Holding Russia accountable

Violations of international law

The EU is strongly committed to ensuring that all international crimes committed in and against Ukraine do not go unpunished.

Crimes against humanity, war crimes, genocide and the crime of aggression are considered the most serious violations of international law, also called core international crimes or atrocity crimes.

Ukraine is investigating more than 152,000 incidents of alleged international crimes, and the actual number of such atrocities is suspected to be even higher.

Prosecuting Russia’s crimes in Ukraine

To help coordinate the collection of evidence, the Commission supported the setting up of the International Centre for the Prosecution of the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine (ICPA) in The Hague, embedded in the existing Joint Investigation Team (JIT) supported by Eurojust. The Centre has been supporting the coordination of national investigations on the crime of aggression against Ukraine.

The Commission also continues to support existing mechanisms by:

• supporting the ICC’s capacities with over €10 million since the beginning of the invasion
• strengthening the Ukrainian Prosecutor General’s Office, with over €6 million on IT and equipment, and assistance of the EU Advisory Mission within the EU-US-UK Atrocity Crimes Advisory Group
• making Eurojust fit for the task: With the amended Eurojust Regulation, the Agency is able to securely preserve, store and analyse evidence related to international crimes in a new database
• supporting Eurojust and Europol, which act as coordination hubs for national investigations by EU Member States 
• coordinating with our international partners to ensure accountability and a global response 

Prosecuting the crime of aggression

A crime of aggression is generally committed by a country’s highest political and military leadership against another country’s sovereignty, territorial integrity, or political independence. Crimes of aggression include invasion, military occupation, annexation by the use of force, bombardment, and military blockade of ports, all of which have been committed by Russia.

As Russia is not a State Party to the Rome Statute of the ICC, the Court does not have jurisdiction over the crime of aggression in the present situation. The Commission and the High Representative have been supporting the discussions in the "Core Group" on the establishment of a Special Tribunal for the prosecution of the crime of aggression against Ukraine.

On 3 and 4 February 2025, at the 13th meeting of the Core Group, senior legal experts from Ukraine, 37 other States, the European Commission and the European External Action Service, as well as the Council of Europe, have agreed on the necessary key elements of the legal instruments for the establishment of a Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine, including the “Schuman draft Statute”. 

After two years of work on technical level the legal experts of the Core Group held the final meeting in Strasbourg, where they finalised the draft legal texts, necessary for the establishment of the Special Tribunal: 

• the draft bilateral agreement between Ukraine and the Council of Europe on the establishment of the Special Tribunal
• the Special Tribunal’s draft statute
• the draft enlarged partial agreement on the management of the Special Tribunal. 

These three documents have been now submitted for political consideration.

Paying for the damage done

The EU strives to guarantee that Ukraine and its people receive full reparations for the damage caused by Russia's aggression. To this end, the EU joined the Register of Damage for Ukraine - initially as an Associate Member and, as of July 2024, as a fully-fledged Participant.

Created within the framework of the Council of Europe, the register is designed to record eligible claims seeking compensation for damage, loss or injury connected to the aggression of Russia in and against Ukraine. Categories of damage encompass material destruction, physical and mental harm, forced displacement, and loss of family members.

The EU supports the Register by providing an annual contribution and participating in the meetings of the Conference of Participants.

The Register will be incorporated into the Claims Commission, a body that will adjudicate the claims and determine the value of compensation owed by Russia. Preparatory work is ongoing for the establishment of the Claims Commission. The EU is taking the necessary steps to take part in the upcoming negotiations.

In March 2022, after the start of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, the Commission set up the Freeze and Seize Task Force. The aim of the Task Force is to ensure a more effective implementation of EU restrictive measures, especially asset freezes, notably by means of criminal law.

The Task Force is run by the Commission and allows Member States, as well as EU agencies and bodies (Eurojust, Europol and EPPO) to work together on implementing EU restrictive measures and fight against sanctions violations.

The Task Force works closely with international partners, including its counterparts in Ukraine and the G7.

Due to its cross-disciplinary approach, the Task Force contributed to design new enforcement tools, such as the voluntary self-disclosure of sanctions violations, which was included in the 13th package of sanctions, or Directive (EU) 2024/1226 on the harmonisation of the criminal definitions and penalties for sanctions violations, which was adopted in April 2024.

Further to the Task Force’s input, Eurojust has been regularly cross-checking the list of individuals and companies sanctioned by the EU against Eurojust’s data on existing cases, while Europol launched Operation OSCAR to cross-check EU sanctions lists against available operational data, identify links to organised crime and money laundering, and support the tracing and seizure of criminal assets. So far, more than €2 billion in assets have been seized.

Closing legal loopholes

While the Russian aggression on Ukraine is ongoing, it is paramount that EU sanctions are fully implemented, and their violation is not allowed to pay off. We have been strengthening EU law by:

• reinforcing the EU rules on confiscation and asset recovery
• harmonising offences and penalties for violation of EU sanctions
• making it an obligation for all persons listed under EU sanctions to disclose their assets in the EU

The aim is to reinforce the deterrent effect of EU sanctions and to equip Member States with the legal tools to confiscate an increasing number of assets, when they are linked to a criminal offence.