MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION on ensuring accountability and justice in response to Russia’s continued attacks against the civilian population in Ukraine – B10-0211/2026

B10‑0211/2026

European Parliament resolution on ensuring accountability and justice in response to Russia’s continued attacks against the civilian population in Ukraine

(2026/2700(RSP))

The European Parliament,

– having regard to its previous resolutions on Ukraine,

– having regard to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949 and the additional protocols thereto, in particular the rules on the protection of civilians in times of armed conflict,

– having regard to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC),

– having regard to the agreement between the Council of Europe and Ukraine of 25 June 2025 on the establishment of the Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine,

– having regard to the European Council conclusions of 26 June 2025 welcoming progress on the establishment of the Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine within the framework of the Council of Europe,

– having regard to the agreement between the EU and the Council of Europe of 23 January 2026 on the financing of an advance team to establish the Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine,

– having regard to the proposal of 24 March 2026 for a Council decision on the signing, on behalf of the European Union, of the Enlarged Partial Agreement on the Management Committee of the Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine (COM(2026)0144), which initiated the process for the EU to become a founding member of the Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine,

– having regard to UN General Assembly Resolution ES-11/1 of 2 March 2022 deploring Russia’s aggression against Ukraine in violation of the UN Charter and to UN General Assembly Resolution ES-11/5 of 14 November 2022 on the furtherance of remedy and reparation for aggression against Ukraine,

– having regard to the European Council conclusions of 18 December 2025 reaffirming the EU’s commitment to ensuring full accountability for crimes committed in connection with Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine,

– having regard to the Council of Europe Convention establishing an International Claims Commission for Ukraine,

– having regard to the ICC arrest warrants issued on 17 March 2023 against Vladimir Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova in connection with the unlawful deportation of Ukrainian children,

–  having regard to Rule 136(2) of its Rules of Procedure,

A. whereas more than four years have passed since Russia launched an illegal, unprovoked and unjustified full-scale war of aggression against Ukraine, continuing its 2014 annexation of Crimea and occupation of parts of the Donbas region; whereas Russia continues to openly violate Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, causing severe humanitarian, economic and ecological harm as well as regional instability;

B. whereas Russia’s deliberate and repeated attacks against civilian populations, energy infrastructure and healthcare facilities in Ukraine constitute grave violations of international humanitarian law, including the Geneva Conventions and the Rome Statute of the ICC;

C. whereas, according to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, more than 15 500 civilians have been killed in Ukraine and more than 43 000 injured since 24 February 2022, with actual figures believed to be considerably higher;

D. whereas, according to UNICEF, more than 3 200 children have been killed or injured in Ukraine since the start of the aggression; whereas more than a third of Ukraine’s children remain displaced and over 4 100 schools and educational facilities have been damaged or destroyed, resulting in one in three children being unable to attend full-time in-person schooling;

E. whereas the UN General Assembly, in its 2022 resolution on the furtherance of remedy and reparation for aggression against Ukraine, recognised that the Russian Federation must be held to account for all violations of international law in or against Ukraine and must bear the legal consequences of its internationally wrongful acts, including making reparation for injury, including any damage, caused by such acts; whereas the UN General Assembly has also recognised the need to establish an international reparation mechanism for damage, loss or injury arising from the internationally wrongful acts of the Russian Federation;

F. whereas Russia’s war of aggression has been enabled and justified by a nationalist imperialist ideology and is part of a broader set of objectives directed against the West and its interests and values, including the international rules-based order, the rule of law, democracy, human rights and collective security; whereas Parliament has condemned the ideology, policy and practices of the current Russian regime as being incompatible with international law and European values;

G. whereas Russia has systematically targeted and damaged over 1 700 Ukrainian cultural heritage sites and over 2 500 cultural infrastructure objects, including museums and archives, in violation of the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict; whereas UNESCO has recorded damage to over 500 cultural heritage sites in Ukraine since the launch of Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, notably as a result of repeated Russian missile and drone strikes; whereas among these are sites of outstanding universal value, notably Saint Sophia Cathedral and the Historic Centre of Odesa, of which the latter is inscribed on the List of World Heritage in Danger as a direct consequence of Russia’s war of aggression; whereas the deliberate destruction of cultural identity constitutes an additional dimension of the harm inflicted upon the Ukrainian people;

H. whereas non-EU countries and private entities have provided Russia with military equipment, dual-use goods, financial services and other material support that have directly contributed to the commission of crimes against the Ukrainian civilian population; whereas such assistance may engage the responsibility of those providing it under international law;

I. whereas the EU has repeatedly reaffirmed its strong commitment to ensuring full accountability for war crimes and other most serious crimes committed in connection with Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, and has called for sustained efforts towards bringing into operation the Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine, within the framework of the Council of Europe, and has also made a contribution of EUR 10 million to fund an advance team that will prepare the institutional, logistical and organisational foundations of the tribunal;

J. whereas on 16 December 2025, the EU signed the Council of Europe Convention establishing an International Claims Commission for Ukraine, with a view to enabling compensation for civilian victims;

K. whereas the EU has repeatedly called on Russia and Belarus to ensure the safe and unconditional return to Ukraine of all Ukrainian children and other civilians who have been deported or transferred, a practice that constitutes a war crime under international law; whereas the ICC has issued arrest warrants in connection with the deportation of Ukrainian children;

L. whereas Parliament has condemned Russia’s inhumane treatment of Ukrainian prisoners of war, including torture and summary executions, in gross violation of the Geneva Conventions;

M. whereas any future ceasefire or peace process must not be allowed to impede, delay or undermine ongoing and future accountability processes; whereas accountability and peace are mutually reinforcing imperatives under international law;

1. Reiterates its strong condemnation of Russia’s systematic and deliberate attacks against the civilian population of Ukraine, including strikes targeting residential areas, hospitals, schools and critical energy infrastructure;

2. Underlines that Russia’s illegal, unprovoked and unjustified war of aggression against Ukraine constitutes a blatant violation of international law and of the UN Charter, as well as an unprecedented attack on European security; underlines that Russia, its leadership and its allies, including the Belarusian regime, bear full responsibility for the war, war crimes and other crimes committed, and calls for them to be held fully accountable;

3. Firmly rejects Russia’s repeated claim that its armed forces exclusively target military and strategic objectives; recalls that the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine has established that Russian armed forces have used systematic methods to intentionally target civilians and civilian objects; considers that this systematic pattern of attacks against hospitals, residential areas and critical civilian infrastructure constitutes compelling evidence of deliberate and indiscriminate targeting of the civilian population, in flagrant violation of international humanitarian law;

4. Supports the signature by the EU of the Enlarged Partial Agreement on the Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine with a view to the EU becoming a full member of its management committee and encourages all EU Member States to join the agreement; welcomes the Netherlands’ commitment to hosting the initial phase of the Special Tribunal, and encourages intensified efforts to finalise the host offer for the second phase; calls for the EU and its Member States to continue supporting the establishment of the Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine and to bring it into operation as soon as possible;

5. Commends the crucial role played by Eurojust in supporting judicial accountability for crimes committed in Ukraine; calls on the Commission to ensure sustained funding for the International Centre for the Prosecution of the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine beyond December 2026 and to guarantee that the evidence gathered is fully transferable to the future Special Tribunal;

6. Commends the work of Ukrainian and international civil society organisations in monitoring and documenting Russia’s war crimes in Ukraine, and providing support to victims and witnesses;

7. Stresses that accountability must extend to all those in a position to control or direct the crime of aggression, including the highest political and military leadership, as well as other actors whose decisions have enabled the commission of the crime; underlines, in this regard, that such accountability should also cover judges of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation and members of the State Duma, whose decisions authorised the annexation of Ukrainian territories, thereby directly contributing to enabling the crime of aggression;

8. Emphasises its full support for the ongoing investigation by the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court into the situation in Ukraine based on allegations of war crimes, crimes against humanity or genocide; recalls that all EU Member States, as States Parties to the Rome Statute, are obliged to arrest and surrender individuals subject to ICC arrest warrants who enter their territory;

9. Expresses its support for the EU becoming a full member of the International Claims Commission for Ukraine;

10. Calls on the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, and the European Commission, to establish an EU delegation to the international organisations located in The Hague, in order to ensure the effective participation of the EU in these important new international bodies, as well as to the International Criminal Court, the International Court of Justice and the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons;

11. Welcomes the Council’s long-awaited approval of a EUR 90 billion EU loan for Ukraine and reiterates its call to find legal ways to use Russian sovereign assets immobilised under EU sanctions to support Ukraine’s defence and reconstruction, including providing compensation under the International Claims Commission for Ukraine;

12. Welcomes the adoption of the 20th sanctions package against Russia, extending restrictive measures across finance, trade and propaganda; notes the use of the anti-circumvention tool to block the diversion of exports of sensitive technologies via non-EU countries; welcomes the heightened constraints on Russia’s military-industrial complex and the inclusion of non-EU country suppliers; notes with grave concern China’s retaliatory export controls targeting EU entities; encourages European companies to reduce their supply chain dependencies on unreliable actors;

13. Calls on the Council and the Commission to ensure that EU sanctions against Russia are strictly maintained and further expanded to cover all individuals and entities whose decisions have enabled or contributed to the commission of war crimes and other serious crimes against the Ukrainian civilian population; calls for further action to strengthen the implementation of the EU visa policy, ensuring that individuals responsible for the aforementioned crimes, as well as those openly supporting the Russian war effort, including Russian athletes and cultural figures seeking to participate in EU tournaments and events, are denied EU visas;

14. Deplores the harsh decisions made by the International Olympic Committee and the International Paralympic Committee regarding Ukrainian athletes’ freedom of expression during the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics and Paralympics, as well as World Aquatics’ decision to remove sanctions against Russian and Belarusian athletes and the Venice Biennale’s decision to readmit Russian artists; highlights the fact that sports and culture are actively used by the Russian and Belarusian regimes for state propaganda and to alter the narrative regarding the perpetrators of gross human rights violations and war crimes;

15. Calls for the EU institutions, particularly the European External Action Service, to collaborate with Ukrainian authorities and spearhead an active communication campaign across Europe and worldwide, raising awareness of the war crimes committed by Russia and its allies, and building support for accountability and justice;

16. Welcomes the Commission’s initiative, together with Ukraine and Canada, to co-host a high-level meeting of the International Coalition for the Return of Ukrainian Children in Brussels in May 2026;

17. Urges the EU and its Member States to develop and employ effective measures to counter the nationalist imperialist ideology, policy and practices of the current Russian regime, and calls on them to ensure that the public denial, gross trivialisation or justification of crimes committed in the course of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, as well as the promotion of symbols and ideology associated with such aggression, are subject to effective penalties, including under criminal law;

18. Condemns the Russian regime’s systematic falsification of history and use of distorted historical narratives to justify its aggression; considers that these falsifications undermine the collective memory and identity of Europe and represent a threat to historical truth, democratic values and peace on the continent; regrets the continued display of symbols of totalitarian regimes in public spaces and calls for an EU-wide prohibition on the public use of both Nazi and Soviet communist symbols as well as symbols of Russia’s ongoing aggression against Ukraine; deplores the deliberate destruction of memorials dedicated to the remembrance of political repression during the Stalinist era, including the recent dismantlement of the ‘Stone of Grief’ monument and other memorial stones in the Siberian city of Tomsk in April 2026, which were dedicated to the political repression of Lithuanians, Latvians, Estonians, Poles and Kalmyks;

19. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, the governments and parliaments of the Member States, the President, Government and Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, the Council of Europe, the International Criminal Court and the Russian authorities.