ECHR rejects Donetsk resident's complaint against Ukraine over shelling of her flat
The European Court of Human Rights has ruled inadmissible a complaint by a Donetsk resident who accused Ukraine's army of destroying her apartment in a 2014 shelling, finding she had not exhausted domestic remedies.
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has declared inadmissible a complaint filed against Ukraine by a resident of Donetsk. The decision was announced by Margarita Sokorenko, the Ukrainian government's agent for ECHR affairs, on Facebook, citing the outlet "Yevropeiska Pravda".
The woman claimed that on 9 August 2014, an artillery strike by Ukrainian government forces destroyed the apartment she owned and lived in. To support her claim, she submitted a copy of her passport, an inheritance certificate, a certificate of ownership, a house registration document, a damage report and photographs.
Complaints and the court's findings
She argued that she had been unable to exercise her rights because state institutions in the east, including courts, had suspended operations and relocated to territory controlled by the Ukrainian government. She also complained that the destruction of her property had forced her to relocate, though she did not specify where she moved to and provided no evidence of relocation. Her interests were represented by a lawyer practising in Moscow.
The ECHR rejected all her complaints under Article 35 §§ 1 and 4 of the Convention, citing failure to exhaust domestic legal remedies. The court found that Ukraine had established a legal framework and specialised units capable of investigating shelling incidents such as the one described, and that the relocated courts were effective and accessible.
The court also noted that the applicant had made no attempt to approach national courts, despite documented evidence that she regularly travelled from Donetsk to government-controlled territory. Judges concluded that the alleged ineffectiveness of the investigation could not be attributed to the state, but stemmed from the applicant's own inaction and lack of diligence in engaging with authorities.
Earlier, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe proposed a way to transfer Russia's frozen assets to Ukraine based on ECHR rulings. In July, the ECHR found that Russia had violated property rights and the right to a fair trial in a case concerning the seizure of land plots from owners in occupied Sevastopol.
