To: Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Mr. Karim A. A. Khan; Heads of Governments of ICC Member States
The Russian Federation is descending into chaos and destabilization due to the following officials: V. Putin, S. Shoigu, V. Gerasimov, I. Krasnov, A. Gostev, as well as private individuals, primarily E. Prigozhin.
Since February 24, 2022, the President of the Russian Federation and the Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Armed Forces, V. Putin, in violation of international and Russian law, has utilized personnel from so-called private military companies (PMCs) as combatants in the hostilities in Ukraine.
In spring 2022, on Putin’s orders, the largest PMCs, „Wagner” and „Redut,” began recruiting individuals serving sentences in federal correctional facilities (FSIN) to participate in combat operations on Ukrainian territory. The contract was signed by the convicts, representatives of the PMCs, the Federal Penitentiary Service (FSIN), and the Ministry of Defense (MOD) of the Russian Federation. As a reward for convicts who joined the ranks of PMCs, it entailed a pardon from the President of the Russian Federation after six months, as well as monthly monetary compensation. After signing the contract, the convicts underwent military training at the military bases of the Russian Ministry of Defense. Starting from June 1, 2022, PMCs began using contracted personnel from among the convicts in the «military operation» in Ukraine as part of the Russian Armed Forces. From June 1, 2022, to March 1, 2023, approximately 50,000 convicts who signed contracts with PMCs participated in combat operations on Ukrainian territory. They were exempted from serving their sentences based on a presidential pardon.
The deliberate actions of the President of the Russian Federation and Commander-in-Chief, V. Putin, described above, contain elements of a crime under Part 3 of Article 33, Part 2 of Article 359 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (organizing mercenarism: recruitment, training, financing, or providing other material support to a mercenary, as well as their use in military actions, committed using their official position), and Part 3 of Article 286 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (abuse of official powers: actions by a person holding a state position of the Russian Federation that clearly exceed their authority and result in significant violations of the rights and legitimate interests of citizens or organizations, as well as the legally protected interests of society or the state, using weapons or special means and causing serious consequences, organized by a group, driven by personal gain or other personal interests).
Furthermore, the described actions of V. Putin are defined by international legislation as war crimes. The Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Armed Forces, V. Putin, has violated the provisions of Article 5 of the International Convention against the Recruitment, Use, Financing, and Training of Mercenaries (Adopted by Resolution 44/34 of the United Nations General Assembly on December 4, 1989). According to the provisions of Articles 2 and 4 of the Convention and international legislation, he is considered a criminal who uses mercenaries in military actions and is an accomplice in all the crimes committed by the mercenaries under his command.
In light of the above, we appeal to you to pay attention to this crime and initiate the corresponding investigation, summoning V. Putin, S. Shoigu, V. Gerasimov, E. Prigozhin, I. Krasnov, and A. Gostev for questioning as the main suspects in committing the crime.
We believe that the scale of this crime, its level of danger and harm, both to the inhabitants of the territory of the failed state of the Russian Federation, and to the citizens of other countries, especially Ukraine, is so significant that it requires an immediate investigation at the International Criminal Court level.
We urge the governments of European countries to take note of this massive crime, which has led to the effective loss of the monopoly on violence in the territory of a huge state possessing nuclear weapons and numerous high-risk facilities. Today, the loss of control over these facilities is becoming a reality. Urgent measures are needed to regain control over the situation:
— Recognition of the territory of the Russian Federation as a failed state at the international organization level.
— Support for the opening of a separate criminal case at the ICC regarding the actions of the individuals mentioned above.
— Support for voluntary units of the Ukrainian Armed Forces consisting of Russian citizens in suppressing illegal armed formations in the territory of the NGRF and taking temporary control over strategic facilities.
— Assistance in organizing the arrest of military and international criminals on the territory of the failed state of Russian Federation.
— Initiating discussions on further actions to restore international security at the United Nations level.
The detailed results of the preliminary investigation of this crime are described in the article «How Putin turned Russia into a failed state».
It is summarized below.
On August 7, 2022, during the program „Vesti” on the channel „Russia-1,” in the show „Besogon TV,” it was reported that a prisoner officially serving a criminal sentence in the correctional facility of the Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia died in Ukraine in a private military company (PMC).
In relation to this incident, members of the Council of the President of the Russian Federation on the development of civil society and human rights addressed a written letter to the Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation, Krasnov I.V. They reported that thousands of prisoners with unexpired sentences, including those convicted of serious crimes, are being released from Russian Federal Penitentiary Service institutions without legal grounds and sent to Ukraine to participate in private military activities. They also requested an investigation into this information and a legal assessment of the situation.
On September 29, 2022, Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation responded to that letter, stating that the aforementioned appeal has been forwarded to the Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia. Thus, in violation of Article 8, Paragraph 6 of the Russian Law „On the Procedure for Considering Appeals from Citizens of the Russian Federation” and Article 21 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, the Prosecutor General I. Krasnov intentionally directed the appeal for consideration to an authority whose officials are involved in the violation of the law.
Consequently, in violation of Article 10, Paragraph 4 of the Federal Law „On the Prosecutor’s Office of the Russian Federation,” the Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation did not take any measures to hold accountable those individuals who committed the violations. According to Paragraph 1.7 of the Order of the Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation No. 45, dated January 30, 2013, the responsibility for the objective, comprehensive, and timely resolution of appeals rests with the heads of the bodies of the Prosecutor’s Office of the Russian Federation. Therefore, it is the Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation, I. Krasnov, who is responsible for not rectifying the violations mentioned in the appeal from the members of the Council of the President of the Russian Federation on the development of civil society and human rights and for concealing actions related to mercenarism. The deliberate actions of I. Krasnov contain elements of a crime stipulated in Article 33, Paragraph 5 and Article 359, Paragraph 2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (complicity with President V. Putin in committing a crime as defined in Paragraph 3 of Article 33 and Paragraph 2 of Article 359 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, namely the recruitment, training, financing, or other material support of a mercenary, as well as their use in military actions by a person in a position of authority.
The officials of the Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia (FSIN), including the director, the head of the Department of Sentence Execution and Special Records, the heads of regional FSIN departments, and the employees of special records groups within the FSIN, as well as the heads of correctional facilities responsible for supervising and monitoring the execution of criminal punishments in accordance with Russian legislation, violated the provisions of Article 118 of the Russian Constitution, Articles 21 and 172 of the Criminal Executive Code of the Russian Federation, and Paragraph 1 of Article 392 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation. They failed to properly examine the appeal sent in September 2022 by the Council under the President of the Russian Federation for Civil Society and Human Rights and other information regarding the involvement of convicts in combat operations as part of a private military company (PMC). Instead, contrary to the mentioned legal norms, they provided conditions for mercenarism for over 9 months. Therefore, the actions of these officials of the FSIN and regional FSIN departments, where the recruitment of prisoners into the PMC took place, contain elements of a crime stipulated in Paragraph 2 of Article 33 and Paragraph 2 of Article 359 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation – complicity under the direction of President V. Putin in committing a crime as defined in Paragraph 2 of Article 359 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, namely, mercenarism, which includes recruitment, training, financing, or other material support of a mercenary, as well as their use in military actions by a person in a position of authority.
Furthermore, in those regions of the Russian Federation where the recruitment of prisoners into the PMC occurred, the officials of state authorities such as the judiciary, the prosecutor’s office, the Federal Security Service (FSB), and the Ministry of Justice, who have responsibilities under Articles 19-22 of the Criminal Executive Code of the Russian Federation and sectoral legislation to oversee the activities of institutions and bodies responsible for the execution of punishments, were informed about these crimes but did not intervene and became accomplices by facilitating their commission through their criminal inaction. The deliberate inaction of these officials constitutes elements of a crime stipulated in Paragraph 5 of Article 33 and Paragraph 2 of Article 359 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation – complicity with President V. Putin in committing a crime as defined in Paragraph 3 of Article 33 and Paragraph 2 of Article 359 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, namely, mercenarism, which includes recruitment, training, financing, or other material support of a mercenary, as well as their use in military actions by a person in a position of authority.
Article 359 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation establishes criminal liability for the use of mercenaries in armed conflict. According to paragraph „g” of Article 8 of the Russian Military Doctrine, „armed conflict” is a form of resolving interstate or intrastate contradictions using military force (this concept encompasses all types of armed opposition, including large-scale, regional, local wars, and armed conflicts). Thus, the so-called „Special Military Operation” is considered an armed conflict. Therefore, the actions of the leadership of the Russian Armed Forces (including Russian Minister of Defense S. Shoigu, Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces V. Gerasimov, who is also the commander of the Russian Joint Group of Forces in Ukraine, and the commander of the Russian Group of Forces „Vostok” in Ukraine), aimed at using mercenaries from the private military company (PMC), including those recruited from among prisoners, in combat operations on the territory of Ukraine, contain elements of a crime stipulated in Paragraph 2 of Article 35, and Paragraph 2 of Article 359 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation – complicity under the direction of President V. Putin in committing a crime as defined in Paragraph 2 of Article 359 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, namely, mercenarism, which includes recruitment, training, financing, or other material support of a mercenary, as well as their use in military actions by a person in a position of authority.
Additionally, the leaders of the PMC „Wagner,” including E. Prigozhin, and the leaders of the PMC „Redut” act as perpetrators of the criminal use of mercenaries in armed operations on the territory of Ukraine. Thus, their deliberate actions also contain elements of a crime stipulated in Paragraph 2 of Article 35, and Paragraph 2 of Article 359 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation – complicity under the direction of President V. Putin in committing a crime as defined in Paragraph 2 of Article 359 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, namely, mercenarism, which includes recruitment, training, financing, or other material support of a mercenary, as well as their use in military actions by a person in a position of authority.
Furthermore, the deliberate actions of the aforementioned individuals in the leadership of the Russian Armed Forces and the PMC are determined by international legislation as actions constituting war crimes. Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Armed Forces V. Putin, Russian Minister of Defense S. Shoigu, Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces V. Gerasimov who is the commander of the Russian Joint Group of Forces in Ukraine and the commander of the Russian Group of Forces „Vostok” in Ukraine, as well as the leadership of the PMC „Wagner” and PMC „Redut” have violated the requirements of Article 5 of the International Convention against the Recruitment, Use, Financing, and Training of Mercenaries (Adopted by Resolution 44/34 of the United Nations General Assembly on December 4, 1989). According to the provisions of Articles 2 and 4 of the Convention and international legislation, they are considered criminals using mercenaries in military actions and are accomplices in all crimes committed by the mercenaries they direct.
