France confirmed on Friday the donation of a mobile DNA analysis laboratory to Kyiv, assuring that it would continue to support “the fight against impunity” in Ukraine, where the war is marred by accusations of war crimes.
“The crisis and support center of the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs provided the General Prosecutor’s Office of Ukraine on July 14, 2022 with a new mobile laboratory dedicated to rapid analysis and DNA expertise”, indicates the Quai d’Orsay in a press release.
“This LAB’ADN is a device (…) allowing rapid genetic analyzes of a large quantity of biological samples”, adds the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
This device was used in particular during the crash of a plane from the German company Germanwings in the French Alps in 2015, and in the context of the attack in Nice, in the south of France, on July 14, 2016.
The announcement of the donation of the mobile laboratory was made by Emmanuel Macron during his visit to Ukraine in June. The French Head of State had insisted on the importance “of ensuring that the war crimes” committed on Ukrainian soil “which the whole world has witnessed do not go unpunished” and that “law and international justice are needed”.
Ukraine, but also the UN and many human rights NGOs, denounce war crimes, even crimes against humanity, committed by the Russian army and widely documented, particularly in the region. of kyiv during its occupation in March, but also in Mariupol (south-east).
Russia, which launched a military offensive in Ukraine on February 24, refutes these accusations and in return accuses the Ukrainian forces of abuses and staging of crimes.
In early March, the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) Karim Khan opened an investigation into possible war crimes in Ukraine, after receiving a green light on this subject from 43 States.