The State Department on Tuesday announced the launch of a new “Conflict Observatory” program that aims to document alleged war crimes perpetrated by Russia amid the ongoing war in Ukraine. 

What You Need To Know

  • The State Department on Tuesday announced the launch of a new “Conflict Observatory” program that aims to document alleged war crimes perpetrated by Russia in Ukraine

  • Thanks to an initial $6 million investment, the Conflict Observatory will catalog all information it receives on a public-facing website

  • The International Criminal Court, prosecutors from across the globe and Ukraine’s prosecutor general are investigating more than 8,000 reports of potential war crimes in Ukraine

  • State Department officials in March formally accused Russian forces of committing war crimes in Ukraine, beginning the lengthy process of trying to hold the Kremlin accountable for its actions

“The program encompasses the documentation, verification, and dissemination of open-source evidence regarding the actions of Russia’s forces during President Putin’s brutal war of choice,” a release from the State Department says in part. “The Conflict Observatory will analyze and preserve publicly and commercially available information, including satellite imagery and information shared via social media, consistent with international legal standards, for use in ongoing and future accountability mechanisms.” 

Thanks to an initial $6 million investment, the Conflict Observatory will catalog all information it receives on a public-facing website. The documents will be collected in partnership with the Yale University’s Humanitarian Research Lab, the Smithsonian Cultural Rescue Initiative, PlanetScape Ai and Esri, a geographic information system. 

The U.S. government expects to receive additional funds for the program from other international partners as the operation continues. 

“The international community has witnessed horrific atrocities perpetrated by Russia's forces since President Putin launched his devastating and unjustifiable war of choice against Ukraine,” State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters on Tuesday. “We are working through partnerships with U.S. academia and the private sector to assist current and future quests for justice following months of fighting and mounting evidence of these widespread, large-scale atrocities that have been committed.” 

State Department officials in March formally accused Russian forces of committing war crimes in Ukraine, beginning the lengthy process of trying to hold the Kremlin accountable for its actions. 

The International Criminal Court, prosecutors from across the globe and Ukraine’s prosecutor general are investigating more than 8,000 reports of potential war crimes in Ukraine involving 500 suspects. Many are accused of aiming deliberately at civilian structures like hospitals, shelters and residential neighborhoods.

While Russia, Ukraine nor the United States are party to the ICC – meaning the court would typically not have jurisdiction – Ukraine has in the past “exercised its prerogatives to accept the Court's jurisdiction” for crimes committed within its territory, per the court, meaning the ICC would be able to prosecute individuals on an international level on behalf of the country. 

“This is the first time that these partners will have come together and to share those findings so that not only the public can see it to shine a spotlight on what Russia's forces are doing in Ukraine, but so that relevant authorities in areas of appropriate jurisdiction, including within Ukraine, potentially including within the United States, so that prosecutors can potentially even build criminal cases based on the material that is published online,” Price said of the Conflict Observatory. 

According to the United Nations, there are three “atrocity crimes”: genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, which the international body says is “based on the belief that the acts associated with them affect the core dignity of human beings, in particular the persons that should be most protected by States, both in times of peace and in times of war.” 

Ukraine has already begun the first trial for an individual accused of war crimes. Last week, 21-year-old suspect Sgt. Vadim Shyshimarin went on trial for allegedly shooting a 62-year-old Ukrainian man in the head through an open car window in the northeastern village of Chupakhivka during the first days of the war.

He faces up to life in prison under a section of the Ukrainian criminal code that addresses the laws and customs of war. Ukraine’s top prosecutor, with help from foreign experts, is investigating allegations that Russian troops violated Ukrainian and international law by killing, torturing and abusing possibly thousands of Ukrainian civilians.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.