G7 ministers discuss war crime probes – DW – 11/29/2022
A delegation from Ukraine was attending a meeting of justice ministers from the G7 countries this Tuesday in Berlin to discuss improving cooperation on war crime probes.
German Justice Minister Marco Buschmann said the aim was primarily about cooperation in securing evidence and avoiding duplication of work.
Victims who testify should not, for example, be asked to testify about their traumatic experiences more than once, he said.
Buschmann added that the meeting sent out the signal: “War crimes must not go unpunished.”
Ukraine is pushing for a special tribunal to prosecute Russian war crimes, with the EU signaling it was opened to the idea.
Germany holds the G7 presidency until the end of the year, and Japan will take the role over in 2023.
G7 talks are also set to take place among foreign ministers on the sidelines of a NATO summit in the Romanian capital, Bucharest.
Here are the other main headlines from the war in Ukraine on Tuesday, November 29:
NATO chief says Ukraine support will not waiver
NATO head Jens Stoltenberg said the alliance would not back down in its support for Kyiv as the alliance’s foreign ministers gather in Bucharest to discuss more aid for Ukraine over the winter.
In an opening address, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said Ukraine could only gain acceptable terms if it were to advance on the battlefield.
“NATO will continue to stand for Ukraine as long as it takes. We will not back down,” Stoltenberg said.
Ministers are expected to discuss additional support following Russian attacks on the Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.
Ahead of the meeting, Stoltenberg said Moscow was trying to use winter as a “weapon of war against Ukraine” adding that NATO’s allies and Ukraine “need to be prepared for more attacks.”
Russian missiles hit Ukrainian city of Dnipro
Regional officials say four Russian missiles struck the central Ukrainian city of Dnipro earlier on Tuesday.
The governor of the Dnipropetrovsk region, Valentyn Reznichenko, said the production facilities of a “private company” had been severely damaged in the attack.
A fire broke out as a result of the missile strikes but has since been extinguished, Reznichenko said. He added that there were no casualties or injuries.
Reznichenko said the town of Nikopol, which lies further south on the Dnipro river, was also shelled.
UK ministry sees shift in Russia’s deployment tactics
The UK Ministry of Defense says it appears that Russian forces in Ukraine have largely stopped deploying as Battalion Tactical Groups (BTGs).
The ministry says that the BTG concept has played a major part in Russian military doctrine for the last ten years.
It sees battalions integrated with a full range of supporting sub-units, including armor, reconnaissance and, as opposed to normal Western practice, artillery. The ministry says the goal, to allow greater flexibility, has not been realized in Ukraine.
“Several intrinsic weaknesses of the BTG concept have been exposed in the high intensity, large-scale combat of the Ukraine war so far,” the ministry said.
“BTGs’ relatively small allocation of combat infantry has often proved insufficient.”
“Decentralised distribution of artillery has not allowed Russia to fully leverage its advantage in numbers of guns; and few BTG commanders have been empowered to flexibly exploit opportunities in the way the BTG model was designed to promote.”
rc/dj (AFP, dpa, AP, Reuters)