ECHR – Russia found guilty of human rights violations in Ukraine (July 11, 2025)

France takes note of the decision handed down by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) on July 9 holding Russia responsible for flagrant, widespread human rights violations in the parts of Ukraine that it has occupied since 2014 and during its large-scale invasion of Ukraine launched in February 2022.

In its ruling, the Court cites the existence of an organized system of human rights violations that includes indiscriminate military attacks, summary executions, acts of torture, and particularly the use of rape as a weapon of war, illegal and arbitrary detentions, the persecution of journalists and religious groups, and the organized transfer of children to Russia, where they are adopted.

The Court also held Russia responsible for the destruction of flight MH17, in which 298 people were killed in the summer of 2014.

France reiterates its strong condemnation of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, which it is waging in defiance of international law, and which is accompanied by serious, systematic human rights violations.