THE HAGUE, Netherlands — Ministers and officials from dozens of countries are gathering in the Netherlands on Tuesday for a conference on restoring justice in Ukraine, as the war sparked by Russia’s invasion drags on in its third devastating year.
Among speakers will be the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, which has issued arrest warrants for Russian President Vladimir Putin and military officers linked to the war.
“The people of Ukraine, they want to see justice delivered,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said as he arrived for the conference.
His Dutch counterpart, Hanke Bruins Slot, agreed.
“These horrendous crimes of Russia cannot go unpunished. There is no place for impunity,” she said.
During the conference, a register of damage caused by Russia’s invasion will formally open a process that will allow people to submit claims for compensation for damages, loss or injury suffered as a result of the invasion.
The Council of Europe, whose members established the register in May last year, said in a statement that the Tuesday launch will focus on claims for damage or destruction of residential property. It said that between 300,000 and 600,000 claims are expected.
The Hague-based Register of Damage Caused by the Aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, or RD4U, aims to allow more claims soon, including related to damage or destruction of Ukrainian critical infrastructure. The register will not pay out any claims, but is a stepping stone toward an international compensation mechanism that has not yet been established.
The Hague is central to efforts to bring justice to Ukraine. It is home to the International Criminal Court and the International Centre for the Prosecution of the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine, and the Dutch government has offered to host a special tribunal on the crime of aggression. While the ICC is investigating crimes in Ukraine, it does not have jurisdiction to prosecute the crime of aggression in the conflict.