RCMP probing reports of 'heinous' war crimes in Ukraine — but prosecutions could take years

The RCMP says it is investigating serious allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity stemming from Russia's war on Ukraine — but it warns that getting cases to the prosecution stage could take years.

"We really try to manage expectations, to say this may be quite a process to investigate something," said Cpl. Kate Walaszczyk, an investigator with the RCMP's Ukraine war crimes unit.

"It can take quite some time."

Walaszczyk's team operates what's called a structural investigation under the Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes Act. It's a Canadian law that punishes acts of genocide, crimes against humanity and a variety of other war crimes.

It passed in 2000, replacing a previous law targeting Nazi war criminals. It allows the RCMP to prosecute a person in Canada even if the acts in question were committed outside Canadian territory.

The RCMP has asked for witnesses to come forward by setting up electronic signs at airports, advertising online and distributing pamphlets. Walaszczyk and her team have been canvassing community groups; she said she's received a "positive" response.

The RCMP asks refugees from the region to fill out a questionnaire that cites various examples of war crimes, from torture and sexual assault to the use of chemical weapons and attacks on hospitals and schools.

Walaszczyk said she can't delve into the specifics of her open files. "The allegations that have come forward in the international media is what is being looked at," she said.

"These acts are heinous."

Walaszczyk said the goal during this first year of the investigation is to preserve evidence, including physical and digital evidence, and gather victims' stories.

"Let's say a conflict finishes. Individuals don't come forward about those allegations until years later, and then evidence is lost. Memories are lost, all those things are lost," she said.

"We need it to be robust, so that there aren't gaps … When if you don't do your job properly, when you don't gather the evidence properly, these things fall apart. And then what's the point?"

Mark Kersten, a consultant with the international justice advocacy group the Wayamo Foundation, said the RCMP may never end up prosecuting the people behind war crimes in Ukraine.

"A victim of a bombing or a witness to a bombing or some kind of attack is very unlikely to have information that says, you know, 'I actually saw the guy flying the plane,' let alone the person who put them in the plane who was giving him orders," he said.