The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine views the European Court of Human Rights’ ruling in the case "Ukraine and the Netherlands v. Russia" as a significant step toward holding the Russian Federation accountable.
This was stated in an official MFA comment.
“This unprecedented event holds historic significance for all of Europe, and especially for the Netherlands, Ukraine, and the Ukrainian people,” the ministry emphasized.
According to the statement, the European Court confirmed that the Russian Federation is responsible for numerous and systematic violations of the European Convention on Human Rights in the temporarily occupied territories of Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine since 2014.
Moreover, this is the first ruling by an international judicial body in which Russia is officially recognized as responsible for the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 in 2014, the ministry noted.
The ECHR also directly emphasized that Russia’s actions are unprecedented in the history of the Council of Europe and pose a threat to peaceful coexistence on the continent.
“The Court clearly pointed to the Russian Federation’s intent to destroy Ukrainian statehood and subjugate the Ukrainian people. In our view, this indicates the genocidal nature of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine,” the MFA stated.
The Foreign Ministry stressed that despite Russia’s expulsion from the Council of Europe, it remains legally obligated to comply with the Court’s ruling under Article 46 of the Convention. The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe oversees the implementation of this decision, and Ukraine will work with its partners to ensure that all established violations are properly compensated.
“The ECHR decision is an important and weighty step toward bringing Russia to international legal responsibility for its aggression and violations of international law,” the statement added.
The Ministry also emphasized that Ukraine will continue to insist on justice for all victims, including through the creation of a Special Tribunal for the crime of aggression against Ukraine, an international compensation mechanism, and the return of deported children.
As reported by Ukrinform, the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg announced its decision on July 9 in the inter-state case “Ukraine and the Netherlands v. Russia,” in which it found numerous human rights violations by the Russian Federation.
The case concerns mass and systematic human rights violations in the temporarily occupied territories of Donetsk and Luhansk regions; the abduction and attempted illegal transfer of orphaned children from these regions to Russia in 2014; and the downing of MH17.
"Ukraine and the Netherlands v. Russia" is the largest inter-state case, combining four applications. It covers the period from 2014 to the present and addresses crimes committed in the occupied territories of Donetsk and Luhansk. It also includes complaints about Russia’s actions during the full-scale invasion that began on February 24, 2022.
A separate part of the proceedings is the Netherlands’ claim regarding the downing of the Malaysian Boeing, in which all 298 people on board were killed. Due to the scale of the violations, 26 states and one non-governmental organization joined the case.
Oral hearings were held in Strasbourg on June 12, 2024, during which Ukraine presented its position on events since 2014 as well as on Russia’s war crimes during the full-scale invasion.
The Court’s interim decision has already established Russia’s responsibility.
On January 25, 2023, in its admissibility ruling on part of the case relating to eastern Ukraine, the ECHR concluded that from May 11, 2014, to at least January 26, 2022, the territories of Donbas seized by Russian forces were under the jurisdiction of the Russian Federation.
The Court recognized that Russian troops had been present on Ukrainian territory since April 2014 and documented large-scale deployment of Russian forces from at least August 2014. In doing so, the ECHR effectively debunked Moscow’s claims of “no troops” in Ukraine.
The Court also established that the downing of MH17 occurred in territory controlled by Russian occupying administrations, and therefore falls under Russia’s jurisdiction.
