Who Is Iryna Venediktova? Prosecutor General Of Ukraine Investigating War Crimes

Who is Iryna Venediktova? After Russia attacked its neighbouring country Ukraine, many top bureaucrats and political leaders from Ukraine have come up and are stuck in support of their government, they are actively fighting against the invaders and each of them has their own unique role to play. One of those determined people is Iryna Venediktova.

She now holds a single purpose in life now, which is to make the president of Russia Vladimir Putin and his forces pay the price for the war crimes that they have inflicted on the civilians and people of Ukraine. Recently, there were media reports on rape cases and murders of Ukrainian civilians by Russian forces.

Amidst this heightened violation of international law by Russia, Venediktova, who is the general prosecutor of Ukraine has decided to lead the efforts to hold Russia accountable. The courts around the world are working on gathering information and conducting investigations in order to hold Russia accountable, this effort is being led by Ukraine.

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Who Is Iryna Venediktova?

Having decided on leading these investigations on war crimes, she said, "I protect the public interests of Ukrainian citizens. And now I see that I can't protect these dead kids. And for me it's pain."

Venediktova is the first woman to serve as prosecutor general in Ukraine. The 43-year-old is a former law professor, nowadays, she is mostly seen in olive outfits with a bulletproof vest and is in constant motion.

In her effort to uncover the war crime, her office has already opened over 8,000 criminal investigations related to the war and already identified over 500 suspects. These suspects include Russian ministers, military commanders and propagandists.

She said that the main purpose of the law is to "protect and to compensate." She hopes to do the same as now, amidst the war, these words are just beautiful and she desperately wants them to work in the reality of war.

She has taken on herself to conduct the interviews and ask people about the shellings and the impact of spray munitions. Other than these, her office is also trying to uncover the uniforms of the insignia soldiers and find raw materials.

She was appointed in March 2020 by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. She calls herself a reformer and has been building alliances with human rights groups.

Born on September 22, 1978, in Kharkiv, Ukraine, she has done her graduation from the Kharkiv National University of Internal Affair. After that, she was a professor in the Department of Civil Law Disciplines of VN Karazin Kharkiv National University.

She has also studied the International Commercial Arbitration course at the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and is also a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Supreme Court.

She has also been an advisor to numerous law firms and specialises in constitutionalism, civil society development, and private and international law.