TANAISTE MICHEAL MARTIN has said that Ireland has been supporting the International Criminal Court (ICC) as it prepares to open a case against Russians involved in the war in Ukraine.

The New York Times reported yesterday that the ICC will open two cases against Russian officials over the invasion of Ukraine.

Speaking on CNN while in the US for St Patrick’s week, Martin said Ireland has provided additional funding to the ICC and other agencies.

He said: “This is a war of aggression. It’s a violation of the United Nations Charter, the sheer undermining of Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty.

“And Ireland very much sees this, along with all those of us who believe in rules-based international order, that this is fundamentally a violation of that order.”

Martin said he believed China should “China should use its influence to get Russia to stop this war”, but added: “I’d be careful of language around mediation at this stage because Ukraine did not invite this war, didn’t want this war. Russia invaded.

In its report, the New York Times said the first case involved Russia’s alleged abduction of Ukrainian children, who were then sent for adoption or to re-education camps.

The second case alleges that Russian forces deliberately targeted civilian infrastructure such as power and water plants with missile attacks.

The court would also seek arrest warrants for several people, said the Times, which cited anonymous current and former court officials, and gave no details of who would be charged and when.

The Hague-based ICC launched an investigation into alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Ukraine just days after Russia’s invasion on 24 February, 2022.

Martin told CNN: “We should draw lessons from the past. What seemed almost impossible … those questions were asked in the past as well and International Criminal Court did yield results.”

ICC prosecutor Karim Khan said earlier this month after a visit to Ukraine that the alleged abductions of children “are being investigated by my office as a priority”.

“Children cannot be treated as the spoils of war,” he said in a statement on 7 March.

Posting a picture of himself alongside empty cots, Khan said he had visited a care home for children in southern Ukraine that was “empty, a result of alleged deportation of children from Ukraine to the Russian Federation” or other occupied areas.

Khan also confirmed that the ICC was investigating attacks on “critical civilian infrastructure” in Ukraine and that he had visited the sites of several such strikes.

Neither Russia nor Ukraine are members of the ICC, but Kyiv has accepted the court’s jurisdiction and is working with Khan’s office.

Russia denies allegations of war crimes by its troops. Experts have said it is unlikely it would ever hand over any suspects.

Additional reporting by AFP