German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock called for a special tribunal to prosecute Russian leaders, as Moscow faced war crimes accusations over a strike in Ukraine’s Dnipro, writes France24.

Baerbock called for a “new format” of court to “bring Russian leaders to justice” for their invasion of Ukraine, possibly using Ukrainian law but based abroad with international judges.

“We need to voice a clear message to the Russian leadership here and now that a war of aggression will not go unpunished”, - Baerbock said in a speech to the Hague Academy of International Law.

Calls have grown for a way to try to punish Russian leaders for the crime of aggression, as the Hague-based International Criminal Court (ICC) cannot do so under its rules.

Germany’s top diplomat said she had discussed with Ukraine and other allies a “special solution” that could “derive its jurisdiction from Ukrainian criminal law”. But she added that it was “important for us to have an international component, for example, a location outside Ukraine, with financial support from partners and with international prosecutors and judges. That would be a new format”.

The German Foreign Ministry later tweeted that Baerbock wanted to “support Ukraine internationally in setting up a special tribunal for aggression in The Hague”. She also called for changes to the statute of the Hague-based ICC so it can eventually put the Russian leadership on trial for aggression.