Criminological Characterization of War Crimes (Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine): Some Aspects

Abstract

The article highlights certain criminological aspects of war crimes based on the analysis of official statistics from the Office of the Prosecutor General and the State Judicial Administration of Ukraine. It was found that in 2025 there was a significant decrease in the number of recorded war crimes compared to 2022 (- 52%), as well as the number of criminal proceedings in which persons were notified of suspicion of committing war crimes (- 53%). The number of verdicts under Art. 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine in 2024 was almost the same as in 2023, having increased by 62% compared to the same indicator in 2022. The largest number of verdicts under Art. 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine was passed by the courts of Chernihiv and Kyiv regions. In each of these regions, one of the local general courts is overloaded with war crimes cases compared to other courts (Irpin District Court of Kyiv Region and Chernihiv District Court of Chernihiv Region). Between 2022 and 2024, law enforcement agencies identified 43% of the persons who were notified of suspicion of committing war crimes. The in absentia procedure was used to investigate criminal proceedings under Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine in respect of 49% of suspects. The number of persons convicted under Art. 438 of the CCU accounts for 53% of the number of identified persons during this period and 23% of the number of persons notified of suspicion of committing war crimes. Among the identified war criminals, the total number of women is 76% of the total number of identified persons suspected of committing war crimes during this period. Among the convicted persons, the number of women for the entire analyzed period is 1%. The largest number of identified war criminals are persons aged 18 to 39. Their share among all identified war criminals is 77%. The largest number of those convicted under Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine falls within the age group of 30-50 years (52%), with 90% of the total number of convicted persons aged 18-50 years. Among the identified war criminals, the number of foreigners (citizens of the Russian Federation) is 76% of the total number of identified persons suspected of committing war crimes during this period. Among those convicted, 94% are foreigners. The majority of victims are over the age of 18 (350 people or 83%), of whom 191 are women (55%). 58 victims are children under the age of 13 (17%), 24 of whom are female (41%), 16 victims are children aged 14-17 (4%), 10 of whom are female (63%). 394 victims of war crimes suffered damage to their health (93%), 24 suffered material and moral damage (6%), and 9 suffered damage to their lives (2%). The total amount of damage caused (material and moral) in 2024 amounted to UAH 18,404,338.