Ukraine war: meet Iryna Venediktova, who is fighting to make Russia pay

As the Russian offensive in Ukraine enters its eighth week, several cities of the war-torn nation narrate a horrifying tale.

With tragedies multiplying as each day passes by, the insurmountable facts of horror and misery must be documented and preserved.

This is what Ukraine's Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova, who is on a mission to hold Russia accountable for atrocities committed in her country, seems to be doing.

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Her purpose: To make Vladimir Putin and his forces pay for what they have done.

Venediktova, a 43-year-old former law professor, is the first woman to serve as Ukraine's prosecutor general. When President Volodymyr Zelenskyy appointed her, in March 2020, she inherited an office plagued by allegations of corruption and inefficiency.

Her office has already opened over 8,000 criminal investigations related to the war and identified over 500 suspects.

Her office cooperates closely with prosecutors from the International Criminal Court and nearly a dozen countries, including Poland, Germany, France and Lithuania, all of which have opened criminal investigations into atrocities in Ukraine.

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Venediktova is on the move every few days, the jackets and dresses of her old life increasingly replaced by olive fatigues, a bulletproof vest, and her security detail.

While courts around the world are working to hold Russia accountable, the bulk of the investigation – and the largest number of prosecutions – will likely be done by Ukraine itself.

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