On 26 January 2022 delegations of Ukraine and the Kingdom of the Netherlands are going to meet with delegation of the Russian Federation on hearing on admissibility of the case “Ukraine and the Netherlands v. Russia” (applications nos. 8019/16, 43800/14 and 28525/20) in the European Court of Human Rights (“ECHR”) in Strasbourg (the French Republic). The case is informally known as “Donbas case” and concerns systematic human rights violations on the temporarily occupied territory of Donetsk and Luhansk regions, including the downing of flight MH17.

The main purpose of the Ukraine is to bring Russia to responsibility for its mass human rights violations in eastern Ukraine and to stop these violations as far as possible. Also, decision of the ECHR in this case will have not only legal consequences for Russia.

“It can be used for diplomatic pressure on the aggressor state and for imposing additional sanctions of various levels. It will give Ukraine powerful weapon for further negotiations with our international partners and for proving Russia's responsibility for human rights violations on the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine. And, as a result, the aggressor will have to pay compensation to those whose rights have been violated. We are talking about compensation within the framework of the interstate application and within the framework of numerous individual applications concerning events in eastern Ukraine”, said Deputy Minister of Justice on European Integration Valeria Kolomiets on the “European Pravda” website.

Admissibility stage of the case is very important because after that, the ECHR will be able to proceed to the merits of the applications concerning Russia's crimes against human rights in eastern Ukraine and application of the Kingdom of the Netherlands as to the downing of flight MH17 and killing of 298 people in July 2014.

The Government of Ukraine submitted thousands of pages and huge amount of video, audio and other evidence to the ECHR, which refute and shatter allegations of the Russian propaganda.

“We will be proving the existence of so-called “administrative practice” of violations of the Convention on Human Rights and its Protocols by the Russian Federation over the period of occupation of Donetsk and Luhansk regions since April 2014. Ukraine will present facts proving that the Russian Federation was directly involved in the occupation of this territory of our state and human rights violations there. We will present evidence that the Russian Federation has exercised de facto control (or, in the language of the Council of Europe, “effective control”) over the temporarily occupied territories of Donetsk and Luhansk regions since April 2014. Moreover, we will prove that occupation of part of Donbas has direct connection with the Russian occupation of the Crimean Peninsula”, emphasized Deputy Minister of Justice.

The Ukrainian delegation is ready to defend interests of its citizens on the legal front of the fight against Russia in Strasbourg. The truth is on our side. We defend, not attack, and do this with all available methods.