War crimes investigators begin collecting evidence in Ukraine

Ukrainians fleeing scenes of destruction and massacre in Ukraine are currently being interviewed by investigators pending a upcoming Vladimir Putin war crimes trial, along with his top officials and generals.

With over a million refugees crossing the border, there is a wealth of eyewitness testimony, while the flow of video footage through social media has provided an unprecedented amount of evidence that is undergoing forensic analysis.

However, the huge amount of evidence is not necessarily a guarantee of a successful trial, and experienced war crimes investigators warn there is a long struggle before Putin and his regime are at the dock of indictees, personally or in absentia.

Numerous investigations have been launched at the same time, and it is not clear to what extent they are coordinated, if at all.

The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (GJPN) in The Hague has opened an investigation, following an unprecedented petition of 39 member states, and will almost certainly receive the largest government support.