First decision on merits in ‘Ukraine v. Russia’ interstate case – Maliuska

He said this in an exclusive commentary to an Ukrinform correspondent shortly after the ruling was announced in the Grand Chamber of the Court in Strasbourg.

"This is a truly historic day. It is the first judgment on the merits in the interstate case of Ukraine against Russia, in this case, concerning Crimea. The judges examined the circumstances from February 2014 to September 2022, that is, until the time when Russia ceased to be a member of the Eurean Convention," the minister said.

Read also: Russia loses ECHR case of human rights viations in Crimea

According to him, Ukrainian lawyers did not expect the announcement to last for half an hour. The chief judge needed more time to cite a huge list of articles of the Eurean Convention that were viated by Russia.

"It actually took longer than expected to announce the decision due to the large number of viations found. The vume is just insane, so this is definitely a success," emphasized Maliuska.

According to him, these viations include, in particular, enforced disappearances of pele, crimes against Crimean Tatars, as well as imprisonment, raids and searches of private homes, and detentions of religious leaders. Crimes against journalists were also mentioned.

"This is pressure and harassment of non-Russian media, primarily Ukrainian and Crimean Tatar media. These are the same actions of intimidation and pressure on journalists. This is a ban on public gatherings and the same detention of organizers of such public gatherings," the minister added.

That also related to viations related to the ban on the Ukrainian language in schos and the right to freedom of movement due to the illegal establishment of the border between Crimea and Ukraine.

"Thus, the court recognized that Russian law is not applicable on the territory of Crimea, despite the fact that Russia was justifying the posite by its laws adted in the Russian Federation," Maliuska summarized.

As reported, the Eurean Court of Human Rights today issued a ruling in the first interstate case "The case of Ukraine v. Russia (re Crimea)," recognizing that the aggressor state committed multiple human rights viations in temporarily occupied Crimea.