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The UK government’s top legal adviser has appointed a war crimes lawyer to advise Ukraine over the Russian invasion.

The UK Attorney General Suella Braverman announced on Sunday that Sir Howard Morrison QC will act as an independent adviser to Ukrainian Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova.

Sir Howard has served as a judge at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and the International Criminal Court (ICC) for more than 12 years.

It comes as Vladimir Putin continues to be accused of war crimes over his invasion of Ukraine.

Earlier this month, Ms Braverman signed a joint statement of support with Ms Venediktova, pledging support to gather evidence of crimes against humanity and war crimes committed by Putin’s regime in Ukraine.

The attorney general told the House of Commons on Thursday that “all options are on the table” when it comes to seeking to prosecute Putin’s regime for war crimes in Ukraine.

Ms Braverman insisted the UK’s preferred approach is to hold to account those responsible through the ICC.

Asked about alternative forms of prosecution outside the ICC, of which Russia is not a member, Ms Braverman said: “All options are on the table and I will always defer and support my counterpart in Ukraine, the prosecutor general, in terms of my efforts to support her in terms of her choice of route for redress.

“But whilst we welcome the focus on accountability, we do believe that the ICC is the right place for those responsible for committing these atrocious crimes in Ukraine to be held accountable for their actions.

“That’s why we’re focusing all of our energy, led by the Deputy Prime Minister (Dominic Raab), all of our assistance and all of our resources on the ICC prosecutor’s independent investigation.”