Claims Commission may issue first decisions in late 2026 – Mudra

Mudra said this in a comment to an Ukrinform correspondent.

She noted that the legal basis for establishing the commission is the officially signed Convention.

"Next, domestic procedures will have to be completed. Some countries will need to ratify the Convention, while others will simply need government decisions. For the Convention to enter into force, 25 ratifications are required. Accordingly, 2026 will be the year when the commission's work is launched, all the necessary infrastructure is created, and staff are recruited, so that from late 2026 or in 2027 the commission can start issuing its first decisions," she said.

Mudra stressed that yesterday was "a truly decisive day both for Ukraine and for the world and international law."

"We held a global high-level diplomatic conference attended by senior officials from more than 50 countries. The Convention Establishing an International Claims Commission for Ukraine was officially signed. This is the second component of the international compensation mechanism launched by the UN General Assembly resolution of November 14, 2022, entitled 'Reparations for Ukraine.' And today [December 16], the political will previously expressed by world leaders has taken the form of a legal document - an open convention of the Council of Europe," she said, recalling that the Convention was signed by 35 countries.

The official noted that the Convention is open for signature not only by Council of Europe member states but also by other countries.

"We expect more and more countries that supported the 2022 General Assembly resolution to join the signing. Let me remind you that 94 countries supported that resolution," Mudra said.

According to her, the commission will operate on the basis of information collected by the International Register of Damage, which has already received more than 85,000 claims.

"This Convention provides for the establishment of an administrative body that will determine specific compensation amounts for all victims of Russian aggression. The information will come from the International Register of Damage, which is already functioning and currently contains around 85,000 claims from affected individuals. However, this is only a small part of what we expect to be submitted, as only 11 of the 43 approved categories are currently open. In the first quarter of 2026, we expect the Register to open all categories," Mudra said.

She also separately addressed the issue of funding the compensation fund and emphasized that the aggressor state must pay.

"The fairest and most legally sound path is to use frozen Russian assets to compensate victims," Mudra said.

According to her, as of the end of 2024, the total amount of damage inflicted on Ukraine amounted to about $500 billion.

"All signatories to the Convention will have to consider how to fill the compensation fund. The simplest solution, which everyone agrees on, is that the aggressor must pay. This is its obligation under international law. The most logical path is to use assets belonging to the aggressor state and direct them to those who have suffered. This is justified both morally and legally. At present, there is still no political will for this. An active discussion is under way on using these Russian assets as collateral for a reparations loan. At the same time, if the commission begins issuing decisions and Russia shows no good will to pay reparations, we will have to consider the issue of direct access to the assets themselves - not to loans or borrowings, but directly to the principal of these assets," Mudra said.

On December 16 in The Hague, during an international conference organized by the Council of Europe and the Netherlands, the Convention Establishing an International Claims Commission for Ukraine was signed as part of the mechanism to compensate for damage caused by Russia's aggression.