- EU condemns 12 years of systematic human rights violations by Russia in occupied Ukrainian territories at the UN General Assembly.
- UN Commission of Inquiry and OHCHR have documented torture, child deportation, extrajudicial executions and forcible transfers.
- EU demands immediate and unconditional release of all political prisoners and safe return of all deported Ukrainian children.
- EU rejects any annexation of Ukrainian territory and calls on Russia for an unconditional, immediate and comprehensive ceasefire and negotiations under the UN Charter.
The EU's ambassador to the United Nations, Stavros Lambrinidis, delivered a formal statement on behalf of the European Union and its Member States at the UN General Assembly in New York on 1 September 2026. The statement addresses Russia's systematic violations of human rights and international humanitarian law in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine.
12 years of documented violations
The EU delegation stated that Russia's illegal occupation of Crimea, Sevastopol and parts of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson, along with the continuing and systematic violations of international human rights law and humanitarian law in these territories, constitutes "a clear manifestation of its policy of subjugation and reveals the true nature of its war of aggression against Ukraine."
According to the statement, the office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and the UN's Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine have documented Russian actions against Ukrainians in the temporarily occupied territories for twelve years, since 2014.
Extensive catalogue of abuses
The documented record includes, among others:
- Politically motivated persecution, arbitrary detention and arrest
- Extrajudicial executions
- Widespread and systematic torture and abuse against civilian detainees and prisoners of war
- Sexual and gender-based violence
- Unlawful deportations and forcible transfers of civilians, including children
- Enforced disappearances
- Suppression of freedom of expression, religion and belief
- Persecution of journalists, human rights defenders and religious communities
- Forced passportisation and unlawful conscription
The EU further noted that Russia imposes its own occupying administration, expropriates public and private property, restricts access to education in Ukrainian, and forces assimilation, militarisation and indoctrination of minors through the education system.
Demands and calls to action
"We call on Russia, and its accomplice Belarus, to immediately end the grave violation of child deportation and forcible transfer, which – according to the Commission of Inquiry – constitute war crimes, to stop the illegal adoptions of Ukrainian children and to ensure the immediate, safe and unconditional return of all unlawfully deported and forcibly transferred Ukrainian children."
The EU also urged the international community to call for the immediate, safe and unconditional release of all political prisoners and arbitrarily detained civilians, and for enhanced international monitoring of the human rights situation, including immediate and unhindered access for OHCHR and relevant UN Special Procedures to all places of deprivation of liberty.
No recognition of annexation
The statement was unequivocal on the question of territorial integrity:
"Crimea, Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk, and Zaporizhzhia are Ukraine. The EU will never recognise as lawful any purported annexation of Ukrainian territory by Russia."
The EU affirmed its continued political, financial, economic, military and diplomatic support for Ukraine and called on Russia to accept "an unconditional, immediate and comprehensive ceasefire" and to come to the negotiating table to achieve a just and lasting peace in line with international law, including the UN Charter.
Alignment of candidate countries
The candidate countries North Macedonia, Montenegro, Albania, Ukraine, the Republic of Moldova, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Georgia, as well as the EFTA country Liechtenstein, Andorra and Monaco, aligned themselves with the statement.