The French National Anti-Terrorist Prosecutor’s Office announced in a press release that it had opened three investigations on Tuesday against X of the heads of “war crimes” likely to have been committed against French nationals over the past few weeks. The facts allegedly took place in Mariupol between February 25 and March 16, in Gostomel between March 1 and 12, and in Chernihiv since February 24.
According to the PNAT, the qualification of “war crimes” is justified by suspicions of“willful attacks on mental integrity”, “deliberate attacks against civilians not taking part in hostilities”, of “deliberate deprivation of objects indispensable to the survival of civilians”, and or of “deliberate attacks against civilian property, theft, destruction and damage to property”.
The Central Office for the Fight against Crimes against Humanity and Hate Crimes (OCLCH) is in charge of the investigations.
The PNAT had already opened an investigation for “war crime” in Ukraine, on March 16, after the death of the Franco-Irish journalist Pierre Zakrzewski, on March 14 in Horenka.