US task “Nazi hunter” with investigation of Russian war crimes in Ukraine

This is stated in an interview with the US Department of Justice official Eli Rosenbaum and the lead prosecutor of the US Department of Justice War Crimes, Christian Levesque, to VOA.

According to the media, in June US Attorney General Merrick Garland asked Rosenbaum, who is called a "Nazi hunter", to coordinate the US Justice Department's investigation into atrocities in Ukraine caused by Russia's invasion. Eli Rosenbaum has been working in the US Ministry of Justice for 37 years. During this time, he helped deprive more than a hundred Nazis who were suspected of war crimes of citizenship.

"Essentially, this new mission is a continuation of one I have had the honor of participating in for more than 35 years at the Department of Justice: identifying, investigating, as well as prosecuting individuals who have engaged in violent crimes and other serious offenses. It is a job that has always  aimed at providing some degree of justice on behalf of the victims", ​​Rosenbaum said.

Rosenbaum's many years of work in the Human Rights Special Prosecution Unit of the US Department of Justice prepared him to investigate cases of human rights violators and war criminals.

"It seems that all the work we have done has prepared us for this moment. We have a lot of experience in the field of international criminal law. I have a lot of experience in actually proving in court the involvement of defendants in crimes. Just two years ago, I appeared in court in the case of Nazis", Eli Rosenbaum said. 

According to Levesque, the US Department of Justice closely cooperates with Ukraine, in particular, provides assistance in investigations and prosecutions.

"We also receive help in our own investigative work. We also try to help through the human rights protection and special prosecution unit, which is part of the criminal division of the Ministry of Justice", Levesque said.