Ukraine should raise Russia's liability bill for damage caused during war – lawyer Davydiuk

This opinion was expressed by political scientist and international lawyer Mykola Davydiuk on the Espreso TV channel.

In his opinion, most of the reparations will have to be collected from Russia within 2-4, maximum 5 years after the end of the war. The reason for this, he said, is that Russia could later simply stop the flow of money.

"Russia is not Germany, which has been paying reparations for decades. Russians are people who do not have a basic understanding of the word "honour" at all, who do not have a basic understanding of the word "dignity," even in relation to themselves. And the Russians are criminals, who will definitely not pay these reparations when the threat of even greater punishment for themselves than what they did to us disappears. So I see big problems here. We need to speed things up as much as possible, as simply as we can," Davidiuk emphasised.

The political analyst noted that the amount of $258 billion, which was announced by EU lawyers last week, is too small. In his opinion, it is not even a quarter of what Russia should pay to Ukraine. In this regard, "Ukraine must act tough and strong".

He also recalled that when Russian oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky was suing for money for Yukos, he found $500 billion of Russian public funds abroad. In his opinion, this is the amount of the first tranche of reparations that Ukraine should receive.

"This is the first tranche that should go to the Ukrainian budget for reconstruction, to help the families of the victims, to help the disabled, and to help the Ukrainian economy. Not UAH 8 billion should be allocated to support Ukrainian business. Business has been destroyed by Russian missiles and tanks. This should include tens, hundreds of billions of dollars to support business, to support our state infrastructure facilities, to support reconstruction," the political scientist emphasised.

Davydiuk noted that in order to avoid paying hundreds of billions to Ukraine, the Russians will try to bribe those responsible for signing the reparations agreement in Ukraine. However, in his opinion, they will still have to pay, as this money will help Ukraine get out of poverty and out of the past that Russia has dragged the country into.

"And it is also important that they pay as an element of revenge and education of Russians. So that they know that aggression is expensive. Because if they are not made to pay very dearly, if they are not bloodied, they will attack in 2-3 years. The task is to divide them, just as Nazi Germany was divided, territorially or geographically. And it is precisely from the financial point of view, so that for the next 30 years they do not think about whom to attack, but rather think about what they will eat," he said.

Davydiuk also emphasised that it was not worth agreeing to 258 billion in reparations, as it would not be enough to rebuild the Ukrainian cities destroyed by Russia. According to him, it is very good that the Register of Damages Caused to Ukraine by Russian Aggression exists, but it should be constantly updated.

"It must be filled, it must grow. With every Russian shot, it should increase. And again, we need to look at not only Western estimates, but also ours. We also need to have several institutions that will count. Civilian institutions such as the Kyiv School of Economics and the Ministry of Economy have started to count. But we should not stop there. We have to maximise their accountability," Davydiuk summarised.

For reference: "Nazi Germany" is a well-established stamp of Soviet propaganda, while Hitler's regime was Nazi.

• On May 17, a declaration was signed at the Council of Europe summit on the creation of a register of damages for Ukraine as a first step towards an international mechanism of compensation for victims of Russian aggression.