Russia has filed an interstate complaint against Ukraine with the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), based on Article 33 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.

The General Prosecutor's Office of the Russian Federation reported this.

“The appeal is intended to draw the attention of the European Court and the entire world community to gross and systematic violations of human rights by the Ukrainian authorities, to record numerous facts of criminal acts in the international legal field, to force the Ukrainian authorities to stop committing them, conduct a proper investigation and immediately bring the perpetrators to justice, restore peace and harmony on the territory of Ukraine, ”the ministry said in a statement.

The Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation stressed that the first interstate complaint in the history of Russia, which was submitted by the Russian authorities to the European Court, “contains a detailed description of the process of the unconstitutional change of power in Ukraine and the promotion of nationalist forces into the Ukrainian state bodies, which was the main reason for the ensuing massive violations of the Convention and the Protocols To her".

Let us remind you that at the end of 2013 - beginning of 2014, events known as "Euromaidan" took place in Ukraine.

During the protest rallies, which gradually escalated into riots and clashes with law enforcement officials, the authorities were asked to sign an association agreement with the European Union.

More than a hundred people became victims of popular unrest in the capital, which were actively fueled by radical nationalist groups.

The mass death of civilians led to high tension in society and to the violent seizure of power, which, in turn, led to an armed conflict in the east of the country.

“The coup d'état and the subsequent actions of the Kiev authorities inevitably provoked confrontation and civil war.

According to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the total number of victims associated with the conflict in Donbass has exceeded 13 thousand people, ”stated Russian President Vladimir Putin in his article“ On the Historical Unity of Russians and Ukrainians ”.

Note that in July of this year, the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation transferred to the General Prosecutor's Office the authority to represent Russia at the ECHR and protect its interests in this instance. 

Earlier, in June, the State Duma of the Russian Federation adopted in the third final reading the presidential laws, which give the Prosecutor General's Office the right to represent the interests of the Russian side in the European Court of Human Rights and other international courts and arbitrations.

"No legal basis"

Russia's complaint against Ukraine submitted to the ECHR concerns a number of groups of violations.

First of all, we are talking about the responsibility of Kiev for the death of civilians, illegal imprisonment and cruel treatment of people, including on Independence Square in the Ukrainian capital in 2014, in the House of Trade Unions in Odessa and in Donbass during the so-called "anti-terrorist operation ".

As noted by the Russian side, "mass, inhuman and unpunished killings of people turned out to be possible in the 21st century," while "neither the organizers, nor the direct perpetrators of the crimes have been brought to justice."

Recall that on May 2, 2014 in Odessa, Ukrainian radicals staged riots, during which the city House of Trade Unions, where the anti-Maidan activists were, was set on fire.

As a result, 48 people died.

As the head of the UN monitoring mission for human rights in Ukraine, Matilda Bogner, said last year, after this tragedy, not a single person has been brought to justice for the killings.

She called on Kiev to ensure an impartial investigation, since, in her words, "the families of the victims have the right to truth and justice for the death of their loved ones."

  • Fire in the House of Trade Unions in Odessa

  • RIA News

  • © Alexander Polishchuk

As stated in the document published on the website of the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation, the Ukrainian authorities not only did not interfere with the actions of radical nationalists, they encouraged and covered them for more than seven years.

The complaint also emphasizes that during the civil war in Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine, which has also been going on for seven years and is disguised by Kiev under the name of an "anti-terrorist operation", Ukrainian military personnel used "administrative practice" to kill civilians, including children, harmed their health, destroyed residential buildings and critical civilian infrastructure "through deliberate and indiscriminate shelling."

The Russian side also draws attention to the Kiev practice of "suppression of freedom of speech and persecution of dissidents by prohibiting the work of the media", Internet platforms, persecution of journalists, politicians and ordinary citizens.

"From 2014 to the present, the Ukrainian authorities have been carrying out the physical elimination of opposition politicians and journalists," the Moscow office said.

Media workers, including Russian ones, are "killed, brutally beaten, unlawfully kidnapped, taken hostage, persecuted and intimidated on political grounds if truthful information is disseminated about the political situation in the country."

During the execution of their official duties in Ukraine, the operator of the Russian First Channel Anatoly Klyan, the sound engineer and VGTRK correspondent Anton Voloshin and Igor Kornelyuk, and the photojournalist of the Rossiya Segodnya MIA Andrei Stenin were killed.

In addition, as was reminded in Russia, in Ukraine for several years access to many oppositional or Russian-language information resources was limited or suspended, including 112 Ukraine, NewsOne and ZiK.

Similar sanctions were also applied to the Russian media: Channel One, VGTRK, Zvezda TV channels, TNT, Ren-TV, TV Center, NTV +, RT, and RIA Novosti.

“These restrictions had no legal basis and led to a wave of disapproval from representatives of international organizations and associations of journalists,” the Russian Prosecutor General's Office stated.

Russia's complaint against Ukraine also contains data on the policy of discrimination against the Russian-speaking population and the displacement of the use of the Russian language from the public sphere.

In 2017, Kiev adopted a law "On Education", which, according to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, entails a significant curtailment of the rights of national minorities, since it restricts education in their native languages, including Russian.

In addition, in 2019, the law "On ensuring the functioning of the Ukrainian language as a state language" came into force.

In January of this year, its individual provisions began to operate, which imply a complete transition of the service system and state institutions to the Ukrainian language.

  • Flags of Russia and Ukraine

  • RIA News

  • © Alexey Filippov

Also, in its complaint, Russia recalls the blocking by Kiev without warning and in violation of contractual obligations of the North Crimean Canal as the main source of fresh water supply for the inhabitants of the Crimean Peninsula.

Such actions in Moscow were regarded as "revenge for the expression of the political position of hundreds of thousands of residents (at the referendum in March 2014 -

RT

)."

In addition, the document refers to the crash of the Malaysian Airlines plane in 2014 due to the failure of the Ukrainian authorities to close the airspace over the war zone, as a result of which 298 people died.

The Russian side believes that Ukraine is fully responsible for this incident. 

In its complaint, Russia also raises the issue of depriving residents of certain territories of southeastern Ukraine of the opportunity to participate in elections to the central government.

It is also said about Kiev's refusal to provide the necessary legal assistance to the Russian investigating authorities in the investigation of the crimes committed.

Among other things, the document also refers to attacks on diplomatic, consular and other missions of the Russian Federation in Ukraine and violations committed by the Kiev authorities against Russian citizens, "among whom there are dead and wounded."

“On the territory of Ukraine, a significant number of Russian citizens are subjected to cruel treatment, their property is destroyed or damaged, and Russian business is discriminated against.

In the immediate vicinity of the Russian border, the Armed Forces of Ukraine are conducting hostilities that pose a real threat to the life and health of Russian citizens living in the border regions, and forcing thousands of Ukrainian citizens to seek refuge on Russian territory, "Moscow said.

"Use all levers of pressure"

According to political analysts, Russia's appeal to the ECHR looks completely justified.

Over the past seven years, official Kiev has not taken any steps to resolve problems within the country, analysts say.

“The complaint is absolutely justified, because the death of thousands of people in Donbass is connected precisely with the fact that a coup d'état took place in Ukraine, and the hostilities in Donbass were its direct consequence.

The main instigators, initiators, inspirers of all these killings were nationalist battalions, whose ideology is banned at the international level.

It was they who staged the genocide of their own population.

And for a long time everyone turned a blind eye to this, "political scientist and economist Alexander Dudchak explained in an interview with RT.

In his opinion, Russia had not filed a complaint earlier, since until the last moment it was counting on Ukraine's constructive approach within the framework of the Minsk agreements.

“According to these agreements, Kiev pledged to stop the hostilities, but nothing is happening in this direction.

As before, shelling of the civilian population of Donbass is underway.

And now it is probably already obvious to everyone that Ukraine cannot and, most importantly, does not want to fulfill the Minsk Agreements.

Therefore, it is necessary to use all the levers of pressure for this criminal regime to be punished.

At the same time, we are talking not only about the current authorities, but also about Poroshenko, and all those people who carried out the coup, "Dudchak explained.

Vladimir Olenchenko, an employee of the Center for European Studies at the IMEMO RAS, adheres to a similar point of view.

In an interview with RT, he stressed that Russia had to take such a step in order to finally draw Kiev's attention to what is happening with human rights in Ukraine.

“In the global political and public culture, the Russian leadership is restrained, balanced, consistent and tries to solve problems through dialogue.

At the same time, the Ukrainian authorities, on the contrary, use unacceptable means - in particular, they arrange trials in international organizations, resort to all sorts of far-fetched claims and claims.

Russia should have turned to such a practice for a long time, because in Ukraine, apparently, they do not understand another language, ”Olenchenko says.

At the same time, experts believe that so far one should not count on any breakthrough court decisions on the complaint of the Russian Federation against Ukraine.

Thus, Volodymyr Olenchenko suggested that "the Ukrainian authorities and their partners, especially those who took an active part in the events of 2014, will actively influence the court."

Alexander Dudchak takes a similar position.

“The ECHR works primarily in the interests of the West.

I would not call it an organization that seeks an objective view of the events taking place in Europe.

Therefore, one cannot count on complete objectivity, ”Dudchak is sure.

  • European Court of Human Rights

  • AFP

  • © FREDERICK FLORIN

However, as the interlocutor of RT emphasized, Russia's actions are a clear signal to the regime in Kiev that all their actions are being documented.

“Those who commit lawlessness in Ukraine should know that they will not get away with it, that everything is recorded, information is collected.

Sooner or later, they will still be held accountable.

The transformation of Ukraine into a stronghold of Nazi ideology directed towards Russia has become a constant source of conflicts and terrorist threats not only for the Russian Federation, but for the whole of Europe.

And I think that Brussels understands this very well too.

Therefore, the current steps of Moscow will contribute to a change of views in the European leadership, too, ”Dudchak said.

According to Volodymyr Olenchenko, the complaint filed by Russia will create a precedent for the protection of human rights in Ukraine by those who “really care for the true Ukrainian interests and worried about what happened in the country in 2014”.

“This is a good reason to remind once again that Russia is not turning this page and will seek an objective interpretation of what has happened and is happening in Ukraine,” the expert summed up.