MOSCOW, April 25 (RAPSI) - Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) Fatou Bensouda is beginning a preliminary hearing on the events in Ukraine that occurred between November 29, 2013, and February 22, 2014, the court announced in its press release Friday.

Earlier, Kiev officials accepted the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court to investigate the events of Euromaidan.

“The Prosecutor of the ICC, Fatou Bensouda, has decided to open a preliminary examination into the situation in Ukraine in order to establish whether the Rome Statute criteria for opening an investigation are met,” the press release says.

After the preliminary examination of the circumstance, the ICC will decide whether to lodge a petition with judges to open a full-scale investigation.

The political crisis erupted in Ukraine in late November 2013 after the government announced that it had halted the country’s association with the EU. Mass protests, called Euromaidan, swept across the country and led to violent clashes between armed radicals and law enforcers in January and February 2014.

On February 22, radicals seized power in violation of the February 21 agreement on the settlement of the crisis, signed by Ukraine’s opposition leaders and President Viktor Yanukovich in the presence of the French, German and Polish foreign ministers. The Verkhovna Rada announced the deposition of Yanukovich, reinstated the 2004 constitution and set early presidential elections for May 25.

Moscow questions the legitimacy of the Verkhovna Rada decisions.