On the human cost of Russia’s war against Ukraine and the urgent need to end Russian aggression: the situation of illegally detained civilians and… prisoners of war, and the continued bombing of civilians

B100305/2025

European Parliament resolution on the human cost of Russia’s war against Ukraine and the urgent need to end Russian aggression: the situation of illegally detained civilians and prisoners of war, and the continued bombing of civilians

(2025/2710(RSP))

The European Parliament,

–having regard to its previous resolutions on Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine,

–having regard to the Charter of the United Nations,

–having regard to the Geneva Conventions,

–having regard to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC),

–having regard to the Agreement between the Council of Europe and Ukraine on the Establishment of the Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine,

–having regard to Rule 132(2) of its Rules of Procedure,

A.whereas the Russian Federation has been waging an unprovoked, unjustified and illegal war of aggression against Ukraine since 24 February 2022, in continuation of previous aggression since 2014; whereas it continues to persistently violate the principles of the UN Charter through its aggressive actions against the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of Ukraine and to blatantly and grossly violate international humanitarian law, as established by the Geneva Conventions of 1949;

B.whereas the UN General Assembly, in its resolution of 2 March 2022, immediately qualified the Russian war against Ukraine as an act of aggression in violation of Article 2(4) of the UN Charter, and, in its resolution of 14 November 2022, recognised the need to hold the Russian Federation accountable for its war of aggression and legally and financially responsible for its internationally wrongful acts, including by making reparation for the injury and damage caused;

C.whereas the ICC has been conducting an investigation into the situation in Ukraine since 2 March 2022, and on 17 March 2023 issued arrest warrants for Vladimir Putin, President of the Russian Federation, and Maria Lvova-Belova, so-called Commissioner for Children’s Rights in the Office of the President of the Russian Federation, for the war crime of unlawful deportation of Ukrainian children, followed up by additional arrest warrants against Russian officials issued on 24 June 2024; whereas the EU supports the Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine that is being established in the framework of the Council of Europe;

D.whereas, in reaction to Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, the EU has adopted 17 sanctions packages on Russia with unprecedented scope and continues to adopt sanctions on Russia with a view to definitively undermining its capacity to continue waging its illegal war of aggression against Ukraine; whereas sanctions circumvention, including through Russia’s shadow fleet, and incomplete implementation of sanctions remain a major enabler of Russia’s war of aggression;

E.whereas the EU and its Member States, together with international partners and NATO allies, continue to provide substantial military support to Ukraine in order to assist it in exercising its legitimate right to self-defence against Russia’s aggression under Article 51 of the UN Charter;

F.whereas, despite broad international condemnation of its war of aggression against Ukraine and unprecedented sanctions, the Russian political and military leadership, with the support of its regular army and proxies, continues its illegal war of aggression and has even escalated its war efforts while falsely seeking to create the impression that it is ready to participate in US-led initiatives for peace in Ukraine;

1.Reiterates its condemnation of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine and its demands that the Russian Federation immediately, completely and unconditionally cease its attacks against residential areas and civilian infrastructure, terminate all military activities in Ukraine, withdraw all military forces, proxies and military equipment from the entire internationally recognised territory of Ukraine, end forced deportations of Ukrainian civilians, release and return all detained Ukrainians, and permanently cease violating or threatening the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of Ukraine;

2.Notes that in 2025, Russia has launched over 20 000 drones at Ukraine, or around 3 500 per month, constituting 350 % of the 2024 monthly average; underscores that Russia has killed over 1 050 civilians and injured 4 300 more, constituting clear evidence that it actively targets civilians, as opposed to Ukraine’s defensive actions; recalls the recent attacks on Kyiv and Dnipro, respectively the second deadliest and the deadliest attacks on these cities since the start of Russia’s invasion; underlines that this is in stark contrast to Russia’s claim that it is interested in peace;

3.Reiterates its dismay that, after more than three years of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, efforts made so far have not yet been sufficient to end the aggression; calls urgently for the EU, its Member States and their international partners and transatlantic allies to undertake even more effective military, political and diplomatic efforts, and in particular to massively increase their military support for Ukraine in order to definitively stop Russia’s war of aggression and enable Ukraine to liberate all its people, re-establish full control over its entire territory within its internationally recognised borders and deter any further aggression by Russia; underlines that the negative global consequences of any future Russian aggression far outweigh the military and financial commitment needed today to definitively end Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine and deter further Russian aggression;

4.Calls for the urgent release and return of all detained Ukrainian civilians and prisoners of war, and in particular for the safe return of all Ukrainian children forcibly transferred and deported to the Russian Federation; notes the marked difference in the manner in which respective prisoners of war have been treated by Ukraine and Russia, with Ukrainian military personnel having been severely tortured, maltreated and malnourished, in violation of the laws of war and international humanitarian law; urges the Russian federal and local authorities to grant international organisations such as the International Committee of the Red Cross, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and UNICEF access to all Ukrainian children deported to occupied territory or to Russian territory; reiterates its calls for the EU and its Member States to closely cooperate with and support Ukrainian authorities and other international organisations in their efforts to document all missing and deported Ukrainian children, determine their whereabouts and repatriate them in order to promptly reunite them with their parents or legal custodians; reiterates that the deportation of Ukrainian children is a grave violation of international humanitarian law, in particular of Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, and constitutes a war crime;

5.Notes the unwavering commitment of 26 EU Member States to Ukraine, but calls for the EU and its Member States to substantially enhance the effectiveness and accelerate the delivery of military support to Ukraine in order to enable Ukraine to legitimately defend itself against Russia’s escalating attacks on cities and civilian infrastructure across the country and to put Ukraine into the strongest possible position for negotiations about its future; underlines that Ukraine and its leadership must be empowered to resist and prevent further Russian attacks and reject hasty deals that weaken its security in the medium to long term and risk subjecting Ukraine and other countries, including EU countries, to renewed Russian aggression;

6.Urges all Member States to immediately provide additional military assistance and to engage in joint procurement of additional capabilities, in particular air defence and long-range strike and artillery systems and ammunitions; urges all Member States, in this regard, to devote a significant part of their Security Action for Europe (SAFE) Defence Investment Plans to assistance for Ukraine; urges the Member States and their defence industries to invest in and partner with the Ukrainian defence industry, including through additional investments and by setting up joint ventures, in order to maximise the full potential of its production capabilities to produce critical equipment in the most efficient way, as demonstrated by the ‘Danish Model’; urges the Member States to lift the remaining restrictions on the use of Western weapons systems delivered to Ukraine against military targets on Russian territory, as these targets are used for launching attacks on Ukraine’s population and critical civilian infrastructure;

7.Recalls the bold statements by several EU Heads of State or Government that Russia’s failure to agree to the US-proposed 30-day ceasefire would be met with severely enhanced sanctions; therefore urges the Council, the Commission and the Member States to follow up on their declarations and substantially increase the effectiveness and impact of sanctions on Russia; welcomes the 17th sanctions package of 20 May 2025, but urges the Member States to adopt the next sanctions package without any further delay; reiterates its calls for a swift and complete ban on imports of Russian fossil fuels, temporary measures prior to such a ban, including lowering the oil price cap and a liquefied natural gas price cap, as well as for the adoption of anti-circumvention measures, such as sanctions on non-EU countries and entities that provide Russia with military and dual-use goods and technologies or process Russian fossil fuels in circumvention of sanctions and on those that enable it, such as shadow fleet captains, insurers, insurance brokers and relevant financial service providers;

8.Reminds the Hungarian and Slovak Governments of the principle of sincere cooperation that requires Member States to refrain from any measure that could jeopardise the attainment of the EU’s objectives; urges the Hungarian and Slovak Governments, therefore, to realign their foreign policy with EU positions and principles and to lift their repeated obstruction of EU efforts to strengthen the sanctions on Russia;

9.Emphasises its full support for the ongoing investigation by the Prosecutor of the ICC into the situation in Ukraine based on alleged war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide, as well as for the establishment of the Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression in the framework of the Council of Europe; in this context, expresses its utmost concern about the US sanctions on the ICC, its prosecutors, judges and staff, which undermine all its ongoing investigative and prosecutorial work and constitute a serious attack on the international justice system; calls on the Commission to urgently activate the blocking statute and on the Member States to urgently increase their diplomatic efforts in order to protect and safeguard the ICC as an indispensable cornerstone of the international justice system; expresses its concern that other efforts to document, catalogue, investigate and prosecute Russian war crimes in Ukraine are now affected by funding shortfalls;

10.Reaffirms its commitment to supporting Ukraine’s desire for a just and lasting peace for Ukraine that must be based on full respect for Ukraine’s independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity, the principles of international law, accountability for the war crimes and the crime of aggression, and Russian payments for the massive damage caused in Ukraine and that must effectively exclude any further aggression by Russia; calls urgently for the EU and its Member States to work with like-minded partners to ensure that peace negotiations take place in accordance with the above principles; recognises that peace negotiations will require compromise on both sides; underlines, however, that Russia’s aggression is unprovoked, unjustified and illegal, and that the EU, its Member States and all countries that adhere to the UN Charter must reject any proposals that would further undermine the principles of international law and the rules-based international order;

11.Reiterates its firm conviction that Russia must pay for the massive damage caused in Ukraine and therefore calls for the confiscation of Russian state assets immobilised under EU sanctions and their use to support Ukraine’s defence and reconstruction; underlines its conviction that various legal pathways to do so are available and that lack of action is an inexcusable failure on the part of European governments;

12.Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, the Council, the Commission, the governments and parliaments of the Member States, the Council of Europe, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, the President, Government and Parliament of Ukraine, and the President, Government and Parliament of the Russian Federation.