Even if the conflict in Donbass will last for years, sooner or later the day will inevitably come, when a peace will be established in Ukraine. When the peace will come Ukraine will face the fact, that it will be very difficult to restore normal peaceful life in the region. One of variants to attract money for restoration of Ukrainian Donbass is compensation of caused damage according to results of lawsuits towards the aggressor-state.

Price of the question

Authorities of the RF clearly explained that they are not going to include illusory “republics” into the RF. They will not manage to exist as “independent” states for a long time neither. It is not Abkhazia with a population of 200 000 – there are much more people in “republics”.

Damaged roads, infrastructure, houses, destroyed, robbed and taken away to the RF industrial enterprises, mined fields, bad ecological environment, flooded mines with all equipment – this is not explicit list of problems, which will stand on the way of Ukrainian authorities and society when occupied territories will come back to Ukraine.

In this context it becomes actual and important: where will our state take enormous financial resources to restore war-ravaged Donbass?

Last year in September CNSD named approximate amount of damage – 30 billions of hrivna. A year has passed since that moment and number of destructions has significantly risen.

This February Deputy Minister of Regional Development, Construction and Housing and Communal Services of Ukraine Vladimir Kistion voiced a figure — 1,5 billion of USD of damage. He underlined that real amount will be higher, because these calculations didn’t take into account data on destructions on Donbass territories, not controlled by Ukrainian authority.

Final amount of damage caused by the war can be counted only after the end of combats. But even now it is clear that figures will be enormous – except destroyed roads, houses, enterprises, many citizens of Ukraine lost their business, cars, housing, other estate and property.

We cannot forget also about such loses of the state budget as tax payments from Luhansk and Donetsk regions and decrease of foreign investments because of Russian aggression.

Considering all that factors we can suppose that amount of direct and indirect damage measures in hundreds of billions of hrivna.

The reasonable question naturally arises: where our country will take this money?

It would be sensibly to make accountable for material consequences of the war in Donbass the culprit – the Russian Federation. But in reality it is not so simple.

What prevents from litigation against the RF?

In the beginning of 2015 European Parliament put in three applications to the International Criminal Court in Hague for initiation of an investigation of Russian occupation of Crimea and part of Donetsk and Luhansk regions. According to words of the Minister of Justice in Ukraine Pavel Petrenko Ukraine had also filed this law suit with gathered by the Prosecutor’s Office evidence of illegal actions of the RF on the territory of Crimea, Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

According to the procedure International Court will hold investigation and make decision about opening a criminal proceeding.

This February 271 deputies of the Verhovna Rada of Ukraine recognized jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court in Hague (ICC) in investigation of crimes against humanity, committed in Ukraine starting from February 14, 2014, and till today. According to the authors’ plan this resolution should start international proceeding against Russian authorities, involved in organization of the conflict in the East.

Expert of the PO “Center of Civil Liberties” Irina Muhina explained the Informator.lg.ua that this procedure hasn’t been carried out:

“Verhovna Rada of Ukraine passed this act, but we had to get answer from the International Criminal Court that they passed this declaration. We know that Ukraine doesn’t just ask this court whether it has passed the declaration, but the state didn’t even sent this Act to the International Criminal Court. Which means that Ukraine made this decision, but didn’t’ bring it into force”.

Our interlocutor noted why even in case if Ukraine will ratify the Rome Statute, citizens, who suffered from Russian aggression, would not be able to address the International Criminal Court with civic actions:

“International Criminal Court doesn’t work as other international courts regarding civic actions, for instance as the European Court on Human Rights. International Criminal Court complains on the base of a suspicion of the commission of a crime against humanity, genocide, war crimes. So these applications from people will be used as evidence and checked by the Court. But the Court will not examine those complaints because it is not competent to do this. In other words, actually those suites are meaningless”, — Irina Muhina supposes.

Also she underlines that there are other international institutions where Ukrainians can apply their civic suits against the Russian Federation:

“Experience shows that residents of uncontrolled territories of Ukraine can apply law suits to the European Court on Human Rights, including against Ukraine and the Russian Federation. We have to notify that there are such law suits. Citizens cannot file an action against Russia as co-defendant on those cases”.

Expert explained also why Ukraine hasn’t ratified the Rome Statute.

“According to announcement of the CNSD ratification of the Rome Statute will promote distribution of Russian propaganda. We suppose that those single law suits, which are dismissed among IDPs, informed that they can file an action against Russia or Ukraine – is a result of Russian propaganda, which is aimed to bombard international court institutions. Our authorities, just as authorities of any other country in war, are afraid to ratify the Rome Statute. Russian propaganda is also against the ratification, because it will mean that everyone, who will commit crimes on the territory of Ukraine, will be under its jurisdiction, including Russian citizens”, — Muhina summed up.

During last six months Ukraine filed a number of actions to the European Court on Human Rights. The first one was filed in March, 2014.

Also Ukraine has initiated a procedure of calling Russia to account in the UN International Court for violation of the European Convention on the Suppression of Terrorism.

Will Russia pay for its deeds?

On the 23th of May the US President Barack Obama annulled a decree, which provided payment for Russian uranium under the program “Megatons to megawatts”. According to this document, which was adopted in 1993, uranium from dismantled Russian warheads found a use in the US nuclear energy sector.

Abrogation of this decree means that Russian actives on the US territory can be arrested, including because of non-payment for civic actions in judicial institutions. For the first view these conditions don’t seem very important but we cannot underestimate them – because it’s another possibility to “suppress” the aggressor and compel him to a constructive dialogue.

International society supports Ukrainian authorities and creates environment for protection of our interests.

Nevertheless it is sad, that our state is still not ready to confront “hybrid” aggression of the Russian Federation at all levels. For example, it concerns protection of interests in international judicial institutions.

Aleksey Chernov for the Informator.lg.ua