Ukraine proposes to create an international compensation mechanism for damages caused by Russia. It will be based on an international treaty, and compensation will be paid from the assets of sanctioned Russians, as well as from the sovereign assets of the Russian Federation. Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal stated this during the United for Justice conference held in Lviv on March 4.

The Prime Minister outlined two main tasks on achieving justice and fairness. The first is the creation of an international tribunal that would bring the military and political leadership of the Russian Federation to justice. The second is to create a mechanism for confiscating Russian assets that could be used to rebuild Ukraine.

“From the very first days of the war, we started documenting all the crimes, destruction, and damage. We have a reliable, transparent, and high-quality tool to estimate how much money Ukraine will need to rebuild. We already realize that this amount will exceed USD 700 billion,” said Denys Shmyhal.

He emphasized that the concept of the working group was to create a comprehensive compensation system for the damage caused by Russia.

“We are talking about compensation to individuals and legal entities, as well as to the state of Ukraine itself. It is envisaged that a special compensation mechanism for the payment of reparations will be based on an international agreement that Ukraine is developing together with partner countries,” the Prime Minister said.

Denys Shmyhal outlined four elements of the international compensation mechanism. The first is the International Register of Losses. The second is the Compensation Commission, which will consider applications for compensation for damages caused by Russian aggression on the territory of Ukraine. The third is the Compensation Fund, from which compensation will be paid. The fourth is the mechanism for implementing decisions made by the Compensation Commission.

“We demonstrate the importance of this matter by our example. We have already confiscated UAH 17 billion from Russian banks. These are funds that are already available in the budget. They will be used for reconstruction,” said Denys Shmyhal.