01/03/2024 (Agence Europe) – The seven national authorities of the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) into alleged core international crimes committed in Ukraine, supported by Eurojust, have agreed to extend their collaboration for a further 2 years. The agreement was sealed in Kyiv on Thursday 29 February by the public prosecutors of the countries concerned, in parallel with the ‘United for Justice’ Conference. This extension aims to step up investigations and prosecutions of alleged serious crimes on Ukrainian soil, in the States concerned, but also for investigations that could be brought before the International Criminal Court. The JIT, set up just 3 weeks after Russia invaded Ukraine at the end of March 2022 (see EUROPE 12920/3), is supported by the Core International Crimes Evidence Database (CICED) and the International Centre for the Prosecution of the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine (ICPA). (NP)