UN General Assembly adopts resolution on compensation for damage caused by Russia’s aggression

At a special session on Monday, 14 November, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution prepared by Ukraine and co-sponsored by about 50 other states, which calls on Russia to pay compensation for the damage caused by its full-scale invasion.

Source: European Pravda, citing Ukrinform

The resolution was supported by 94 countries; 14 states (Bahamas, Belarus, Central African Republic, China, Cuba, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Iran, Mali, Nicaragua, North Korea, Russia, Syria and Zimbabwe) voted against, and 73 abstained from voting.

The UN countries that supported the document recognise that "the Russian Federation must be held to account for any violations of international law in or against Ukraine, including its aggression in violation of the Charter of the United Nations, as well as any violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law, and that it must bear the legal consequences of all of its internationally wrongful acts, including making reparation for the injury, including any damage, caused by such acts."

They also recognised the need to create, in cooperation with Ukraine, "an international mechanism for reparation for damage, loss or injury, and arising from the internationally wrongful acts of the Russian Federation in or against Ukraine."

The resolution recommends that UN members, in cooperation with Ukraine, create "international Register of Damage to serve as a record, in documentary form, of evidence and claims information on damage, loss or injury to all natural and legal persons concerned, as well as the state of Ukraine, caused by Russian Federation’s internationally wrongful acts in or against Ukraine."

Background: On Monday, 14 November, the UN General Assembly gathered for a special session, where they considered a draft resolution on creating a mechanism to compensate Ukraine for damages caused by a full-scale war started by Russia.

Serhii Kyslytsia, Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the UN, emphasised that voting for the resolution does not mean siding with one of the conflict parties, because it is about supporting the UN Charter, its goals and principles, and international law in general.

In September, it became known that Ukraine was lobbying the UN general assembly to adopt a resolution that would become the basis for the creation of an international compensation mechanism that could lead to the seizure of as much as US$300 billion of Russian state assets overseas.

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