On Monday 23 February, the Council of Europe announced that a new category of claims had been opened in the Register of Damage for Ukraine.
This category concerns those who were forced to seek refuge abroad on account of the war of aggression that Russia launched on 24 February 2022.
It also concerns those who have been unable to return to Ukraine for the same reason.
According to the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), more than 6.8 million Ukrainians are still displaced outside their country.
Launched in 2023 following the Council of Europe Summit in Reykjavík, the Register of Damage currently comprises 15 categories, which correspond to that number of types of harm caused by war: property damage or destruction of property, loss of housing, personal injury, loss of life, missing family members, conflict-related sexual violence, etc.
These categories are not mutually exclusive, and it is possible to submit several claims corresponding to different types of damage.
Only open to Ukrainian refugees at this stage, the new category will later be extended to other nationalities.
The Register of Damage is the first part of an international mechanism for war damage compensation - a mechanism that is supervised by the Council of Europe.
In December 2025, 35 states and the European Union signed the Convention establishing an International Claims Commission for Ukraine.
Responsible for verifying the eligibility of claims and determining the amount of compensation, this commission will be in charge of the second phase of the process before a compensation fund is created.
Link to the Register of Damage for Ukraine: https://aeur.eu/f/kvr (Original version in French by Véronique Leblanc)