What changed

B100307/2025

B100303/2025

European Parliament resolution on the human cost of Russia’s war against Ukraine and the urgent need to end Russian aggression: the situation of illegally detained civilians and prisoners of war, and the continued bombing of civilians

(2025/2710(RSP))

– having regard to its previous resolutions on Ukrainethe andUN Russia,Charter,

– having regard to the Hague Conventions, the UN Charter, the Geneva Conventions and their additional protocols, the UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, the European Convention on Human Rights, the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child,

– having regard to the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and the additional protocols thereto,

– having regard to the Helsinki Final Act of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) of 1 August 1975, the Charter of Paris for a New Europe of the OSCE of 21 November 1990 and the UN Memorandum on Security Assurances in Connection with Ukraine’s Accession to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons of 5 December 1994 (the Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurances),

– having regard to the European Convention on Human Rights,

– having regard to the statement of 16 October 2024 by the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy on the killing of Ukrainian prisoners of war,

– having regard to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court,

– having regard to Resolution 2573 (2024) of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe on missing persons, prisoners of war and civilians in captivity as a result of the war of aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine,

– having regard to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,

– having regard to the reportreports of the IndependentUN InternationalHigh Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), the UN Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine of 28and Maythe 2025UN entitledSpecial ‘“TheyRapporteurs areon huntingthe us”:human systematicrights dronesituation attacksin targetingthe civiliansoccupied inPalestinian Kherson’,territory,

– having regard to Rule 136(2) of its Rules of Procedure,

A. whereas for over a decade, since the 2014 annexation of Crimea and occupation of parts of Donetsk and Luhansk, Russia has openly violated Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, leading to severe humanitarian, economic and ecological consequences, and regional instability; whereas Russia could stop its brutal and unjustified war of aggression against Ukraine at any moment;

A. whereas Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, which has been ongoing since 24 February 2022, has caused immense human suffering, including by killing more than 13 000 civilians and injuring over 32 000, and killing or wounding hundreds of thousands of soldiers, and through the indiscriminate bombing and destruction of Ukrainian civil infrastructure;

B. whereas, according to Ukrainian data since the beginning of 2025, the Russian army has launched nearly 27 700 guided aerial bombs, over 11 000 Shahed drones, around 9 000 other types of combat drones, and more than 700 missiles into Ukraine; whereas Russian forces have systematically targeted residential areas and civilian infrastructure, killing more than 13 300 civilians and injuring over 32 700, as reported by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) as of May 2025;

B. whereas the war in eastern Ukraine, which began in 2014, has also resulted in thousands of civilian victims and caused enormous human suffering;

C. whereas Russian forces are also responsible for forced deportations, including of children, some forcibly adopted, as well as disappearances, illegal detentions, torture, executions of civilians and prisoners of war (POWs), and other acts of terror, including sexual violence, in particular against women and girls; whereas Russia continues to illegally alter the ethnic composition of occupied Ukrainian territories;

C. whereas the wars have displaced over 14 million Ukrainians, both internally and across Europe, and left entire regions devastated, while also being used to justify increased militarisation and massive arms spending across the EU;

D. whereas Russia’s war has devastated the lives of Ukrainian children, with over 1 800 killed or injured and millions displaced; whereas over 65 % of Ukrainian children are living in poverty, with up to 100 000 still in institutional care, and their education is severely disrupted; whereas over 1.5 million Ukrainian children are at risk of post-traumatic stress disorder, and nearly half experience distress and isolation;

D. whereas Russia is currently detaining over 16 000 Ukrainian civilians, including elected officials, journalists and human rights defenders, and at least 8 000 prisoners of war (POWs), often holding them incommunicado and in violation of the Third and Fourth Geneva Conventions; whereas humane treatment and the legal rights of POWs are enshrined in the Geneva Conventions;

E. whereas Ukraine and international bodies have documented hundreds of executions of Ukrainian POWs by Russian forces since February 2022; whereas the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine is investigating the execution of 268 Ukrainian POWs (208 on the battlefield and 59 in the ‘Olenivka’ penal colony); whereas the increasing number of executions, together with the available evidence, indicates that these crimes are not isolated incidents, but rather part of a systematic and deliberate policy, constituting serious violations of international law and human rights, as well as war crimes under the Geneva Conventions and the Rome Statute;

E. whereas Ukraine is also detaining Russian POWs, and both parties are bound by international law to treat detainees humanely and respect their legal rights;

F. whereas Ukrainian POWs are subjected to starvation, denial of medical care, and physical, sexual and psychological violence; whereas the UN’s Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine has documented a widespread and systematic practice of torture by Russian authorities against Ukrainian civilians and POWs, with dozens dying in captivity as a result of their abuse; whereas over 5 600 Ukrainians have been identified as victims of torture in criminal proceedings, and more than 170 torture chambers have been documented;

F. whereas more than 5 700 POWs have been exchanged between Russia and Ukraine since 2022;

G. whereas over 70 000 Ukrainians are currently listed as missing, with the real figure likely higher due to unreported disappearances; whereas Russia has not provided any information about POWs or unjustly detained civilians;

G. whereas the International Committee of the Red Cross has inspected the conditions of detention for Russian POWs in Ukraine; whereas the Russian authorities continue to deny access to the Ukrainian POWs and civilian detainees held by Russia, thus violating international humanitarian law;

H. whereas preliminary Ukrainian data indicates that over 16 000 Ukrainian civilians are currently being held in Russian-operated prisons; whereas the Russian authorities hold fake trials, exert tremendous physical and psychological pressure, and impose long sentences, accusing those detained of serious crimes such as espionage, terrorist activities and financing terrorist organisations;

H. whereas the EU has applied a comprehensive sanctions regime against Russia, including measures targeting energy, finance and dual-use goods, but has failed to apply even symbolic or limited sanctions against Israel, despite overwhelming evidence of large-scale violations of international law;

I. whereas Ukraine has conducted 65 prisoner exchanges with Russia since February 2022, resulting in the release of 5 757 individuals, including three large-scale exchanges in May 2025, with an additional 469 individuals released outside formal exchange mechanisms;

I. whereas since October 2023, Israel’s military assault on Gaza has killed over 56 000 Palestinians and injured over 125 000, including children, destroyed much of the civilian infrastructure and displaced more than 2 million people; whereas 3 300 of the more than 10 000 Palestinian prisoners held by Israel, including more than 950 minors, are currently being held in administrative detention, without charge or trial, and are often subjected to torture or beatings or die in custody, as documented by independent human rights groups; whereas the destruction of hospitals, refugee camps, universities and water infrastructure in Gaza constitutes collective punishment and a potential war crime under international law;

J. whereas the UN’s Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine concluded that Russian armed forces have committed crimes against humanity and the war crime of attacking civilians, through drone attacks targeting civilians in the Kherson region;

J. whereas the President of the Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and the current Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy (VP/HR), Kaja Kallas, while having repeatedly condemned Russian war crimes, have failed to condemn Israeli crimes and have instead publicly praised the Israeli Government and military under the pretext of ‘self-defence’, undermining the EU’s credibility and possibly breaching EU and international legal obligations;

K. whereas Russia, while posturing as a defender of the Christian faith and values, has been conducting mass and systematic violations of religious freedoms in occupied Ukrainian territories, with an outright ban on the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, at least 47 Ukrainian religious leaders killed and more subjected to torture, and religious property deliberately targeted and destroyed by Russian forces; whereas, in parallel, Russia weaponises the Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate as a tool to tyrannise and control religious communities and the Ukrainian population more broadly;

K. whereas the EU continues to preach a rules-based order, but applies international law selectively, issuing sanctions and arms embargoes against Russia while deepening military cooperation with Israel, a state accused of genocide, apartheid and war crimes by multiple UN and civil society and human rights organisations;

L. whereas the current estimated cost of damage caused by Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine over the past three years stands at over EUR 500 billion – a conservative figure that continues to grow daily;

L. whereas the continued logic of military escalation, lethal weapons deliveries and third-country involvement risks prolonging the war in Ukraine and increasing the suffering of civilians, while closing the space for peace diplomacy and ceasefire negotiations;

M. whereas the EU has adopted 17 packages of sanctions against Russia; whereas despite these and other sanctions, Russia continues to wage its war of aggression against Ukraine;

M. whereas a just and lasting peace can only be achieved through diplomacy, ceasefire and adherence to the principles of the UN Charter, not through further militarisation or indefinite war;

1. Reiterates its strongest possible condemnation of Russia’s unprovoked, illegal and unjustified war of aggression against Ukraine;Ukraine and the indiscriminate targeting of civilians and infrastructure; demands that Russia immediatelyimmediately, completely and unconditionally cease all militaryattacks activitiesagainst inresidential Ukraine,areas fullyand withdrawcivilian frominfrastructure; Ukraine’sdemands internationallythat recognisedRussia territory,permanently endcease forcedviolating deportations,or releasethreatening allthe detainedsovereignty, independence and deportedterritorial Ukrainians,integrity andof compensateUkraine; Ukrainecondemns the atrocities committed against the Ukrainian population by the Russian army and victimsthe indiscriminate destruction of warUkraine’s crimesinfrastructure; forcalls, theafter damage11 caused;years underlinesof thatwar Russia,in itsUkraine, leadershipfor a just and itslasting alliespeace, bearwhich fullrequires responsibilitytaking forinto account the warcauses of the conflict and putting an end to the atrocitiesstrategy committed,of andinstigating callsand forprolonging fullthe accountability;war;

2. Strongly condemnsDemands the executionimmediate release of all Ukrainian POWscivilians, including children, detained by Russian forces, and insists that the ongoingInternational useCommittee of torturethe andRed inhumaneCross treatmentand byUN Russia,bodies whichbe constitutegranted warfull crimesaccess andto graveall breachesdetention ofsites; condemns the Genevause Conventions;of callsdetainees forand thePOWs EU,for itspropaganda, Memberstaged Statesinterviews, and international partners, in particularcoerced thepublic Internationalstatements; Committeestrongly ofcondemns the Redexecution Cross,of toUkrainian increaseand pressureRussian onprisoners; Russiacalls tofor complythe withEU, its internationalMember obligationsStates and tointernational grantpartners internationalto humanitarianincrease organisationspressure immediateon accessRussia to all prisonerscomply andwith placesits ofinternational detention;obligations, demandsparticularly the immediate and unconditionalGeneva releaseConventions, and return ofto allallow civiliansinternational illegallyorganisations detainedaccess byto Russia;prisoners;

3. Strongly condemns the Russian Federation’s violent actions against Ukrainian children, including killings, forced transfers and deportations, illegal adoptions, sexual abuse and exploitation, attempts to erase their Ukrainian identity via forced Russification, and militarisation; further condemns Belarus’ involvement in these actions; stresses that these acts form part of a genocidal strategy to erase Ukrainian identity; calls for increased EU support for Ukrainian children’s education, healthcare and mental health services, and for child protection, including trauma recovery and safe learning environments; urges the EU and Ukraine to prioritise children’s needs in aid and reconstruction efforts;

3. Expresses deep alarm at the widespread use of torture, sexual violence and ill-treatment in detention facilities and calls for a UN-led international inquiry into these abuses; insists that all POWs, on both sides, be treated in accordance with the Geneva Conventions and international humanitarian law;

4. Reiterates its call for the EU and its Member States to increase humanitarian and rehabilitation assistance for victims of Russian captivity, including access to medical and psychological care, reintegration services and legal assistance; commends Ukrainian and international civil society organisations for supporting families of abducted Ukrainian children, POWs and illegally detained civilians; calls for the EU, its Member States and the international community to assist their efforts and intensify pressure on Russia to return all abducted and detained Ukrainians;

4. Welcomes the ongoing prisoner exchanges and encourages future agreements, especially involving wounded combatants, minors and arbitrarily detained civilians;

5. Expresses deep concern at the reported 70 000 missing Ukrainians, and calls for increased efforts to investigate their whereabouts;

5. Values the direct dialogue between Russia and Ukraine that is ongoing in Istanbul as an important step that should make an effective contribution to advancing a negotiation process that addresses the causes of the conflict, paving the way for a just and lasting peace in Europe;

6. Welcomes the recent agreement between Ukraine and the Council of Europe to establish a Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine; calls for the EU and its Member States to support efforts to investigate violations of international humanitarian law by Russia and bring the perpetrators to justice;

6. Denounces the EU’s blatant double standards in applying international law, particularly its unwillingness to apply any form of sanctions, conditionality or suspension of agreements with Israel, despite grave and ongoing human rights violations and war crimes in Gaza and the West Bank; condemns the mass arbitrary detention of Palestinians, including children, and demands their immediate release;

7. Reaffirms the EU’s commitment to a just and lasting peace in Ukraine, based on its sovereignty and territorial integrity, and supports Ukraine’s Peace Formula; stresses that any peace agreement must uphold Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and prevent Russia from rearming in the future; believes that the EU must contribute to robust security guarantees for Ukraine; reiterates that only Ukraine can determine the terms of a peace agreement acceptable to its people;

7. Deplores the EU leadership’s silence and complicity, particularly that of Commission President von der Leyen and VP/HR Kaja Kallas, who have refused to condemn the Israeli Government for the use of starvation and siege warfare and the killing of thousands of civilians in Gaza;

8. Believes that in order for Russia to seriously consider ending its war of aggression, beginning with a sustained ceasefire, substantial additional pressure must be applied by the EU and like-minded partners; calls on the Member States, therefore, to urgently adopt the 18th EU sanctions package and to impose further sanctions on key Russian industrial sectors (metallurgical, chemical, agricultural, financial, IT and nuclear) and raw materials (such as steel, titanium, nickel and uranium); reiterates its call for a full embargo on Russian fossil fuels, including liquefied natural gas (LNG), and all other hydrocarbon products, and for further reductions in the price cap on Russian petroleum products, in coordination with G7 partners; calls for sanctions on the rest of the ‘shadow fleet’ vessels, as well as their captains, owners, cargo suppliers and buyers, and for individual sanctions related to Russia’s military-industrial complex, propaganda and disinformation activities to be further expanded; urges the EU and its Member States to systematically tackle sanctions circumvention and strengthen accountability for sanctions violations; regrets the US administration’s decision to lift sanctions on a number of Kremlin-linked financial entities and calls for the swift adoption and ratification of the Sanctioning Russia Act of 2025;

8. Warns that such silence may constitute political and moral complicity in war crimes, and demands that the EU’s policy toward Israel be reviewed immediately;

9. Reiterates its calls for the EU and its Member States to urgently transfer the financial custody of immobilised Russian assets to one or more special purpose vehicles so as to shield them from veto weaponisation at EU level and make them available, through a loan backed by Ukraine’s legitimate claim to war reparations, for Ukraine’s defence and reconstruction, and reparations for victims; calls for Russia’s access to high-tech components and equipment, used in Russian missiles, drones, electronic intelligence and warfare, to be further limited;

9. Stresses that sanctions and restrictive measures must be based on international law, not geopolitical alignment, and that the failure to sanction Israel while sanctioning Russia undermines the EU’s credibility and legal coherence; calls for a fundamental reassessment of EU external action to ensure consistency, legality and universal respect for human rights and international humanitarian law; calls for the suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement, an immediate end to all military cooperation and a comprehensive EU arms embargo on Israel, as was applied against Russia;

10. Stresses that the EU, together with its Member States, is Ukraine’s primary strategic ally and thus must significantly increase its assistance and support, particularly regarding the defence equipment, training and strategic assistance necessary to uphold Ukraine’s right to self-defence; calls for the EU and its Member States to ensure the stable, predictable and timely supply of weapons and ammunition to Ukraine and to increase joint procurement, expand production capacities and further integrate Ukraine into European defence industrial chains; notes, with deep concern, the delays and reduction in the supply of US aid, which have already severely impacted Ukraine’s ability to defend itself and which risk emboldening further Russian advances; notes that EU support to Ukraine has surpassed that of the United States, underlining the EU’s vital role in sustaining Ukraine’s resistance and recovery;

10. Expresses grave concern over the escalation of the war in Ukraine and calls on all parties to urgently prioritise de-escalation, ceasefire and diplomatic solutions over continued arms transfers and military escalation;

11. Calls for the EU and its Member States to work towards maintaining the broadest possible international support for Ukraine, including by building coalitions with like-minded non-EU partners;

11. Stresses that peace and security are not achieved by promoting a policy of confrontation, arms escalation and war, but through diplomacy, dialogue and the political resolution of conflicts, through collective security and through respect for the principles of the UN Charter and international law;

12. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the relevant EU institutions, the governments and parliaments of the Member States, the President, Government and Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, the United Nations, the Council of Europe and the Russian authorities.

12. Stresses that peace and security mean improving wages and pensions, ensuring a high standard of healthcare, education, social security and public services, guaranteeing the right to housing, and improving living conditions, and not promoting militarism, arms escalation and war;

13. Express its opposition to the ReArm Europe Plan/Readiness 2030 and the outcome of the 2025 NATO Summit in The Hague, where NATO members made a commitment to invest 5 % of GDP annually in defence and security-related spending by 2035, and demands that EU resources be redirected from military budgets towards civilian reconstruction, social and climate justice, energy security and humanitarian support, in Ukraine, the EU and globally;

14. Supports the efforts of neutral mediators to broker dialogue, ceasefires and negotiations between the parties to end the war; underlines that any genuine peace negotiations must be conducted in good faith and include Ukraine; calls for negotiation channels to be opened with a view to achieving a political solution to the conflict in Ukraine, a response to the need for collective security and disarmament in Europe and compliance with the principles of the UN Charter and the Final Act of the Helsinki Conference;

15. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, the governments of the Member States, the UN Secretary-General, the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, the Government of Ukraine, the Government of the Russian Federation, the State of Israel, and the Palestinian Authority.