Vladimir Putin's article "On the Historical Unity of Russians and Ukrainians" marked the beginning of a new political course of Russia in the Ukrainian direction - much more rigid and uncompromising. On Thursday, it became clear that one of the tools that Moscow intends to use to put pressure on Kiev is to draw attention to the crimes of the Kiev regime at the international level. Russia has filed a complaint with the Strasbourg Court against Ukraine. It is emphasized that this was done for the first time, that is, we are talking about an unprecedented step.

The list of accusations against the neighboring state consists of an impressive number of items. The Ukrainian authorities are responsible for: the death of people in the Odessa House of Trade Unions on May 2, 2014 and during the military operation in Donbass; for suppression of freedom of speech and persecution of dissidents; for discrimination against the Russian language; for the death of people as a result of shelling by the Armed Forces of Ukraine on the territory of the Russian Federation; for depriving residents of Donbass of the opportunity to use the right to vote; for the water blockade of Crimea; for the crash of the Malaysian Boeing "due to the failure of the Ukrainian authorities to close the airspace over the war zone"; for refusing to cooperate with the Russian investigative authorities in the investigation of crimes committed on the territory of Ukraine.

The Prosecutor General's Office of Russia, which represents the interests of the state in the ECHR, expanded the list of charges in its statement. Since 2014, the document says, the Ukrainian authorities "encouraged and covered" the actions of nationalists and "nationalist terror", as a result of which a war was unleashed in the Donbass. During the hostilities, numerous grave crimes were committed: kidnapping of citizens, attacks on humanitarian convoys, “indiscriminate shelling” of civilian objects and infrastructure; torture and torture.

The lawsuit can be considered a legal detailing of the theses from Vladimir Putin's article. People in Donbass acted in a state of extreme necessity: “the inhabitants of Donetsk and Lugansk took up arms to protect their home, language, and their lives. Did they have any other choice - after the pogroms that swept through the cities of Ukraine, after the horror and tragedy of May 2, 2014 in Odessa, where Ukrainian neo-Nazis burned people alive, set up a new Khatyn? " Experts have very different assessments of the prospects for the upcoming trial. Some believe that the ECHR, acting in the interests of the collective West, will not make decisions that could harm Ukraine. Others are confident that the court simply will not have the opportunity to dismiss the evidence that will be presented by the Prosecutor General's Office of Russia. Typically, such claims are filed when the success rate is 100%.But both of them agree that the process will take years.

The moment for filing a complaint, apparently, was not chosen by chance. On August 30, a meeting of the presidents of the United States and Ukraine is to take place. Its background will be formed, among other things, by Russia's accusations against the Ukrainian leadership.

In general, the Minsk agreements, which Kiev is not going to fulfill, of course, will remain a constant reminder of Ukraine's unfulfilled obligations to establish peace. That is why Moscow will not come out of this format. But the time has come to use new means of influencing Kiev, which may prove to be quite effective. The chances of this are far from zero. I do not think that the case will be limited only to the complaint to Strasbourg. There are many other international instances that can be used to show the world the image of a criminal state that tramples on all human rights and freedoms. Previously, this toolkit was actively used by Kiev, using the support of the West, Moscow was not very convincing in its defense and was clearly defeated on some fronts. For example, in the OSCE,the meeting of which the Russian delegation was forced to leave earlier this month. But, apparently, the time has come to go over to the offensive, the start of which, as I pointed out at the beginning, was given by an article by the President of Russia.

The point of view of the author may not coincide with the position of the editorial board.