Greece has sent a letter to the Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court in The Hague in connection with war crimes in the Ukrainian city of Mariupol, BTA reports with reference to Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias.
In the letter, Dendias calls for an investigation into crimes committed in Mariupol and the villages of Sartana and Volnovakha, where members of Ukraine’s Greek minority were killed at the start of the war.
In an interview with the newspaper Kathimerini, Dendias stressed that Athens would insist on a full investigation into the crimes.
“For Greece, protecting civilians and providing humanitarian assistance to ethnic Greeks in Ukraine is an absolute priority, especially in the Black Sea coastal region of cities such as Mariupol and Odesa, where Greeks have lived for centuries,” Dendias said during a recent visit to Odessa. transfer of humanitarian aid.
As for Mariupol, “the situation is tragic, the city has virtually ceased to exist,” said the Greek diplomat, adding that access to the city is prohibited, so “we can not assess the scale of the disaster.”
“Greece will continue to support Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty,” Dendias said, noting that despite his historical ties with Russia, “his country has no choice.”
Before the Russian invasion, the Greek community in Ukraine numbered about 150,000. Ethnic Greeks lived mainly in the area of the city of Mariupol, which was one of the main targets of Russian hostilities.