- July 7, 2026
- 6:20 pm
- World News
Work on the creation of a Special Tribunal for the crime of Russian aggression against Ukraine has been ongoing since 2022. This is not a quick process or a television gesture, but a complex political and legal structure where each decision must withstand the pressure of time, diplomacy, and future attacks from Kremlin propaganda.
According to lawyer Yuri Belous, who is involved in collecting evidence of Russia’s war crimes against Ukraine and represents the victims of these crimes in courts, the current preparatory stage may be completed by early 2027. After this, the practical part should begin: the selection of judges, prosecutors, and staff for the future tribunal.
For Ukraine, this is not just a matter of punishing specific individuals.
It is an attempt to restore meaning to international law after Russia effectively took it hostage, using its status as a permanent member of the UN Security Council and blocking decisions related to its own aggression.
Why The Hague
The choice of The Hague seems symbolic and practical at the same time.
Belous calls The Hague the “capital of international law” and emphasizes that the Netherlands provides a safe and professionally prepared space for such work. International courts, legal institutions, and expertise are already concentrated there, without which such a process cannot be seriously launched.
For the Israeli audience, this carries an important signal. International law may seem distant when it comes to someone else’s war, but in reality, its weakening always returns to regional crises — in the Middle East, in Europe, in disputes over security, self-defense, and state responsibility.
If aggression against Ukraine remains without a separate court, it will not be a Ukrainian problem. It will be an invitation for other regimes to test the boundaries of what is permissible.
How Russia will attack the tribunal
According to Belous, the Kremlin is already preparing informational attacks against the future special tribunal. The main line will be familiar: Russia will again try to present itself not as an aggressor, but as a “victim of selective international law.”
This is not a new scheme.
First, Moscow destroys the rules, then claims that the rules work unfairly. First, it attacks, then demands to discuss not the crime of aggression, but “double standards.” First, it kills civilians, then shifts the conversation to the USA, Israel, Iran, Iraq, Africa, and any other topics that help blur the focus.
Israel in the Russian propaganda framework
It is especially important that Belous directly warns: Russia will also use the topic of Israel. In Russian rhetoric, there may be attempts to juxtapose the special tribunal on aggression against Ukraine with cases of the International Criminal Court related to Israel’s actions.
For Israel, this is a sensitive point.
The Kremlin does not need an honest legal comparison. It needs informational confusion, where all conflicts are mixed into one noise, and the viewer is told: “everyone is the same,” “no one has the right to judge Russia,” “The Hague is politicized.” Such substitution benefits not the law, but those who want to evade responsibility.
That is why it is important for Israeli society to distinguish between different legal mechanisms, different crimes, and different jurisdictions. The special tribunal on Russian aggression is a matter of one state attacking another. It is not a replacement for the International Criminal Court and not a dispute about the news agenda.
NAnews — Israel News | Nikk.Agency considers this topic not as a distant European legal story, but as part of a broader Israeli-Ukrainian agenda: when international law is broken in Ukraine, the consequences are inevitably felt in Israel.
Orders, coalition, and the struggle for legitimacy
According to FREEДОМ, 36 states have joined the organizational committee of the special tribunal. This means that the participating countries recognize the future mechanism as legitimate and will be able to arrest individuals on their territory for whom orders will be issued.
There is no magic here.
International law works through the cooperation of states. If a country is ready to recognize an order, detain a suspect, and hand them over to the court, the mechanism gains strength. If not, political struggle, diplomatic pressure, and informational warfare begin.
And Russia will strike precisely there.
The Kremlin, according to Belous, will discredit not only the idea of the tribunal itself but also individual judges, prosecutors, and team representatives. For this, social networks, pro-war bloggers with millions of followers, and different versions of the same thesis adapted to different regions of the world may be used.
Different countries — different manipulations
For Africa, Russia may claim that international courts allegedly more often prosecute leaders of African states. For countries with strong anti-American sentiments — recall the war in Iraq. For the Middle East — draw Iran, Israel, the USA, and Ukraine into one frame.
The goal is simple: not to explain, but to confuse.
The more noise around The Hague, the easier it is for the Kremlin to convince its own audience and part of the outside world that the court “does not exist,” that it is a “political project,” that “everyone is guilty.” But that is why the special tribunal is important: it must bring the conversation back to the main fact — Russia started an aggressive war against Ukraine.
For Israel, there is another practical conclusion. Russian propaganda has long been working not only against Ukraine. It enters the Middle Eastern agenda, uses local pains, picks up Israeli topics, and turns them into a tool for Moscow’s defense. Therefore, the question of the special tribunal is not only a question of The Hague. It is a question of who will set the rules in the world after the war: law or force.
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