Reparation for Ukraine: Iryna Dovgan Calls for Urgent Action at UK Parliament

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To mark four years since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, REDRESS and the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Magnitsky Sanctions and Reparation hosted an exhibition and panel discussion at the UK Parliament on 24 February 2026. The event highlighted what reparation would mean for survivors and how asset recovery could be used to fund reparation.
The keynote speaker was Iryna Dovgan, head of SEMA Ukraine and a Ukrainian survivor detained and brutally abused during Russia’s 2014 invasion, and forced to flee her home in Donetsk. Years later, Iryna finally received reparations, enabling her to access vital medical care and begin rebuilding her life.

Below is Iryna’s full speech, in which she emphasises that women and children who have suffered conflict-related sexual violence should not have to wait years for justice.

Thank you for giving me the chance to speak today.

In Ukraine, the Bardina Law was adopted to enable access to urgent reparation for survivors of conflict-related sexual violence. For survivors like me, this law means something very simple but powerful: it tells us that what happened to us was wrong, and that our pain is seen. It gives us hope.

But the law is not enough. For survivors, reparation only becomes real when there is support behind it. Without proper funding, our rights remain words on paper.

Many of the assets linked to those who launched this war—whether state assets, property connected to powerful individuals, or funds gathered through sanctions—could help make reparation possible now, not in two decades. And the UK has a unique opportunity to lead by example. The money raised from the sale of Chelsea Football Club could show that the UK is willing to take concrete steps to support survivors of this aggression. Even directing part of the interest or tax from that money toward reparations would send a strong message to survivors, to Russia, to those that helped Russia and to the world. It would also help Ukraine turn the promises of the Bardina Law into reality for survivors who urgently need compensation, psychological and physical care, and acknowledgment among other forms of reparation.

Another important development is the European Union’s loan to Ukraine. This loan is designed so that Ukraine will only have to repay it once Russia pays reparations. This is important. But we must think carefully about how the money will be used. The UK has influence in many of the conversations happening now—in the EU, the G7, and around the establishment of the International Claims Commission. The UK could use that influence to help ensure that some of this loan goes directly toward reparations for survivors, both through national programmes such as the Bardina Law, and through international ones like the claims Commission. Survivors cannot wait for long political processes to finish. We need urgent reparation now, while longer‑term mechanisms are being built.

Let me share my own experience to show why this coordination matters. Today marks the anniversary of the full‑scale invasion, but my story does not begin in 2022. I am a survivor of crimes committed in 2014. Under the current rules of the international Register of Damages, which focuses only on harm suffered after the full‑scale invasion, someone like me would not be eligible to apply for reparation. Many survivors whose suffering began earlier in this aggression may find themselves left out—even though the violence we faced is part of the same pattern and the same unlawful campaign.

That’s why it is so important that national and international systems work together. When international mechanisms have limits, national laws like the Bardina Law can fill those gaps by acting faster and offering broader forms of support, including rehabilitation and mental‑health care.

My hope and the hope of SEMA is that by working in a coordinated way, we can make sure no survivor is forgotten, no matter when their suffering began, and that justice and reparation—real, can reach us in our lifetimes.

Thank you.