Win in any case: why Russia filed a lawsuit against Ukraine at the ECHR

As you know, on July 22, Russia filed a lawsuit with the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) with the first interstate complaint against Ukraine in the history of the Russian Federation. The event is not trivial. This can be considered a response to 9 complaints against Russia filed in court by Ukraine since 2014. On some points, the claim of Russia is a counter, for example, on the issue of the crash of the Boeing 777.

Igor Mintusov, President of the European Association of Political Consultants, comments on the situation:

Russia's choice of the ECHR as a tool to achieve its goals in the conflict with Ukraine is controversial. On the one hand, Russia has legislatively secured the possibility of non-execution of decisions of international courts (the same ECHR), in accordance with the amendments to the Constitution of the Russian Federation adopted in 2020.

On the other hand, when addressing the ECHR, Russia recognizes the priority and authority of an international body by the very fact of filing a claim against a neighboring state. And when the ECHR announces the decision, the Russian authorities will no longer be able to simply ignore it.

In the lawsuit filed by the Prosecutor General's Office, we see that the department points to such institutions as the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, the Venice Commission, and Amnesty International, with which, until recently, the Russian authorities did not particularly take into account. And in this sense, the very fact of filing a claim with the ECHR, in my opinion, should be welcomed. Constructive dialogue, so to speak.

The claim is drawn up in such a way that the European Court cannot but find Ukraine guilty on some counts. For example, in matters of infringement of the Russian-speaking population in the country, the fairness of Russia's position is obvious.

Russia, it seems, will benefit from any court ruling. So, if most of the charges are not satisfied, the refusal of the ECHR can be used by the Russian leadership as a demonstration of the hostility of Europe and the injustice of the international court. And having received an admission of Ukraine's guilt on at least one point, Russia can actively use this argument about problems with human rights in Ukraine, which even Europe has recognized.

A funny detail in this situation is that Russia remains the leader in terms of the number of unfulfilled decisions of the ECHR to this day. Interestingly, in this lawsuit against Ukraine, Russia will only execute the parts of the verdict in favor of Russia? Or will the parts of the verdict that are not adopted in favor of Russia be carried out by Russia? As they say on Channel One, time will tell..."