Juvenile prosecutors are guided by the national legal system in investigating the case of deportation of Ukrainian children and assist the International Criminal Court (ICC) in collecting evidence in order to jointly bring the perpetrators to justice.

In an exclusive interview with Interfax-Ukraine, Head of the Department for Protection of Children's Interests and Combating Violence of the Prosecutor General's Office (PGO) Yulia Usenko said juvenile prosecutors are cooperating with the ICC in the case of the deportation of Ukrainian children under the national legislation and within the mandate of the ICC.

"There are two directions in this cooperation: we fulfil requests for requests for information, materials and promptly respond to the granting of permission to conduct proceedings to representatives of the International Court of Justice on the territory of Ukraine," she said.

Usenko said: "It is essential that the ICC does not have any obstacles for carrying out those procedural actions that are important for proving the fact of the crimes of Russia, including the deportation of Ukrainian children."

"The ICC level is, of course, the highest military-political leadership of Russia, which has immunities. The greatest burden will fall on the national justice system, behind us – the middle link of persons involved in forced displacement and deportation, and direct executors," Usenko said.

According to the department's head, the facts in the materials of the juvenile prosecutors and the ICC in the deportation case may be the same, but the investigations do not depend on each other and are carried out taking into account the principle of complementarity.

Usenko said the ICC also has its own investigative methodology, procedures and rules.

When asked about whose efforts justice and accountability can be achieved, the department's head said: "General. Really general. In some things we learn from the ICC, in particular, in terms of legal qualifications, because from them there is tremendous experience in international tribunals, while for the first time we are faced with the investigation of international crimes, especially against children."

The head of juvenile prosecutors said the ICC's issuance of an arrest warrant to the Russian president in the case of the deportation of children became a powerful motivation for Ukrainian prosecutors. "To announce an arrest warrant for the Russian president is a major challenge to the international community. The ICC was not afraid to do this – this shows their integrity, independence and objectivity," Usenko said.

According to her, in their work juvenile prosecutors are guided by the national legal system, but maximum assistance to the ICC is no less a priority.

"We understand that we can help even better by collecting evidence. We want to see those involved in this international crime in the dock in The Hague," Usenko said.