In response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the European Union leadership has called for an international tribunal.
The appeal came from the Czech Republic, which is presently in charge of rotating the bloc’s presidency. It was made in response to the discovery of hundreds of graves in Izyum, a town that Ukrainian forces had just recaptured.
It is said that many of them are civilians, including women and children.
“We stand for the punishment of all war criminals,” Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky said.
Ukraine says it believes war crimes have been committed in Izyum, where 59 bodies have been exhumed so far – with more expected from the graves in a forest at the edge of the city.
“In the 21st Century, such attacks against the civilian population are unthinkable and abhorrent,” Mr Lipavsky said.
“We must not overlook it. We stand for the punishment of all war criminals,” he said.
“I call for the speedy establishment of a special international tribunal that will prosecute the crime of aggression.”
In his regular address on Saturday evening, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said investigators had discovered new evidence of torture used against the people buried in Izyum, in Kharkiv region.
“More than 10 torture chambers have already been found in the liberated areas of Kharkiv region, in various cities and towns,” Mr Zelensky said.
He said the Russians would have to answer “both on the battlefield and in courtrooms”.
On Thursday, EU Commission President chief Ursula von der Leyen said she wanted Mr Putin to face the International Criminal Court over war crimes in Ukraine.
It has not commented on the burial sites at Izyum. Moscow has previously denied targeting civilians.