29/01/2026 Legal Affairs and Human Rights
Eerik-Niiles Kross (Estonia, ALDE), Chair of the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights, and Titus Corlăţean (Romania, SOC), PACE's rapporteur on accountability for the Russian Federation's war of aggression against Ukraine, have issued the following joint statement:
'We condemn the relentless Russian attacks on power stations and heating plants in Ukraine. With temperatures dropping well below freezing, these strikes are clearly part of a deliberate campaign to terrorise Ukrainian civilians by depriving them of heat, light and water. The deliberate targeting of civilian objects with the aim of starving or freezing the civilian population is a flagrant violation of the Geneva Conventions and represents yet another Russian war crime that the civilised world cannot tolerate.
However, condemnation alone is insufficient. We urge Council of Europe governments and national parliaments, as well as like-minded states supporting Ukraine, to accelerate the establishment of a fully operational Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression and an International Claims Commission for Ukraine. Promises made must be kept. Those responsible for planning and initiating this war of aggression must be brought to justice, and Russia must compensate Ukraine for all the damage caused. Peace for Ukraine must be just and respect the most basic principles of international law, as stated in Resolution 2605 (2025) “Legal and human rights aspects of the Russian Federation’s aggression against Ukraine”.
While we pursue justice in the courtrooms, including before the European Court of Human Rights and the International Criminal Court, we must also protect lives on the ground. We are calling for a drastic increase in humanitarian aid to Ukraine. In this regard, we commend the European Union, Poland, Lithuania and Germany for their swift mobilisation in dispatching hundreds of power generators, which are saving lives in blacked-out Ukrainian cities. We particularly welcome the spontaneous civic initiatives in the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Poland, where ordinary citizens have raised millions through crowdfunding to purchase generators and heating equipment.
We urge the wider international community to show the same determination to support Ukraine until its skies are safe, its territories are liberated, and justice is served.”