The Council of Europe is preparing the International Claims Commission for Ukraine. The draft Convention has been published. The new agency will serve as the second stage of the international mechanism to compensate for damages caused by Russian aggression, following the international Damage Registry. 

The Commission will review claims and assign compensation to war victims, with Russia expected to pay reparations at the third stage. The document was agreed upon in The Hague after eight rounds of negotiations over 18 months.

International Commission and damage registry

The Convention covers the period from 24 February 2022, but Ukraine may propose extending it to 2014–2021, Babel reports. In 2014, Russia annexed Ukraine’s Crimea, forcibly changing the borders of another country and violating the international order established since World War II. 

Key dates for the convention

• 22 October 2025 — Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe to review and approve the text.
• 16 December 2025 — Signing ceremony in The Hague.
• The Convention may enter into force as early as November 2026.

Start of commission work and compensation payments

On 1 January 2028, the transition from the Damage Registry to the Commission will begin, allowing Ukraine to continue seeking reparations from Russia and protecting the rights of its citizens at the international level.

Earlier, Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski said providing security guarantees for Ukraine remains unclear, as no state “is willing to wage a war against the Kremlin.” 

Sikorski recalled that Ukraine already had guarantees under the Budapest Memorandum, but they failed. The new arrangements, in his view, are also incapable of deterring Moscow. 

“I don’t see anyone willing to fight with Russia”: Sikorski explains why security guarantees for Ukraine may fail like Budapest Memorandum

Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights Dmytro Lubinets commented on Russia’s intention to withdraw from the European Convention for the Prevention of Torture. He stressed that such a move demonstrates the Kremlin’s disregard for human rights and paves the way for even greater crimes against Ukrainians.

Russia leaves the convention: what it means

Recently, Moscow has announced its withdrawal from the European Torture Convention, which not only prohibits torture but also provides for monitoring of places of detention. Previously, this was carried out by the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture.

According to Lubinets, this decision has several dangerous consequences:

• avoiding international monitoring of torture in prisons and in temporarily occupied territories;
• the loss of legal and judicial mechanisms of pressure on Russia;
• the effective removal of responsibility before the Council of Europe.

“The aggressor state shows that it does not care about human rights and no longer recognizes European norms,” the Ukrainian ombudsman stated.

Threat of mass human rights violations

Russia, which for years has carried out arbitrary detentions, torture, and violence against prisoners of war and civilians, is now officially refusing even its formal international obligations.

Ukrainian journalist abducted from his garden in 2022 returns from Russian captivity weighing less than 45 kg

Lubinets stressed that impunity only breeds new crimes and creates a threat to the global rule of law.

“Such actions by Russia create risks of widespread human rights violations, especially during armed conflicts,” he noted.

What the world must do

Despite Russia’s withdrawal, other international mechanisms remain. Lubinets emphasized the importance of:

• using the UN Convention against Torture;
• cooperating with the International Committee of the Red Cross;
• documenting Russia’s crimes and transferring them to the International Criminal Court;
• imposing sanctions against those involved in torture.

“Torture is part of Russia’s state policy,” Lubinets concluded.