The European Court of Human Rights ruled on Tuesday that Russia committed rights violations in Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula, which Moscow occupied and annexed in violation of international law in 2014.

Russia violated the right to life, the prohibition of inhuman or degrading treatment, and freedom of expression and assembly, the court said, among other abuses.

The ruling means the judges in Strasbourg have sided with Ukraine, which had filed a complaint with the court alleging a “pattern of persecution” of non-Russians in Crimea.

Ukraine’s allegations included unlawful detentions, ill-treatment of civilians, and the suppression of the Ukrainian media and the Ukrainian language in schools.

The court’s unanimous judgement said there was sufficient evidence – corroborated by a range of witness testimony and reports from non-governmental organizations – to find Russia guilty “beyond a reasonable doubt.”

It said the “incidents had been sufficiently numerous and
interconnected” and amounted to a “system of violations.”

The impact of the decision is likely to be limited as Russia refuses to recognize the judgements of the court.

The country was expelled from the Council of Europe in the wake of Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. As a result, it is no longer a member of the European Convention on Human Rights, which the court in Strasbourg enforces.

However, the court can still rule on incidents that occurred before Russia’s expulsion. The case in question on Tuesday dates back to March 2014.

The Council of Europe is an institution independent of the European Union.