zelensky: The day will come when a tribunal will be created to hold the Russians accountable for their crimes

The day will come when a tribunal will be created that will restore justice to our nation and punish the Russians in the same way as the aggressors were punished in the past, said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in a speech on the anniversary of the bombing of the Drama Theater building in Mariupol in south-eastern Ukraine by Russian troops.

“The day will come and we will liberate Mariupol. All our south. All our East. Just like we liberated our other cities,” Zelensky said in a Thursday evening speech.

“The day will come when there will be a tribunal that will restore justice to our nation. A tribunal that will punish this aggressor just as aggressors have been punished in the past. When all those guilty of war crimes against Ukrainians will be in the halls of the International Criminal Court and national courts,” the president said.

Zelensky again recalled the Russian bombing of the Drama Theater in besieged Mariupol, where civilians were hiding, a year ago. The Ukrainian president called it “one of the most terrible crimes of this war”, in which people, including women and children, were killed, hiding from Russian aggression. He reminded that in front of the theater the inscription “Children” was visible from the air and the Russians knew who the target of their attack was.

“A civilian object, deliberately destroyed by the occupiers. To this day, we do not know the exact number of dead. Hundreds of people. Or thousands,” Zelensky said, adding that those guilty of all crimes will be held accountable. The Ukrainian authorities, he assured, are doing everything to carry out the necessary legal actions and mobilize partners.

On March 16, 2022, a Russian plane dropped a bomb on the Drama Theater in Mariupol. According to the Ukrainian authorities and witnesses who managed to survive and then get out of the besieged and attacked city by the Russians, civilians were hiding in this building. The exact number of victims is currently impossible to determine – Mariupol is under Russian occupation. According to various estimates and reports, about 300 people may have died in the bombing of the theater. The Associated Press agency, based on its own investigation, estimated in May 2022 that nearly 600 people were killed. (PAP)

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