Alex Lemieux

In my speech at the opening of the "Restoring Justice for Ukraine" conference of 57 countries in The Hague, I emphasized that Ukrainians need justice right now. Not in a distant future. Ukrainians don’t want to hear that justice will be served. They want to see it served already. Not only on the battlefield, but in the courtrooms and real decisions as well. And they have a right to demand this. In this context, we do already have tangible results on four accountability tracks. 1. The Register of Damage is now operational, allowing Ukrainians to request compensation for damage or destruction of residential property, and its scope will further expand. 2. The International Centre for the Prosecution of the Crime of Aggression Against Ukraine (ICPA) has been established, and its prosecutors are currently investigating and preparing indictments for this crime. 3. The International Criminal Court has already issued first four arrest warrants, including for Russian dictator Putin, and we anticipate more of them. 4. First decisions to use frozen Russian assets for Ukraine’s benefit have already been made, and this work must achieve more results this year. More work must be done. However, the first steps show that justice for Russian aggression and subsequent atrocities is unavoidable.