Register of Damage prepares to accept up to 10 million claims of Ukrainians affected by war

This forecast was made by the Executive Director of the Register of Damage, Markiyan Kliuchkovskyi, at a briefing at the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, a Ukrinform correspondent reports.

‘According to various estimates, there are four to six million Ukrainians abroad. About 2 million are internally displaced. So, between these two figures, we have six to eight million potential people whose claims will be quite simple but clear. Not everyone might file claims, but if we add claims related to the loss of or damage to property to this, the figure is between 5 and 10 million’, Kliuchkovskyi suggested.

However, he said, if the processes are properly set up, it can be done.

As for the issue of dividing claims into categories, it should be a decision of the board, which will formally establish an exhaustive list consisting of two elements, one of which is priority claims.

‘The priority will be to resolve the issue of whether the war-affected persons can file claims, as well as claims related to the destruction of infrastructure, claims related to loss of life, loss of health, physical suffering and injury, displacement and loss of property’, Kliuchkovskyi said, answering a question from an Ukrinform correspondent about what types of claims would be considered in the first place.

The loss of property is likely to be the first category to be considered, as it is ‘the most well-developed in terms of the evidence base’.

To recap, the International Register of Damage plans to launch the registration of material losses of Ukrainians caused by Russian aggression using the Diia-based platform, and it should be fully operational in April.

The Register of Damage, launched at the Council of Europe Summit in Reykjavik in May 2023, is the first step towards creating an international compensation mechanism for victims of Russian aggression.

As of today, 43 states and the European Union are members of the register. 39 are full members and five are associate members. The United States of America, Japan, and Canada have also joined.

The Register’s Board, which was appointed on 16 November 2023, is composed of seven individuals: Robert Spano (Iceland, Chair), Chiara Giorgetti (Italy, Vice Chair), Veijo Heiskanen (Finland), Yulia Kyrpa (Ukraine), Aleksandra Mężykowska (Poland), Lucy Reed (USA), and Norbert Wühler (Germany).

The Register is based in The Hague, Kingdom of the Netherlands. In accordance with the statute of the Register of Damage, the Register will also have a subsidiary office in Ukraine.

As Ukrinform reported, the first meeting of the Board of the Register of Damage caused by Russian aggression against Ukraine was held in The Hague on 11–13 December.