Photo by Wanderherr (CC BY 3.0)

On December 16, 2025, the European Union (EU) and thirty-four states signed [3] the “Convention establishing an International Claims Commission for Ukraine.” The Convention establishes [4] the International Claims Commission as an independent administrative body within the institutional framework of the Council of Europe. The Commission possesses international legal personality and is mandated to review, assess, and decide claims for compensation arising from damage caused by internationally wrongful acts committed by the Russian Federation in or against Ukraine, including acts of aggression, as well as violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law.

The Commission’s temporal jurisdiction covers damage caused on or after February 24, 2022. The Convention expressly leaves open the possibility of a future amendment extending its scope back to February 20, 2014. The Commission’s territorial scope includes Ukraine’s internationally recognised territory, its airspace, internal waters, territorial sea, exclusive economic zone, and continental shelf, as well as damage to aircraft or vessels under Ukrainian jurisdiction.

The Commission constitutes the second component of a broader international compensation mechanism. It builds on the Register of Damage Caused by the Aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, established in 2023, which records claims and supporting evidence. The Convention also anticipates the possibility of establishment of a future compensation fund as a third component to facilitate payment of compensation awards.

The Convention will enter into force once twenty-five signatories have ratified it and once those states collectively account for at least fifty percent of the Register of Damage’s 2025 budget.