This group is devoted to elaborate on obtaining long lasted missing justice for the nations of the North Caucasus. It is also dedicated to concentrate on human rights issues that had been abducted when the invaders conquered and colonized the region.
KEY MESSAGES ON RUSSIA’S WAR AGAINST UKRAINE As Of 21 June (118th Day Of War)
Only Ukraine and its people will decide when and how the war will end and the peace with Russia will be established. It would be our sovereign decision, based on our interests and territorial integrity. It is important that our partners share this approach;
Ukraine’s victory on the battlefield is the only way to restore respect for international law, to ensure the right of nations to freely choose their own future, to demonstrate that authoritarian regimes are not allowed to attack their neighbours and grab their territory;
As Russia remains focused on war, not diplomacy, we need to be ready for a long-term fight. We must not allow Kremlin to use its propaganda and growing “war fatigue” to weaken the support provided to Ukraine. Ukraine will not surrender: to the contrary, we will win;
We want to liberate all the occupied territories (currently, nearly 20 percent of Ukraine’s territory with >2.600 settlements). No ceasefire, demilitarization or disengagement would be appropriate: we do not want to establish another “frozen conflict” or give Russia a respite for preparation for the next invasion;
After four months of intensive fighting along the very long front line in a full-scale land warfare, Ukraine’s stocks of heavy arms and especially ammunition have been largely depleted. In order to keep defending and launch counterattacks aimed at liberation of our territories, we need to re-arm our troops with the NATO weapons and ammunition, which can be supplied by our partners throughout the world;
The sooner we receive substantial volumes of modern, high-precision and efficient arms, the more lives of Ukrainian military and civilians we will save. Every day, we suffer hundreds of casualties (killed and wounded in action), mostly due to the lack of heavy weapons;
The population of the Russia-occupied areas of Ukraine continues to fiercely resist the occupation. Ukrainian citizens do not accept the so-called “Russian world”, which brings only deaths, destruction and fear. It is no surprise that the occupation authorities in southern regions of Ukraine remain unable until now to create even a false sense of normal life, and unable to organize the staged shows on the so-called “referendums”;
Given all the crimes committed by the Russian army in Ukraine, continuing negotiations with Russia is currently impossible. Only when we deliver devastating blows to the occupier troops on the battlefield and Kremlin realizes that it would not win this war, Ukraine will have negotiating position strong enoughto engage into substantial talks. We have proposed a new system of effective and legally binding security guarantees, which is currently under discussion with possible guarantee states.
2. HUMANITARIAN SITUATION
Russia’s public statements that its attacks are directed only at the military targets are fake: the Russian troops continue destroying Ukraine with indiscriminate missile strikes and heavy artillery. In the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, they regularly resort to the scorched-earth tactics. Dozens of thousands of civilians lost their lives, many more were wounded;
More than 18,000civilian infrastructure facilities were destroyed and damaged, including roads and bridges, educational and medical institutions, water and electricity networks, cultural and religious sites (the numbers do not include the occupied territories to which we do not have access). Vast areas are mined;
The worst humanitarian situation remains in the localities along the front line and in those occupied by Russia. The city of Mariupol was almost entirely destroyed by Russian attacks, with dozens of thousands of casualties and forceful deportations by the Russian occupiers. Looting, tortures, willful killings and abductions are widespread in the occupied areas;
More than 12 mln Ukrainian citizens fled their homes. More than 5 mln of them (mostly women and children) left abroad. Nearly 7 mln became IDPs. To support them, the Government of Ukraine launched the assistance programs for accommodation, new jobs and financial support for the initial period after relocation. We would appreciate any contributions by our partners to resolving the problem of accommodation for IDPs: the Government of Ukraine cannot cover all needs on its own. Nearly 0.5 mln were deported by Russia to its territory or to the occupied parts of Donbas. Almost 300 000 Ukrainians were rescued through the humanitarian corridors.
3. ECONOMIC SITUATION
One of Russia’s key goals in the war it has launched is to destroy Ukraine’s economy, to make us a “failed state”, which would not be able to resist Russia’s pressure and influence. As a result of armed hostilities, destruction of infrastructure, and interrupted logistical chains (most critically, blocked Ukrainian ports), a major part of economic activity has stalled in Ukraine. Every next day of the war makes the situation even worse, so we need to defeat Russia and liberate our territories as soon as possible;
The GDP of Ukraine is expected to drop by 1/3 in 2022. In April and May, the monthly budget deficit caused by war was >3 bln USD. Inflation reached 17% in May. Russia’s invasion has damaged or destroyed up to 30% of Ukraine’s infrastructure at a cost of 100 bln USD. The overall infrastructure damage, and lost profits and investments constitute almost 600 bln USD;
The unravelling global food crisis provoked by Russia’s war against Ukraine is of artificial nature. Russia is the only reason why this crisis has appeared.
As soon as we are able to ensure secure export of Ukrainian food with support of international community from our seaports, we will immediately launch it, to save hundreds of millions of people around the world from hunger. Until that time, we do our best to export food by railway, roads, rivers, and whatever we have available;
Russian occupiers continue stealing grain. We expect all countries to refrain from buying it;
The Government of Ukraine is making every effort to keep Ukraine’s economy afloat (such as supporting relocation from the war zone, cutting red tape and launching lending programs for small and medium business). In the liberated areas, critical infrastructure and residential areas are restored;
The generous financial and technical international assistance is warmly welcomed. This is a contribution of our partners to their own security, as defending Ukraine prevents Russia from bringing new wars and crises. Grants are a priority, as Ukraine should not bear the increased debt burden being in defensive war. We expect the international companies which had been working in Ukraine until 24 February to resume their activities in the liberated areas. Those companies which left Russia are invited to open regional offices in Kyiv;
Trade liberalization and increasing Ukraine’s export is a critical element of post-war recovery. We appreciate the decisions taken in this regard by EU, UK, Canada and US. More countries need to follow.
4. RUSSIA’S RESPONSIBILITY
During their invasion into Ukraine, the Russian troops systematically violate the norms of international humanitarian law and international human rights law: deliberate and indiscriminate attacks on civilians; their use as hostages and human shield; execution and rapes; forceful conscription and kidnapping; attacks on medical personnel and facilities; use of banned weapons etc. Ukrainian law enforcement agencies launched investigations into >18.500 war crimes and crimes of aggression committed since 24 February;
Russia flagrantly violates international law (including by attacking civil ships, Ukraine’s environment and cultural heritage) and Ukraine’s sovereignty (by introducing its laws, passports, currency, education and phone codes in the occupied territories of Ukraine). Since 2014, Russia has violated ~400 international treaties, to which our countries are parties;
President Putin and his proxies responsible for the war against Ukraine have to be sentenced as war criminals. The war launched by Kremlin is widely supported by the Russian society, which shares responsibility for it. Russia must be recognized as a state – sponsor of terrorism, and the Russian Armed Forces must be recognized as a terrorist organization;
We welcome all steps made by the international institutions to bring Russia to justice, as well as statements made by the heads of state and government throughout the world, on Russia’s responsibility for war crimes. All cases of violation of the provisions of international and international humanitarian law must be registered by the international bodies;
A separate investigation into the crime of genocide is being conducted. The International Criminal Court opened its own full-fledged investigation at the request of 42 countries and joined the joint investigation team of Ukraine, Lithuania and Poland. The EU, US and UK have initiated creation of the Atrocity Crimes Advisory Group, which will provide assistance to the Ukraine`s Prosecutor General Office in investigation of the Russian crimes in Ukraine.
5. FURTHER ACTIONS BY THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY
Russia’s military machine can be stopped if Kremlin loses revenues from selling fossil fuels (61 bln EUR in payments by the EU as of 21 June). Russia’s recent steps to limit the gas supplies to the EU have only testified to what Ukraine has always been stressing on: Russia is a very unreliable supplier, which uses export of its fossil fuels as a weapon. The sooner the EU will get rid of this dependence, the better for the EU itself;
We look forward to the next, seventh EU package of sanctions. There is no need to wait and see how the previous ones work, instead we must continue increasing pressure on Russia;
We welcome the European Commission recommendation of 17 June that Ukraine be given the perspective to become a member of the EU and granted candidate status. We expect the European Council on 23–24 June to approve this recommendation. We stand ready to continue reforms on this path, as demonstrated for instance by adoption of Anti-Corruption Strategy and ratification of the Istanbul Convention on 20 June;
European integration must be an integral part of Ukraine’s economic recovery. We appreciate the ongoing trade and transportliberalization between Ukraine and the EU. We hope it would be of permanent character and remain in place even after the end of the war;
Any lifting of sanctions has to be agreed with Ukraine. The legal way to confiscate Russia’s frozen foreign exchange reserves and assets abroad to be further used for compensations to Ukraine and Ukrainian citizens has to be found;
Russia must be further economically and politically isolated from the world, losing its levers and capacities to influence decision-making in other countries and international bodies (withdrawal of private business, banning Russian propaganda channels, ending Russia’s influence in politics, business, sports, culture, research and other spheres, introducing visa regime, expelling from international financial institutions, banning Russia’s membership in international organizations and dismissing Russian citizens from their Secretariats).
