HRC61 - EU Statement - Item 4 | EEAS 3 of 9 https://www.eeas.europa.eu/delegations/un-geneva/hrc61-eu-statement... to Russia’s use of drones and explosive weapons, including with wide area effect in urban areas, and on other civilian infrastructure. The EU condemns these attacks, which deprive the civilian population of access to services necessary for their survival this winter. The Commission of Inquiry has concluded that Russian authorities have committed crimes against humanity of torture, enforced disappearances, murder and forcible transfer of population, and war crimes, including deliberate and intensified targeting of civilians. We express our deepest concern about Russia’s continued indiscriminate and targeted attacks on Ukraine’s civilian population. The year 2025 was the deadliest for civilians in Ukraine since 2022, according to the January 2026 report by the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (HRMMU). The EU condemns in the strongest possible terms the increasing number of executions of POWs, as observed by the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (HRMMU) report. The EU expects international humanitarian law, including the Geneva Conventions on the treatment of prisoners of war, to be fully respected. 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 their immediate, safe and unconditional return to Ukraine. Russia must stop the illegal adoptions of these children, which violate their right to their Ukrainian nationality, their identity, name and family relations. We call on Russia to immediately stop the militarisation and indoctrination of Ukrainian minors and youth as per the latest OHCHR reports. The EU is firmly committed to ensuring full accountability for all international crimes and human rights violations and abuses stemming from Russia’s war of aggression, including through investigations by the prosecutor of the ICC, and to uphold the rights of victims to justice, reparation and guarantees of non-repetition. In this context, the EU takes note of the signing of a new convention establishing an International Claims Commission for Ukraine and calls for work to continue. The EU will continue supporting further efforts related to the Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression Against Ukraine, and the work towards the establishment of a comprehensive compensation mechanism. We demand that Russia ceases its aggression, withdraws all forces and military equipment from the entire territory of Ukraine immediately, completely and unconditionally, and fully respects Ukraine’s sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity within its internationally recognised borders. We remain steadfast in our commitment to a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in Ukraine, grounded in the principles of the UN Charter and international law and welcome all efforts towards that end. 25/03/2026, 16:51