Ukraine: Sexual Violence Reparations At Risk

Immediately after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Oleksandr Makarenko risked his life by documenting military movements and civilian executions in occupied Tokmak.

He passed critical information to the Ukrainian authorities until, betrayed by local collaborators, he was detained by Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB).

Makarenko spent two years and four months in captivity, where he was subjected to sexual violence as well as being threatened with execution and tortured.

In April 2024 he managed to escape and return to Ukrainian-controlled territory, where he embarked on a lengthy beaurocratic process to have the facts of his captivity recognised.

“I had to prove to my own state that I had been held in Russian captivity and had survived sexual violence in order to obtain prisoner-of-war status and receive state payments,” the 43-year-old said.

Makarenko was also included in a pilot support project from the Global Survivors Fund.

“Thanks to friends who advised me to apply, I received interim reparations from donors - 3,000 euros. I had not even counted on that money, but the Global Fund heard my story and provided compensation to me as a victim of sexual violence.”

Hundreds of cases of sexual violence committed by Russian military personnel against Ukrainian civilians have been documented, but many survivors now fear they will be unable to access reparations.

The Global Survivors Fund project was suspended at the end of spring 2025, and the process for further support remains unclear.

Although Ukraine’s law on the status of survivors of conflict-related sexual violence entered into force in June 2025, the Ministry of Social Policy has yet to establish the commission that is supposed to continue the payments.

Any further reparations under this law, if it becomes fully operational, are to be financed not from Ukraine’s state budget but from international financial institutions, investors, technical assistance and other sources.

Natalia Shylo, who spent four years in illegal detention in occupied territory for her pro-Ukrainian stance and social media posts, said that she had little hope of receving any restitituion. During her captivity she was subjected to systematic humiliation, a video camera ran constantly in her cell, the lights were never turned off and there was no toilet paper or hygiene products.

“I was not beaten or raped like others,” she told IWPR. “But in the cell, I was forced to undress and squat naked - that was how they checked whether I had hidden anything in my body.”

However, Shylo did not receive interim reparations as the pilot project for them had already ended, and also lacks the status of a civilian prisoner because she was released outside of a formal prisoner exchange.

Compensation

According to the Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine, as of December 31, 2025, 391 cases of conflict-related sexual violence have been officially recorded. The victims include 245 women, 146 men and 23 minors.

In connection with these proceedings, 95 Russian military personnel have been notified of suspicion, 52 indictments have been sent to court and 23 individuals have been convicted, mostly in absentia.

But experts and human rights advocates warn that the actual number of victims could be up to ten times higher as the vast majority of cases never enter the justice system.

During its pilot programme, the Global Survivors Fund received 1,208 applications for assistance, the majority– 819 - from men, along with 362 women and an additional 27 applications filed on behalf of children.

According to Ukraine’s Ministry of Social Policy, Family and Unity, as of December 22, 2025, interim reparation payments of 3,000 euro (3,500 dollars) were approved for 1,080 survivors. However, only 704 individuals have actually received the funds.

“These figures demonstrate both the scale of the crime and the limited access to real assistance, even within a pilot mechanism,” Fedir Dunebabin, the Global Survivors Fund representative in Ukraine, told IWPR.

The Ministry of Social Policy acknowledged that Law No. 4067-IX, passed in November 2024, was merely a framework and required further regulations to become operational.

According to Liudmyla Shemelynets, the First Deputy Minister of Social Policy, Family and Unity, the law was intentionally designed to delegate key procedures to the government.

“The law stipulates that the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine is responsible for establishing the provisions for the Commission on Victim Status, the content and format of applications, the list of required documents and their submission process as well as the mechanism for assigning and disbursing emergency financial aid,” she explained.

Shemelynets said that her ministry had drafted a government resolution to implement these provisions which was currently undergoing an approval process.

At the same time, she noted that the the law immediately established a funding model for urgent reparations.

“According to Part Three of Article 8 of the Law,” she continued, “sources for covering the costs of urgent financial assistance include funds from international financial organisations, other creditors and investors, international technical or financial aid as well as other sources not prohibited by law.”

Human rights advocates, however, argue that this very framework is the law’s key problem.

According to Liudmyla Shumkova, a lawyer at the Association of Relatives of Kremlin Prisoners NGO, the state has effectively established the right to reparations but not taken on the responsibility of guaranteeing them.

“Formally, the law exists, but it doesn’t create a real state-funded payment programme,” she continued. “The reparations are not financed by the state budget and therefore are not guaranteed. People are left dependent on donor projects that can appear and disappear.”

Shumkova emphasised that the delay in adopting the necessary bylaws only deepened this uncertainty, with no payments expected under this law in the foreseeable future.

At present, the only realistic hope for CRSV survivors lies in an international mechanism. The International Register of Damage for Ukraine, established in 2023, is already accepting claims, including under category A2.4 concerning sexual violence. In the longer term, compensation is expected to be financed through frozen Russian assets via a dedicated compensation fund.

However, this is a lengthy process. First comes the collection and registration of claims in the Register. Then a separate commission will review and assess the claims. Only after that will a compensation commission determine the amount of payments. The first decisions are not expected before late 2026 or early 2027.

Project Focus Ukraine Justice Report

Locations Ukraine

Topics Sexual violence, Conflict, War crimes