The Verkhovna Rada has ratified the Convention on the Establishment of the International Claims Commission for Ukraine (No. 0371), which will become a key element of the international mechanism for compensation of damages caused by the aggression of the Russian Federation, the parliament reported on Thursday, UNN writes.
Details
283 people's deputies voted in favor.
The document, as reported, will allow for the creation of the second component of the international compensation mechanism for the redress of damages caused by the aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine. The Commission will act as an independent administrative body within the institutional framework of the Council of Europe.
As MP Olena Shuliak explained to journalists, this document completes the domestic procedures necessary for the Convention to enter into force for Ukraine in order to launch the operation of the International Claims Commission.
It will make decisions on claims for compensation and determine the amount of payments for damages suffered by Ukrainians as a result of Russian armed aggression. This is the second stage of the global compensation mechanism, which began with the launch of the international Register of Damage in 2023.
Stages of creation
"The first stage was the launch of the international Register of Damage, which took place in 2023, and already in 2024, Ukrainians were given the opportunity to submit their first claims. As of April 2026, about 150,000 claims have already been submitted to it, but submitting a claim does not yet mean compensation. The determination of its amount, as well as the consideration of claims, will be handled by the international Claims Commission, the convention for the creation of which was adopted today by the Verkhovna Rada. It is the convention that serves as the basis for the creation and functioning of this commission," Shuliak explained.
On December 16, the Convention on the Establishment of the International Claims Commission for Ukraine was signed in The Hague, which is a continuation of the ecosystem of the Register of Damage for Ukraine (RD4U). It defines the Claims Commission as an independent administrative body within the institutional structure of the Council of Europe. Its mandate covers loss, injury, and damage caused by the internationally wrongful acts of the Russian Federation in or against Ukraine since February 24, 2022.
The Ukrainian parliament adopted the bill on the ratification of this convention on April 30.
What's next
At the same time, it should be taken into account that the Convention has not yet entered into force. For this to happen, at least 25 signatories must express their consent to be bound by it. Therefore, the adoption of bill No. 0371 does not launch automatic payments, but introduces Ukraine into an international treaty structure that has yet to become fully operational.
"This is an important stage in the formation of a legitimate international mechanism, which in the future will be linked to the Compensation Fund, from which payments will be made. In essence, this is not a declarative step, but the creation of a procedural system that allows for the transformation of recorded losses into formalized compensation decisions," Shuliak said.
The international Register of Damage plans to open more than 40 categories, of which more than a third are already open, and the rest are planned to be opened by the end of this year. Among the already functioning sections are loss of housing, business, access to housing in the temporarily occupied territories, and even moral damages. In particular, this includes forced internal and external displacement, serious bodily injury, sexual violence, death of a close family member, disappearance of a close family member, torture, forced labor or service, deportation of children and adults, etc. On April 29, the Register opened the possibility to submit claims not only from individuals but also from legal entities, as well as from the state.