Readout of War Crimes Accountability Team Director and U.S. Special Prosecutor for the Crime of Aggression’s Visit to Ukraine

The Justice Department’s War Crimes Accountability Team (WarCAT) Director Christian Levesque and U.S. Special Prosecutor for the Crime of Aggression Jessica Kim traveled to Kyiv, Ukraine, from April 15 to 17, to reaffirm the department’s commitment in advancing accountability for atrocity crimes and Russian aggression against Ukraine. WarCAT Director Levesque and Special Prosecutor Kim were joined by the department’s Resident Legal Advisor posted in Kyiv, Jared Kimball, WarCAT Attorney Advisor Roman Chaban, and the FBI Legal Attaché in Kyiv, Christopher Geiger.

The trip continues the Justice Department’s extensive work supporting Ukraine, building on Attorney General Garland’s June 2022 announcement in Lviv, Ukraine, launching WarCAT to centralize and strengthen the Justice Department’s war crimes accountability efforts, and the June 2023 appointment of a U.S. Special Prosecutor for the Crime of Aggression to work closely with the International Centre for the Prosecution of the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine (ICPA) based at Eurojust in The Hague.    

WarCAT Director Levesque, Ukraine Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin, Special Prosecutor Kim, and FBI Legal Attaché Geiger.

While in Kyiv, the delegation met with key Ukrainian counterparts and their staff on operational matters, including Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin, Head of the International Legal Cooperation Department Zurab Adeishvili, and Head of the War Crimes Department Yuriy Belousov; the National Police of Ukraine’s Head of the Department of Investigation Maksym Tsutskeridze, Head of the Division for Documentation of Crimes Committed in the Context of Armed Conflict Oleksandr Shapovalov, Head of the International Police Cooperation Department Ivan Hulpa, and Head of the International Communication Division Olha Yevtushenko; members of the Ukrainian Interagency Working Group, including military advisors; and officials from the Security Service of Ukraine. With these partners, WarCAT Director Levesque and Special Prosecutor Kim discussed ongoing investigations, information-sharing, and technical cooperation, as well as the various legislative, procedural, and technical challenges associated with such investigations and potential solutions.

 U.S. delegation with officials of the National Police of Ukraine.

The delegation visited the International Criminal Court’s Field Office in Kyiv and met with partners from the Atrocity Crimes Advisory Group to increase partnership and coordination on the situation in Ukraine. They also met with U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink and Deputy Chief of Mission Robert Needham, and provided an overview of the Justice Department’s Ukraine accountability efforts to U.S. Embassy Kyiv personnel.

On April 16, Special Prosecutor Kim, with ICPA Ukraine team members and military advisors, visited the Kyiv Scientific Research Institute of Forensic Expertise of the Ministry of Justice (KFI), a leading forensic examination institution. The KFI visit provided the opportunity to view weapons debris from recovered ballistic missiles, air-guided missiles, and unmanned aerial vehicles shot down by Ukrainian air defenses over Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities, as well as to receive expert briefings on analyses of weapon components and technologies to further the ICPA’s efforts in securing evidence of Russian aggression.

Special Prosecutor Kim, with ICPA Ukraine team members, receives analysis of weapons debris from recovered ballistic missiles at the KFI from Ukrainian forensic experts. 

On April 17, Resident Legal Advisor Kimball, Special Prosecutor Kim (who previously served as the department’s anti-corruption Resident Legal Advisor for Eastern Europe), and FBI Special Agent Kari Harrison, a skilled anti-corruption investigator, delivered a roundtable workshop for prosecutors and investigators from the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) and National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) at the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv. The workshop focused on using racketeering and organized crime statutes to combat high-level public corruption. SAPO and NABU workshop participants engaged in a robust discussion on special investigative techniques, covert and overt investigative steps, legislative and procedural options and barriers, and shared challenges in penetrating and dismantling organized criminal groups. The workshop was part of a series of anti-corruption efforts led by Resident Legal Advisor Kimball, with support from the Department of State’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement to ensure that the rule of law prevails in Ukraine.

FBI Special Agent Harrison, Kyiv Resident Legal Advisor Kimball, and Special Prosecutor Kim deliver an anti-corruption roundtable workshop for SAPO and NABU prosecutors and investigators at U.S. Embassy Kyiv.

During the trip, the group also visited several cultural and heritage sites in Kyiv – targets of Russian aggression – including Zoloti Vorota (Golden Gate), the main entrance into the ancient city of Kyiv; Independence Monument; and Maidan Nezalezhnosti (Independence Square), the central square of Kyiv, which was the site of the pro-independence protests in the 1990s, Orange Revolution in 2004, and Euromaidan Revolution in 2013 and 2014.

 Ukrainian flags and photos honor fallen Ukrainian servicemembers in Maidan Nezalezhnosti (Independence Square), with Independence Monument in the background.

Throughout the visit, the delegation emphasized the department’s commitment in pursuing every avenue of accountability for Ukraine. Additionally, WarCAT Director Levesque and Special Prosecutor Kim further highlighted how the Justice Department, together with its international partners, will continue to hold accountable all those directly responsible or otherwise complicit in Russian aggression against Ukraine.