Victims of the War in Ukraine Need Reparation Today, Not Tomorrow

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“Reparations are the survivor’s voice”, a survivor of Russia’s war in Ukraine recently told us. 

Yet, four years into Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, funding for reparation still pales in comparison to the needs of survivors. Meanwhile, authorities around the world hold billions of Euros in cash and luxury assets that belong to the Russian State and its affiliates or are otherwise connected to the war.  Repurposing even a small portion of these assets as reparation could dramatically transform victims’ present and future. 

REDRESS has developed six guidelines to support authorities in using Russia-linked assets to finance reparation. The guidelines draw closely on consultations that REDRESS held in October 2025 and March 2026 with a group of eight survivors from established Ukrainian survivor networks. 

While there has been significant momentum towards repurposing some assets to finance State-level assistance packages for the benefit of Ukraine, commitments to address victims’ urgent reparation needs have been conspicuously absent, despite their complementarity. Unlike assistance, reparation formally recognises the violations that victims have suffered, gives survivors a sense of justice and empowers them as rights-holders. This blog outlines the current landscape for repurposing assets to finance reparation and highlights the extraordinary opportunity authorities have to redress some of the harms victims have endured. 

Recent momentum towards financing reparation 

REDRESS and the survivors we consulted both support a Call to Action for authorities to dedicate a share of loans backed by Russia-linked assets to fund reparations for victims. The campaign was developed during the ill-fated negotiations for the EU Reparations Loan, which would have been backed by frozen Russian sovereign assets. The Call, coordinated by the Global Survivors Fund (GSF), emphasised that dedicating as little as 2% of the loan to national reparations programmes would transform the lives of Ukrainian survivors. 

While the EU Reparations Loan did not materialise, the Call inspired the EU to include a provision in its negotiating position for the subsequent Ukraine Support Loan that would enable some of the budgetary support to be used by Ukraine to assist in the financing of compensation, as a form of reparations, to individual victims. This would set an emblematic precedent for financing reparation. However, it remains to be seen whether the Ukraine Support Loan will proceed due to opposition from Hungary and Slovakia. It is also unclear whether any funds allocated to reparation would be channelled solely via the Claims Commission or if amounts may also be allocated to Ukrainian State programmes. 

State reparation programmes urgently need funding 

The survivors we consulted unanimously raised the need for authorities to prioritise funding reparation processes that can reach victims quickly and effectively. National programmes have the greatest potential to reach large numbers of victims and address their most urgent needs. The Ukrainian government has already developed numerous reparation and assistance schemes. In 2024, national authorities partnered with GSF on a pilot project to provide urgent interim reparation to survivors of conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV). The pilot reached 1,080 survivors and informed the establishment of a new comprehensive framework for CRSV survivors: Law #4067-IX, also known as the Bardina Law. However, the Government has encountered various challenges in implementing the law, including securing sustainable financing and ensuring appropriate complementarity arrangements with other social and legal protection measures.  

A comprehensive strategy is needed to secure sustainable funding for national reparation programmes (including from Russia-linked assets), expand the eligibility criteria, and enhance the coherence, survivor-centredness, and operational capacity of these initiatives. Robust oversight and anti-corruption measures will also prove crucial. 

Expected role of the Claims Commission 

In December 2025, the EU and 35 States signed the Council of Europe Convention establishing an International Claims Commission for Ukraine. Once operational, the Claims Commission will be able to assess victims’ claims and make compensation orders. However, compensation payments can only be disbursed once a separate trust fund is established and financed. As of writing, victims are also ineligible to submit claims in respect of harms that predate Russia’s full-scale invasion, though the Convention references the possibility of a future amendment extending the Claims Commission’s temporal scope to 20 February 2014 (the day that Russia began its illegal invasion of Crimea). 

The Claims Commission will consolidate and build on the work of the Register of Damage, which has already received more than 100,000 claims. The Register of Damage and Claims Commission can be valuable implementing partners for authorities managing Russia-linked assets. However, the Claims Commission will not be in a position to make compensation payments until at least 2027, possibly longer. Some victims simply cannot wait this long to receive interim measures. There is a significant risk that authorities fixate on the Register of Damage and Claims Commission as the sole means of implementing reparation for all victims, to the detriment of those with the most urgent needs. Alongside prioritising promptness, authorities should also consider funding bodies that can facilitate other reparation measures beyond one-off compensation payments, such as monthly pensions, physical and psychological rehabilitation services, housing, education, and employment benefits, or memorialisation. 

An unprecedented opportunity to champion victims’ rights 

The debate on Russia-linked assets regularly makes headline news. However, there is a disconnect between these developments and the urgent reparation needs of individual victims. Given the sums at play, authorities have an unprecedented opportunity to help realise victims’ right to reparation. In the words of one survivor: 

“There are many people like me. They need help today. They don’t need a promise that something will come tomorrow.” 

To learn more, read Reparation Today, Not Tomorrow

Photo: Nina Liashonok/Ukrinform via ZUMA Press Wire