International Criminal Court sends 'largest ever' team of investigators to Ukraine

THE HAGUE

The International Criminal Court (ICC) sent a 42-member team to Ukraine on Tuesday to investigate alleged war crimes there since the start of Russia's war on that country.

"I can confirm that today my Office has deployed a team of 42 investigators, forensic experts and support personnel to Ukraine to advance our investigations into crimes falling into the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court," ICC prosecutor Karim Khan said in a statement.

He noted that it is the "largest ever" single field deployment by the ICC.

Khan said the team will focus on collecting testimonial accounts relevant to military attacks that may constitute Rome Statute crimes.

The ICC team will be in contact with Ukrainian authorities and other representatives in the country "to ensure continuity and continuation of work with respect to the identification of remains, ballistics analysis and the storage and preservation of forensic evidence," he added.

At least 3,668 people have been killed and 3,896 injured in Ukraine since Russia began its war Feb, 24, according to UN estimates. The true toll is believed to be much higher.

More than 6.2 million people have fled to other countries, with 7.7 million internally displaced, according to the UN refugee agency.