Germany has collected evidence of war crimes in Ukraine, the country spokesman said in a newspaper interview published on Saturday that he saw a need for a judicial process at international level.
Peter Frank told the Welt am Sonntag newspaper that we are focused on mass killings in Bucha or attacks against Ukrainian civilian infrastructure.
He added that prosecutors had pieces of evidence in the three-digit range, but he didn't elaborate.
Ukraine and its western allies accused Russian forces of committing atrocities in Bucha, a satellite town of Kyiv, soon after launching their invasion in February. Moscow has denied the charge. Russia has targeted key infrastructure in Ukraine but denies deliberately targeting civilians.
In March 2022 Germany began collecting evidence to prosecute possible war crimes, including interviewing Ukrainian refugees and evaluating publicly available information, Frank said. German prosecutors were not yet investigating specific individuals.
We are preparing ourselves for a possible later court case - be it with us in Germany, be it with our foreign partners, be it before an international court.
Asked who should be tried, Frank said Russian state leaders and those who implement decisions at the highest military level should be held accountable.
Ukraine is pushing for a special tribunal to prosecute Russian military and political leaders it holds responsible for starting the war.