Ukraine filed its legal case against Russia’s claimed annexation of Crimea and human rights abuses committed on the peninsula with the European Court of Human Rights on Dec. 31, 2018, according to Ivan Lishchyna, Ukraine’s commissioner for ECHR affairs.
The “Ukraine vs. Russia” case combines thousands of individual legal actions. The first hearing of the case is scheduled to take place on Feb. 27.
“We hope the court will decide on the admissibility of this case,” Lishchyna told Ukrainska Pravda news website.
Ukraine’s legal case was drafted by the Ukrainian Ministry of Justice with help from the Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union and renowned British lawyer Ben Emmerson QC, Lishchyna said in a Facebook post.
Russia invaded and occupied the Ukrainian territory of Crimea in February of 2014.
Ukraine maintains Crimea is under military occupation and that Russia’s claimed annexation is illegal under international law.
