EU's Ukraine Advisory Mission returns to Ukrainian capital

BRUSSELS

The EU's Ukraine Advisory Mission announced that it would return to the country's capital Kyiv on Wednesday, which it had left after the war with Russia began on Feb. 24.

The mission will initially resume with a 15-person team that will be expanded in the summer depending on the security situation in the country, the EU Foreign Relations Service said in a statement.

In addition to the mission's previous tasks, EU Foreign Policy Chief Josep Borrell said he would now support the work of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine to investigate international crimes connected to Ukraine's war with Russia.

Those who commit war crimes will be held accountable under international law, Borrell said.

The advisory mission had been engaged in various activities including strategic consultancy to the civil security sector in Ukraine, as well as training and equipping law enforcement agencies.

The mission, consisting of 350 people, had moved from the capital Kyiv to the southern Polish city of Rszezow when Russia's attacks had begun.

It will now also be able to serve on the borders with Poland, Romania, and Slovakia to assist in the passage of Ukrainians fleeing the war.

At least 3,778 people have been killed and 4,186 injured in Ukraine since the start of the war on Feb. 24, according to UN estimates. The true toll is believed to be much higher.

Over 6.3 million people have fled to other countries, with some 7.7 million people internally displaced, according to the UN refugee agency.

* Writing by Merve Berker