Judgment in an inter-State case

Delivery of the Grand Chamber judgment in the inter-State case of Ukraine and the Netherlands v. Russia
09/07/25

In the case of Ukraine and the Netherlands v. Russia the Court held Russia accountable for widespread and flagrant abuses of human rights arising from the conflict in Ukraine since 2014, in breach of the European Convention.

The case concerned the conflict that began in eastern Ukraine in 2014 following the arrival in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions of pro-Russian armed groups, and escalated after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine beginning on 24 February 2022. It also concerned the shooting down of flight MH17 over eastern Ukraine in summer 2014, killing all those on board, many of whom were Dutch nationals.

The Court found that Russia was responsible for repeated human-rights violations over a period of more than eight years. This included indiscriminate military attacks; summary executions; torture, notably rape as a weapon of war; unlawful and arbitrary detentions; intimidation and persecution of journalists and religious groups; looting and destruction of private property; and the organised removal of children to Russia and their adoption there.

The Court also found that Russia was responsible for violating the right to life by shooting down flight MH17 and had added to the profound suffering of the crash victims’ next of kin by being uncooperative and obstructive in the context of international efforts to uncover the truth.

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