Ukraine's parliament intends criminal liability for crimes against humanity and to abolish the statute of limitations for crimes involving torture.

Corresponding bill (No. 9438) on introducing amendments to some legislative acts on ensuring harmonization of criminal legislation with the provisions of international law was supported at first reading by 228 deputies at a plenary session on Thursday.

"Today, in the Ukrainian Criminal Code, war crimes are set forth only in one article. Because of this, there are almost no crimes under this article. Only punishment for war crimes will allow us to ensure that people who have committed crimes against our people in the east will not escape the criminal responsibility because of the expiration of the statute of limitations," Deputy Justice Minister Serhiy Petukhov said from the Rada rostrum when introducing the bill.

According to the document, it would be impossible to exempt from criminal responsibility those who committed torture, aggression, crimes against humanity, war crimes and genocide.