On ensuring accountability and justice in response to Russia’s continued attacks against the civilian population in Ukraine

B100227/2026

European Parliament resolution on ensuring accountability and justice in response to Russia’s continued attacks against the civilian population in Ukraine

(2026/2700(RSP))

The European Parliament,

– having regard to the Charter of the United Nations, including Article 4(2) thereof,

– having regard to its previous resolutions on Ukraine,

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

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

– having regard to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and to the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide,

– having regard to the Helsinki Final Act of the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe of 1975,

– having regard to the reports and conclusions of the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine,

– having regard to the establishment of the International Centre for the Prosecution of the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine,

– having regard to the Convention establishing the International Claims Commission for Ukraine, set up within the framework of the Council of Europe,

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

A. whereas the Russian Federation continues its illegal, unprovoked and unjustified full-scale war of aggression against Ukraine in violation of international law and the Charter of the United Nations, accompanied by systematic violations of international humanitarian law and war crimes, including the unlawful detention of prisoners of war and civilians; whereas Russia’s crimes in Ukraine amount to crimes against humanity and the crime of genocide;

B. whereas in April 2026, Russian forces intensified aerial and missile attacks on major Ukrainian cities, including Kyiv, Kharkiv, Dnipro, Odesa and Zaporizhzhia, resulting in significant civilian casualties and the destruction of residential areas; whereas Ukraine reported thousands of violations of the 32-hour-long ‘Easter ceasefire’ in April 2026, including shelling and short-range drone launches; whereas this ceasefire was used by Russia to regroup troops on the front lines, conserve weapons and resume massive strikes on civilians in Ukraine, in an attempt to overwhelm Ukraine’s air defence systems;

C. whereas Russia has consistently shown no interest in peace and continues to attack Ukrainian civilians and infrastructure; whereas at the start of 2026, Russia targeted critical infrastructure and energy facilities in Ukraine, killing civilians and leaving thousands with no power and heating as freezing temperatures swept through the country; whereas the continuous, systematic targeting of energy infrastructure in Ukraine has led to widespread blackouts affecting hospital and essential services among other things, putting the lives of the civilian population in danger;

D. whereas on 21 April 2026 alone, Russia launched 215 drones as well as artillery and air strikes, killing at least 4 civilians and injuring 79; whereas Russian attacks on Ukraine’s civilian population in April 2026 have been relentless; whereas other attacks include a deadly attack on a local market in Nikopol, attacks on Kyiv and the Zhytomyr region, and one of the biggest days of strikes on Kharkiv;

E. whereas Russia has been consistently targeting the Odesa region with massive attacks by drones and ballistic missiles, resulting in civilians being killed and injured, as well as damage to port facilities and residential areas;

F. whereas Russia continues to terrorise Ukraine and its civilian population with relentless drone attacks; whereas such attacks are on the rise, with nearly 8 000 drones launched by Russia in March 2026 alone – an unprecedented number during the ongoing aggression;

G. whereas the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine reported that in March 2026 alone, at least 211 civilians were killed and 1 206 injured, making it the highest monthly toll of civilian victims in Ukraine since July 2025;

H. whereas all these attacks demonstrate a pattern of deliberate or indiscriminate targeting of civilians and civilian infrastructure, in violation of international humanitarian law;

I. whereas continued reports document torture, unlawful detention, sexual violence, and the forced deportation of Ukrainian civilians from occupied territories, including children, to the territory of the Russian Federation; whereas the abduction, illegal transfer, adoption and alteration of the personal data of Ukrainian children has continued, as part of a deliberate policy of forced assimilation and erasure of their national identity, with many families still unable to trace their relatives or have them returned;

J. whereas as of 13 April 2026, Ukrainian law enforcement agencies have launched investigations into 226 953 war crimes and crimes of aggression, as well as 24 928 crimes against national security, which include the killing of at least 17 167 people (including 697 children) and the wounding of 42 262 civilians (including 2 454 children);

K. whereas March 2026 marked the fourth anniversary of the Bucha massacre, which serves as a stark reminder of the atrocities committed by Russia against civilians in Ukraine, including torture and summary executions, and underscores the pressing need for full accountability for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by Russian forces;

L. whereas Russia’s continued use of missiles and drones in the vicinity of nuclear facilities in Ukraine, including the Chernobyl exclusion zone, poses a serious and ongoing risk to nuclear safety and security; whereas such actions, which lack clear military justification, could have catastrophic consequences for civilian populations in Ukraine and beyond, threatening the safety of the entire European continent;

M. whereas Russia’s aggression has led to the unprecedented destruction of the natural environment, the loss of ecosystems, and the large-scale pollution of air, soil and water resources in Ukraine; whereas according to the State Environmental Inspectorate of Ukraine, since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, environmental losses have reached approximately USD 142 billion – the largest environmental damage recorded in Europe in modern history;

N. whereas Russia’s deliberate attacks on cultural and historical sites, as well as the destruction, looting and illegal removal of Ukraine’s cultural heritage, are aimed at undermining and destroying Ukraine’s cultural identity; whereas such acts may constitute serious violations of international humanitarian and human rights law and may amount to war crimes;

O. whereas accountability for crimes committed by the Russian Federation is essential to ensure justice for victims, deter future atrocities and uphold the rules-based international order; whereas this accountability is also indispensable to achieving a just, fair and sustainable peace;

P. whereas the International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants against senior Russian officials for war crimes, including the unlawful deportation of Ukrainian children; whereas the crime of aggression against Ukraine remains insufficiently prosecutable under existing international mechanisms, creating a significant accountability gap; whereas the International Centre for the Prosecution of the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine represents a key step in this regard but requires further political backing;

Q. whereas existing international legal mechanisms must be strengthened and complemented to ensure the prosecution of the crime of aggression;

R. whereas the Register of Damage, established in 2023, serves as a record of all eligible claims seeking compensation for the damage inflicted by Russia; whereas the register has been an essential tool in ensuring that Ukraine and its citizens can seek reparations under international law;

S. whereas in March 2025 discussions began about setting up a claims commission in order to build on the work of the Register of Damage; whereas these negotiations resulted in agreement on the draft Convention establishing an International Claims Commission for Ukraine within the framework of the Council of Europe; whereas the Council of the European Union authorised the signature of the Convention in December 2025;

T. whereas the International Claims Commission for Ukraine will be responsible for reviewing, assessing and deciding on claims for the compensation of damage, loss or injury caused by Russia in Ukraine; whereas it will also be responsible for determining the amount of compensation due in each case; whereas this would provide a structured, credible and enforceable framework to process claims from individuals and the Ukrainian state;

U. whereas the EU holds approximately EUR 210 billion in assets of the Russian Central Bank and associated reserves; whereas in December 2025 the Council decided to prohibit, on a temporary basis, any transfers back to Russia of the assets of the Russian Central Bank immobilised in the EU; whereas this measure is to be maintained as long as Russia continues its war of aggression against Ukraine and poses, or threatens to pose, serious economic difficulties within the EU; whereas immobilised Russian assets are an important tool in ensuring reparations and reconstruction efforts in Ukraine;

V. whereas according to the fifth Rapid Damage and Needs Assessment, as of 31 December 2025, direct damage caused by Russia’s full-scale military invasion of Ukraine is estimated at USD 195.1 billion, with the housing, transport and energy sectors most affected;

W. whereas the former Wagner Group and its successor entities have systematically committed torture and extrajudicial killings, used sexual violence as a weapon of war and carried out destabilisation operations across Ukraine, as well as in Syria, Libya and other African states; whereas EU sanctions against individuals and entities associated with the former Wagner Group and its successors remain insufficient to prosecute recruiters, combatants and supporters, who face no criminal penalties under current measures;

1. Reiterates its strongest condemnation of Russia’s continued war of aggression against Ukraine and demands that Russia immediately terminate all military activities in Ukraine, unconditionally withdraw all forces and military equipment from the entire internationally recognised territory of Ukraine and compensate Ukraine for the damage caused to its people, land, nature and infrastructure;

2. Expresses its undivided solidarity with the people of Ukraine, along with its full support for the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine within its internationally recognised borders, and underlines that this war of aggression constitutes a blatant and flagrant violation of the Charter of the United Nations and the fundamental principles of international law;

3. Strongly condemns the escalation of attacks involving hundreds of drones and missiles targeting residential areas, energy infrastructure and essential civilian services; calls for the immediate cessation of all attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure and demands that the Russian Federation fully comply with international humanitarian law; stresses that the documented pattern of recent attacks, including mass strikes causing dozens of civilian deaths in single incidents, provides further evidence of war crimes and crimes against humanity;

4. Demands an immediate end to all atrocities committed by Russian forces in Ukraine and calls for independent, impartial and international investigations to ensure that all perpetrators – including those who have directly carried out abuses and those who have ordered or enabled them – are held fully accountable; underlines that, together with its international partners, the EU will ensure that all those responsible – at every level of the Russian state – face justice; reiterates that no just and sustainable peace can be achieved without full accountability for all atrocities committed by Russia;

5. Strongly condemns Russia’s use of sexual violence, mass deportations, forced disappearances, torture and summary executions as weapons of terror, including the illegal deportation and imprisonment of Ukrainian children; strongly reaffirms that there’ must be full accountability for the war crimes committed by Russia, its allies and its proxy forces against Ukraine and the Ukrainian people; reaffirms that all Ukrainian children abducted by Russia must be returned; supports the work of the Bring Kids Back UA initiative in securing the return and reintegration of Ukrainian children unlawfully deported by Russia;

6. Welcomes the work of the International Centre for the Prosecution of the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine and calls for increased support to expand its capacity; calls on the Member States to make full use of the principle of universal jurisdiction to prosecute individuals responsible for crimes committed in Ukraine;

7. Welcomes the sustained support provided by the EU Advisory Mission for Civilian Security Sector Reform in Ukraine separately and within the framework of the Atrocity Crimes Advisory Group, which plays a vital role in reinforcing accountability mechanisms;

8. Calls for intensified efforts to establish a Special Tribunal for the crime of aggression against Ukraine, and to encourage the European Union, as well as its Member States, to join the Enlarged Partial Agreement on the Management Committee of the Special Tribunal;

9. Welcomes the establishment of the Register of Damage and calls for its continued development and use as a foundation for compensation mechanisms; welcomes the establishment of the Convention on an International Claims Commission for Ukraine as a central pillar of the international reparations framework and encourages all co-signatories to complete all necessary procedures; stresses that the International Claims Commission should provide a transparent, efficient and legally robust mechanism to assess and adjudicate claims arising from Russia’s aggression; emphasises the need to use immobilised Russian assets, and to develop legal solutions going beyond windfall profits, to ensure that Russia is held accountable and provides financial compensation for the destruction it has caused in Ukraine;

10. Calls for the EU and its Member States to impose sanctions on the Military Police of the Russian Ministry of Defence, the Federal Security Service and the Federal Penitentiary Service for their systematic involvement in committing war crimes and crimes against humanity, including enforced disappearances, arbitrary detention, torture and incommunicado detention; calls, moreover, for the EU and its Member States to impose personal sanctions on all institution heads and other Russian officials of Russian penitentiary institutions in which Ukrainian civilians are illegally detained; reiterates its unequivocal call for the EU and its Member States to ban the entry into the Schengen area of Russian military personnel who have participated in the war of aggression against Ukraine; urges the Member States to systematically tackle the issue of sanctions circumvention and ensure the full and effective implementation of sanctions;

11. Calls for the EU and its Member States to maintain their unwavering support for Ukraine in order to secure Ukraine’s future, ensure its survival and preserve its ability to defend itself in the face of Russian aggression; calls for continuous military-technical assistance, particularly as regards the air defence capabilities necessary to ensure the protection of civilians and critical infrastructure in Ukraine;

12. 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 and parliaments of the Member States, the President, Government and Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine and the Secretary-General of the United Nations.