Zelenskyy approves plans to set up special tribunal to prosecute Russian leaders

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky delivers a speech at the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, eastern France, after signing the legal instruments necessary to launch the Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine (Pascal Bastien/AP)

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has formally approved plans to set up a new international court to prosecute senior Russian officials for the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

The special tribunal will be created through an agreement between Ukraine and the Council of Europe, the continent’s top human rights body.