What Sweden is doing to hold Russia accountable for its crimes in Ukraine

Support for International Criminal Court investigations

With the support of Sweden and 42 other states, prosecutors at the International Criminal Court (ICC) were able to begin investigating crimes under the Court’s jurisdiction in Ukraine as early as March 2022: war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity. Sweden supports the ICC’s efforts through annual contributions to the Court of more than SEK 30 million. In 2022, Sweden gave an extra-budgetary contribution of SEK 7 million to the Office of the Prosecutor. In addition, the Swedish Prosecution Authority has seconded three prosecutors to the Office of the Prosecutor of the ICC, and the Swedish Police Authority has seconded six investigators. 

The establishment of a special tribunal for crimes of aggression against Ukraine.

The ICC’s investigations do not cover the actual crime of aggression, i.e. the individual responsibility of those in leadership positions for a state’s use of violence against another sovereign state. Sweden has been part of a core group working with Ukraine to establish a tribunal with jurisdiction over the crime of aggression. In May 2025, a political agreement over the structure of the tribunal was reached. The project has been referred to the Council of Europe, which is responsible for its construction. 

An important decision taken during Sweden’s EU Presidency is the establishment of the International Centre for the Prosecution of the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine (ICPA) at Eurojust | European Union Agency for Criminal Justice Cooperation. 

Extensive collaboration to document and gather evidence

Ukraine’s authorities are working hard to prosecute and investigate crimes committed. They are supported by the EU, the UN, civil society and individual states. Sweden is contributing staff to the European Union Advisory Mission (EUAM) Ukraine, which provides on-the-ground support to the national authorities. Sweden has also contributed with capacity-building and provided technical assistance, including digitalisation, and legal advice to Ukrainian government agencies to facilitate the investigatory work and increase Ukraine’s ability to investigate war crimes.

Together with other countries, Sweden backed the decision of the UN Human Rights Council in March to set up the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine to investigate suspected violations and abuses in connection with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Through Sida, Sweden also supports the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (HRMMU), which monitors and reports on infringements and violations of human rights, and supports investigating authorities in Ukraine.

As a participating state in the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), Sweden has pushed for the OSCE to send rapporteurs to Ukraine (through the Moscow Mechanism). The rapporteurs noted that there are clear patterns of violations of international humanitarian law by Russian forces. Based on their reports, it may be possible for the ICC and other prosecuting authorities to hold perpetrators accountable.

Preliminary investigation also underway in Sweden

Sweden has universal jurisdiction for serious international crimes. This means that certain acts can be examined by Swedish courts no matter where they were committed, even if the suspect is a foreign citizen. Since March 2022, the Swedish Prosecution Authority has been conducting a structural preliminary investigation on serious war crimes in Ukraine. The aim is to gather evidence that may exist in Sweden, such as testimonies from Ukrainian refugees. The evidence can then be used in legal proceedings in Sweden, in courts of other states or at the ICC. Other EU Member States have also launched preliminary investigations coordinated by Eurojust in collaboration with Ukraine and the ICC.

Russia’s accountability as a State

Ukraine is also pushing for Russia to be held accountable as a state. Sweden has submitted a declaration of intervention in the case brought by Ukraine against Russia on the interpretation of the Genocide Convention before the International Court of Justice (ICJ). In its decision of March 2022, the ICJ ordered Russia to immediately suspend its military operations in Ukraine. This decision is binding on Russia. The ICJ has found that the Court has jurisdiction to examine part of Ukraine’s claim, and legal proceedings are continuing in this part.

Sweden has also intervened in the inter-state case Ukraine v. Russia (X) before the European Court of Human Rights (now Ukraine and the Netherlands v. Russia).

The European Court of Human Rights has on multiple occasions indicated interim measures that require Russia to refrain from attacking civilians and civilian objects and to ensure that safety is maintained for the civilian population. Sweden and other intervening states participated in the oral hearings that took place in June 2024.  

Sweden voted in favour of the resolution adopted by the UN General Assembly in November 2022, which recommends the establishment of an international compensation mechanism for damages caused by Russia’s violations of international law in and against Ukraine. In accordance with the resolution established in 2023, a register of damages for Ukraine was established within the institutional framework of the Council of Europe. This register collects information on damages and losses caused by Russia’s aggression and other violations of international law in and against Ukraine since 24 February 2022. Both natural and legal persons, as well as the Ukrainian state can register claims and evidence. Sweden has joined as a founding member and is participating in negotiations to establish a compensation commission that will examine registered compensation claims. The idea is that a compensation fund will be established and that the various parts together will form an international compensation mechanism.

Within the OSCE, Sweden is actively helping to keep Russia’s crimes in Ukraine and repression in Russia and Belarus high on the agenda. This is done every week at the Permanent Council | OSCE meetings and through Sweden’s Presidency of the OSCE’s Human Dimension Committee in 2025. 

In addition, Sweden demands and supports political accountability for Russia by participating in the activation of the OSCE’s special accountability mechanisms – the Moscow Mechanism and the Vienna Mechanism. These Mechanisms allow participating states, through pre-agreed procedures, to raise issues regarding the human rights situation in other participating states. All the participating OSCE states have committed to responding to such enquiries. The Moscow Mechanism is a tool to monitor the implementation of commitments in the Human Dimension mechanisms by commissioning experts to investigate a specific issue and produce a report with recommendations. Neither the Vienna Mechanism nor the Moscow Mechanism require decisions by consensus.