Ukraine: “I Hold on to My Faith in Justice”
Ukrainians hope that the Hague-based international Register of Damage will eventually secure Russian reparations for victims of the war.
Also see
Ukraine Lays Groundwork for Special Tribunal on Russian Aggression
Despite significant progress, experts note that it may take years for the court to begin work.
February 23, 2022, was a day of celebration for Olena Hrychanenko. It was the day the 38-year-old Bakhmut resident married her second husband, and the pair were looking forward to welcoming another baby.
But the very next day, the full-scale invasion began.
“Tanks were rolling through the city. The streets were deserted - people were holed up in their homes. Many had already fled,” Hrychanenko recalled. “An eerie silence hung over everything. And then, around four in the morning, I heard explosions…it had begun.”
Her new husband, a military veteran, volunteered to return to the front and went on to serve in the Kyiv region.
“I don’t know how my child and I survived those three days,” Hrychanenko continued. “We drove non-stop in our old car with the war right behind us. Explosions in the Kharkiv region, then explosions in the Zhytomyr region. We couldn’t even stop to rest because the war was literally creeping up on us. Once in Lviv, I finally decided to evacuate to Poland, thinking it was better to give birth in proper conditions than in a basement.”
In 2023, Hrychanenko returned to Ukraine from Poland with her two children to be with her husband.
“Essentially, we had nowhere to return to,” she said. “We had long hoped in vain that Bakhmut would not be occupied. My apartment was in a nine-story building and the first aerial bombs hit it. After that, the occupiers shelled it repeatedly. The apartments were completely burned out.”
After Russian forces seized control of Bakhmut, Hrychanenko decided to register her lost property with the Hague-based international Register of Damage as a step towards receiving future compensation.
“I found out my three-room apartment was gone from social media, from a video posted by the occupiers,” she said. “Our local Bakhmut media finds, collects and publish these posts to let people know what has happened to their homes.”
The Register is the first component of a comprehensive mechanism intended to secure Russian reparations for victims of the war, in accordance with international law.
Its executive director Markiyan Kliuchkovskyi explained that a total of 43 claim categories would be rolled out in phases, divided into three groups: claims from individuals, companies and the state, with 13 now open for individuals to submit applications through the Diia web portal.
“These include forced internal displacement, the death or disappearance of a close family member, serious physical injury, sexual violence, torture or inhuman treatment, damage to or destruction of property and loss of access to real estate in the temporarily occupied territories,” he continued.
The Register had received approximately 63,000 claims in its year and-a-half of operation, with around half of these submitted in recent months.
“This shows rapid growth following the opening of new categories and an active public awareness campaign, and it also points to our effective digital integration and the simplicity of the submission process,” Kliuchkovskyi noted.
Hrychanenko still had the documents for her destroyed apartment in Bakhmut, but those who lost their paperwork due to shelling, fires or occupation can also file claims with the international Register.
“The absence of physical documents is not a barrier,” explained Kliuchkovskyi. “Claims can be submitted even without a complete set of documents by providing all known information. Digital photos, scans, eyewitness testimony or other evidence can be included. Applicants can also update their claim later if they obtain additional documents.”
The international Register employs a multi-stage verification process to ensure the accuracy of all submitted claims. To be eligible, claims must first meet three primary criteria: the damage must have occurred on or after February 24, 2022; it must be located within Ukraine, including the occupied territories or, in specific cases, abroad; and there must be a clear causal link between the damage and Russia’s actions.
The Register verifies claims using official government data, from civil status records to real estate registries. It also utilises satellite imagery and other sources, which allows for confirmation of damage even in physically inaccessible areas.
It does not determine or award compensation, with its core function to collect, verify and preserve information to later be used by a future Compensation Commission, to be created through an international treaty. This will be responsible for adjudicating the right to compensation and determining its amount.
“The signing of a Council of Europe convention to establish an international Compensation Commission is scheduled for December 16, 2025. This will be followed by domestic ratification procedures in 2026, and in 2027, the Commission will begin its work and issue its first compensation decisions,” Kliuchkovskyi said.
Hrychanenko has filed a claim for three million hryvnias (72,000 US dollars), estimating the damages for her destroyed apartment based on the average cost of housing in Ukraine.
“I have faith that one day justice will be served, that those responsible will be punished and that we will receive compensation,” she said. “But the emotional toll is immense. This was my home, a place I put so much of myself into, which I inherited from my father. And still, the war goes on.”
Lengthy Process
Iryna Mudra, deputy head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, explained that establishing the Compensation Commission was a lengthy process, with negotiations having begun in May 2023 immediately after the Register itself was launched.
“While awarding compensation is a key component of the international reparations process, it is also a crucial step in holding the Russian Federation accountable for its illegal actions against Ukraine,” stressed Mudra. “That is why we are doing everything possible to expedite not only the payment process itself, but also the delivery of justice.”
A three-part mechanism will cover the compensation for claimed damages. The Register of Damage, which collects and verifies information from claims, is already operational. The Compensation Commission, responsible for approving the awards and their amounts, is in the final stages of being established. The third component, the Compensation Fund that will finance the payments, is currently under development. Frozen Russian assets are considered as the primary source of funding for the reparations.
“Compensation payments are expected to be funded by Russian assets as the aggressor state must be held accountable and pay for all the damage caused. Currently, the issue of how to finance the compensation fund is under discussion,” Mudra noted.
According to a World Bank report assessing the damage to Ukraine, the total cost of recovery and reconstruction over the next decade is estimated at 524 billion dollars as of December 31, 2023.
“A key goal of the compensation mechanism is to ensure payments are made. To make it fully operational, we should start filing claims with the Register of Damages immediately to show the world the true scale of the devastation,” Mudra stressed.
Hrychanenko, along with her two children and husband, now lives in temporary accommodation for displaced people in the Kyiv region. She still suffered from severe panic attacks.
“The uncertainty is a constant source of stress. On top of the constant attacks – I can now tell what’s flying just by the sound – we also have to worry every two months if they’ll renew our contract, because we have nowhere else to go. It’s psychologically draining to live like this, but I hold on to my faith in justice. I believe that if I don’t see it in my lifetime, my children will.”
