ECHR dismisses in full Russia’s claim against Ukraine

The European Court of Human Rights on Tuesday fully dismissed Russia’s claims against Ukraine, the only such interstate claim, the justice ministry said in a statement.

The claim, filed back in 2021, included Moscow’s claims of alleged administrative "killings, abductions, forced relocation, interference with the right to vote, restrictions on the use of the Russian language, and attacks on Russian embassies and consulates" perpetrated by Ukraine.

Russia also tried to hold Ukraine responsible for the MH17 plane crash; complained about the blocking of the North Crimean canal; and sought to apply so-called interim measures, including obliging Ukraine to resume water supplies to Crimea and stop ‘infringing’ on the Russian language.

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Back in July 2021, the ECHR rejected Russia's application for interim measures since it had not provided evidence of "a serious risk of irreparable harm to fundamental human rights under the European Convention on Human Rights".

After examining the evidence, as well as taking into account Russia’s behaviour and lack of any cooperation with the court since March 2022, the ECHR today dismissed the claim in full and removed it from the register of cases.

"The Court concluded that the Russian government no longer wished to pursue their application as they had repeatedly failed to reply to its correspondence," it said in a statement.

In March 2022, Russia was kicked out of the Council of Europe, an organisation whose members are bound by ECHR decisions, and refused to comply with the court’s judgements.

The ECHR, however, decided it could still consider the cases filed prior to Russia’s withdrawal that had Russia as one of the parties.