Grand Chamber of the Supreme Court will decide in the case on the compensation for civilian casualties

23.12.20

Since 2017, the legal team of the Right to Protection CF has been accompanying 36 lawsuits to protect the rights of injured persons or persons who have lost close relatives. 8 cases out of these have already successfully passed the appellate stage and are before the Supreme Court of Ukraine, as the defendant (the state of Ukraine), contrary to the norms of international and national law, does not agree to pay compensation to such persons.

As of July 31, 2020, at least 3,367 civilians had been killed in more than six years of armed conflict in eastern Ukraine, including non-combatants (according to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in the Report on Human Rights Situation in Ukraine for the period 16.02.2020-31.07.2020).

Not only the soldiers who defended Ukraine were killed throughout the 7 years of conflict in eastern Ukraine. There were also civilians who found themselves “in the wrong place” and “at the wrong time”. And Ukraine should take responsibility for the lives of its citizens. Why – read in this material.

As we wrote earlier, one case on the compensation for civilian casualties was won by the lawyers of the Right to Protection in the Kharkiv Court of Appeal. From now on, this case will be heard by the Grand Chamber of the Supreme Court.

Circumstances

On March 12, 2015, during an anti-terrorist operation (ATO) in the village of Krasny Partizan in Yasynuvata district of the Donetsk region, Alla D. was blown on mine in a car with another passenger. Only civilians were in this car. They moved from the area of active conflict. The woman’s son, Olexandr D., learned of his mother’s death over the phone. Despite the risks to personal safety, he went to organize his mother’s funeral.

More than 5 years have passed now, but the loss of mother for Olexandr is lifelong and irreparable. This led to significant negative changes in his life and deeply traumatized his personality. He did not receive any compensation for moral damage from the state.With the help of the lawyers of the Right to Protection CF Olexandr filled in the lawsuit against the State of Ukraine for the compensation of moral damage caused by the terrorist act that led to the death of his mother.

The decision of the Kharkiv District Court of the Kharkiv Region of April 24, 2019 was in favor of Oleksandr and ordered the government to pay UAH 300,000 from the State Budget of Ukraine in compensation for non-pecuniary damage.

On the 30.07.2019 the Kharkiv Court of Appeal changed the decision of the first instance court regarding the amount of compensation for non-pecuniary damage and changed it to the amount of UAH 500,000 to be paid in favor of Oleksandr. Expectedly, the Government of Ukraine filed a cassation appeal, which was accepted by the Supreme Court.

Why it matters

Following the amendments to the procedural law that came into force in 2017, the Supreme Court has the right to pass some of the received cases to the Grand Chamber of the Supreme Court, in particular, for the formation of a unified law enforcement practice. This usually happens in cases that are complex and ambiguous due to conflicting legislation or the absence of such. If the Grand Chamber decides in such case, its conclusions will be binding on all such cases, i.e. a kind of legal precedent will be created to be applied by all courts of Ukraine. This will allow both plaintiffs and the state to understand the prospects of such cases, and the courts – to understand the prospects of reviewing their decisions in such cases, which will significantly speed up their consideration and minimize the number of judicial errors.

By a decision of 18 November 2020, the Supreme Court exercised this right and remitted case №640 / 20038/19 referred to in the article to the Grand Chamber of the Supreme Court, which agreed to hear the case on 25 November 2020. The trial (unfortunately, without summoning the parties) was conducted on December 22, 2020. We will learn about the results of the case next year.

Right to Protection CF hopes for a speedy hearings of the case and the Court’s decision, that will not only help the victims receive fair compensation, but will also encourage the state to develop an administrative procedure for obtaining compensation without overloading the courts.

Oleh Tarasenko,

Lawyer, Senior Strategic Lawyer of the Right to Protection CF

Olena Prikhodko,

Lawyer, Head of the Kharkiv Regional Office of the Right to Protection CF

21.12.20

Raising awareness in the Eastern Ukraine communities about the housing possibilities for IDPs

Right to Protection continues to share information on the housing possibilities for internally displaced persons (IDPs) to the Amalgamated Territorial Communities (Hromadas) in Ukraine (Hromadas).

With the support of the U-LEAD with Europe Program, our specialists organized online consultations, where representatives from Hromadas learn about the specifics of the procedure of receiving governmental financial assistance (subventions) to purchase housing for IDPs. Recently, on December 15 and December 17, Right to Protection also organized consultations for communities in Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

«For Right to Protection CF, long-term housing solutions for IDPs are a main priority. That’s why, starting next year, we will begin to implement a number of activities on this matter in Donetsk and Luhansk regions. At the moment, we want to draw the attention of communities to the possibility of receiving subventions from the state budget to local budgets for the implementation of measures for the regional socio-economic development, »
– said Myroslava Sushchenko, head of the Right to Protection CF in Dnipro and Zaporizhia.

Consultation event for representatives of Donetsk region communities

30 representatives of the amalgamated territorial communities of Donetsk region joined the consultation event, which took place on December 15.

Maksym Alekseenko-Lemovsky, Chief Specialist of the Department for Formation and Implementation of Housing Policy of the Ministry for Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories of Ukraine told the participants about the procedure and conditions for providing subventions from the state budget to local budgets as well as about the Temporary Housing Funds for IDPs.

Myroslava Sushchenko spoke in detail about the structure, peculiarities of the development and approval of the Local Target Program for IDP housing opportunities, as well as about the procedures for creating a Temporary Housing Fund, provision of such housing for the use of IDPs, including the apartments purchase on the secondary market.

At the end of her speech, Ms. Myroslava called on the communities to consider participating in the competition for a state subvention for socio-economic development of the territories.

«Through provision of housing, you have an opportunity to attract new residents to your communities. And if those residents will also be industry professionals, this will result in rise of employment rate, and accordingly – more tax revenues to the local budget, »
– said Myroslava Sushchenko, head of the Right to Protection CF in Dnipro and Zaporizhia. .

The event was also attended by the representatives of international organizations, who spoke about their activities and the possibility to receive international technical assistance for the socio-economic development of the communities.

Iryna Bystrytska, Legal Protection Adviser at the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Mariupol, spoke about the work of UNHCR.
Oleksandr Radionov, a leading financial expert on the United Nations Central Emergency Response Fund in Ukraine spoke in detail about the achievements of projects in the Donetsk region and future possible UNDP projects.
Galyna El Khatri, Chief Community Development Consultant of the South-Eastern Regional Office of the Ukrainian Social Investment Fund, introduced the participants to the projects and activities of the USIF.

Online meeting of capable and effective territorial communities of Luhansk region

Another consultation event took place on December 17, but this time – for the communities of Luhansk region. In total, about 20 representatives of communities in the region joined the event.

The main topic was the same: receiving the subventions for the establishment of the IDP Temporary Housing Fund. Speakers on the event helped the participants to learn more and understand the nuances and the most common mistakes to consider while preparing documents for receiving the subvention.

Christoph Bo, Senior Security Adviser at the UNHCR Eastern Office spoke about the activities of the Office on the matter of assistance to the internally displaced persons in Ukraine, as well as about the achievements of 2020 and the priorities for 2021.

Maksym Alekseenko-Lemovsky, Chief Specialist of the Department for the Formation and Implementation of Housing Policy of the Department for Social and Humanitarian Policy and Internally Displaced Persons of the Ministry for the Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories of Ukraine described in detail the mechanism for providing subventions from the state budget to local budgets.

Olena Prykhodko, Head of the Kharkiv Regional Office of the Right to Protection CF discussed with the participants the specifics of providing the housing for temporary use from the housing funds to IDPs.

Babchenko Oleksiy, head of the Civil-military administration in Zolote and the village of Katerynivka in Popasna district of the Luhansk region shared his experience in obtaining and implementing a subvention.

«In Luhansk oblast, there are only 2 examples of amalgamated Hromadas that have successfully received a subvention, and those are the Starobilsk and Zolote. We hope that their experience will inspire other communities as well. Great example is Zolote. City is located near the contact line, has been destroyed before and still has problems due to hostilities. Despite this, the motivation and resources were found to obtain a subvention to provide internally displaced persons with housing. This is very inspiring that there is already an understanding in the Hromadas that IDPs are not a burden, but a powerful resource that can be transformed into the driving force for the community development,»
– told Olena Prykhodko, head of the Luhansk regional office of the Right to Protection CF.

The consultation event was organized by the Luhansk Regional Office of the Right to Protection CF jointly with the Luhansk Regional Office of the U-LEAD with Europe Program.

17.12.20

Right to Protection CF presents a report on the situation with the rights of refugees, asylum seekers and stateless persons. Despite the state’s efforts, some challenges remain unresolved for many years and are the subject of a review of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) at the UN Human Rights Council.

The Report “Ensuring the Rights of Refugees, Asylum Seekers and Stateless Persons” is an alternative view of non-governmental organizations on the state of implementation of recommendations received and supported by Ukraine in the framework of the Universal Periodic Review. The report was developed by the Right to Protection CF, NEEKA Ukraine, The Tenth of April / Desyate Kvitnya NGO, Rokada CF, Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion (ISI) and with expert support from European Network on Statelessness.

«The preparation of the national interim report on the state of implementation of UPR recommendations is a good initiative to launch a dialogue between the public and the Government to address serious challenges and improve the rights of vulnerable groups,»
– said Ksenia Karagyaur, the Legal Analyst at Right to Protection CF.

Download the Report in

English

Ukrainian

17.12.20

Right to Protection CF prepared a monthly report «Crossing The Contact Line» for November 2020. It is based on the data collected during the monitoring of the situation at the Entry-Exit Checkpoints (EECPs).

Trends, dynamics and findings

After the resumption of full operation of the Stanytsia Luhanska EECP on November 10, the number of crossings of the contact line increased by 35% in November compared to October (29184 and 21373, respectively), but at the same time it is only 2.25% of 1.2 millions of people who crossed the line of contact in November 2019. Most of the crossings were made at the Stanytsia Luhanska EECP (95%), and only 5% at the Novotroitske EECP.

Stanytsia Luhanska Entry-Exit Checkpoint

In November 2020, about 1,084 people crossed the contact line towards the Government-Controlled Areas (GCA) of Ukraine and 494 people towards the Non-Government Controlled Areas (NGCA) of Ukraine in the Donetsk region through the Novotroitskoye checkpoint, which remains the only checkpoint in the Donetsk region where there is a possibility of crossing the agreed lists of persons. The crossing takes place every Monday and Friday. The conditions are the same as in the previous month: in order to obtain a permit to enter or leave the NGCA, a person is required to be on the special list.

At the beginning of November, crossing the contact line was possible only on the basis of a special permit from the Joint Forces Operation (JFO) Command for people with registration at the place of residence in the NGCA of Luhansk region and who have proven reasons to cross. On November 10, the JFO Command issued an order to lift these restrictions and resume the work of the Stanytsia Luhanska EECP. During this month, 13,981 people crossed the contact line in the direction of the Government-Controlled Areas of Ukraine, and 13,595 people in the direction of the Non-Government Controlled Areas of Ukraine.

65% of citizens had difficulty installing the “Home” app (previously named “Act. Home”, an app developed by the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine for providing the ability to self-isolate at home – ed.n.). Among the problems that were voiced were the long app installation time, the lack of an Internet connection on the EECPs or communication problems, as well as confirmation SMS message was not sent to them.

According to the survey, people’s opinions and concerns about the situation around the coronavirus pandemic were different, as 55% of citizens do not feel to be concerned much about COVID-19, and 43% have questions about the safety during the crossing of the contact line. According to the data, 65% of respondents believe that the distance in the queue at the Entry-Exit Checkpoints is quite short, another 42% said that they think that other people around are wearing masks incorrectly, and another 7% have questions about the safety of the public transport.

About 61% of people cross the line of contact because of the relatives who live in the GCA and NGCA of Ukraine. One third of the citizens do so due to their needs to withdraw funds and / or problems with their pensions / social benefits.

For more information, download the report of the Right to Protection CF by clicking the one of links below of the language of Your preference:

English

Ukrainian

More data is available on the Eastern Ukraine Checkpoint Monitoring Online Dashboard on UNHCR Ukraine website.

The report contains information collected by the Right to Protection CF as part of a survey, conducted regularly since June 2017. Entry-Exit Checkpoints are located in Donetsk (Mayorske, Maryinka, Hnutove and Novotroitske) and Luhansk (Stanytsia Luhanska) regions. The survey is part of the monitoring of violations of the rights of the population affected by the conflict and is conducted within the project «Advocacy, Protection and Legal Assistance to Internally Displaced Persons of Ukraine», implemented by the Right to Protection CF with the support of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). The purpose of this survey is to find out the reasons, conditions and risks that accompany people who cross the line of contact through the EECPs. The information collected during the survey will help identify needs, gaps and trends, as well as provide an evidence base for advocacy activities.

16.12.20

Experts of the Right to Protection CF have developed and presented recommendations on the necessary measures that will help restore control over the environmental situation in Donbas and prevent emergencies in the region. These recommendations were developed during the implementation of the “Dialogues” project, which was attended by experts from both sides of the contact line in the Donetsk and the Luhansk regions of Ukraine.

Right to Protection CF continues to implement the “Dialogues” projects for the second year in a row. In 2020, the topic of the dialogues was the ecological situation in Donbas and the search for ways to improve it. And it was chosen for a purpose. Donbas is an industrial region and environmental issues have always been relevant there. However, from the start of the conflict some new environmental issues arose and have become threatening to all the residents of both this region and the Ukraine as a whole. In fact, Donbas is on the verge of an ecological catastrophe.

According to our experts, today it is impossible to ignore the problems in Non-Government Controlled Areas of Ukraine, because mines are an interconnected structure. Objects located in the uncontrolled area affect the condition of the mines located in the controlled area. But the lack of information about the operation of mines, such as flooding deprives the ability to properly prepare equipment in the controlled territory. As a result, both the mines and the areas on the surface are negatively affected, and the environmental situation on both sides of Donbas is inevitably deteriorating.

In 2020 Right to Protection initiated 10 expert meetings which were attended by specialists in the field of environmental safety, environmental protection, hydrogeology, environmental monitoring, waste recycling and information technology. Based on the results of work of experts, a joint resolution agreed by all project participants was prepared. In addition to a brief description of the problems, it contains proposals to the central authorities to prevent an environmental disaster.

The main issues that need to be addressed quickly are the establishment of joint environmental monitoring and prompt informing of the population about the condition of the coal industry. Experts believe that the procedure for such monitoring and the scope of information exchange should be enshrined in the Minsk agreements. Only in this way their implementation can be ensured. According to the Right to Protection specialists, it is important to expand the dialogue and involve the state and international partners in it, because the discussion of problems and the desire to solve them can be enshrined in proposals for regional development program and their use in the National Program for Transformation of Coal Regions of Ukraine until 2027.

«The Plan of the measures to prevent natural and man-made emergencies is based on the information received during the monitoring. However, as of today, Ukraine does not have the opportunity to control the situation at dangerous facilities, and therefore must take timely measures to prevent an environmental catastrophe in the region. That’s why the exchange of information, even at the level of dialogues between experts is now a priority. We are grateful to everyone who joined the project, and we hope that the authorities will listen to the opinion of experts,»
– said Natalia Proskurenko, Manager of the Right to Protection Project «Peacebuilding and Dialogue on Environmental Issues in Eastern Ukraine».

16.12.20

To the President of Ukraine

Volodymyr Zelenskyy

Dear Volodymyr Olexandrovych!

We, the non-governmental human rights sector organizations who work with the protection of the rights of victims of the armed conflict in Ukraine, with the fullest respect for You express our demand not to narrow the scope of the National Strategy for Human Rights.

Adopted through the Decree of the President of Ukraine in 2015, the National Strategy in the field of human rights needs to be updated. In the summer of 2020, the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine began work on developing amendments to the Strategy and drafting the Action Plan for its implementation. Representatives of the human rights NGO sector in Ukraine and international partners were involved in the work.

During October, the Directorate for Strategic Planning and European Integration of the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine held a series of meetings of thematic groups to develop an Action Plan for the implementation of the National Strategy in the field of human rights for 2021-2023.

The Coalition of Non-Governmental Organizations Concerning the Protection of the Rights of Persons Affected by the Armed Conflict in Ukraine submitted proposals to the Action Plan, which includes about 90 measures for overcoming the negative consequences of the armed conflict caused by the armed aggression of the Russian Federation and to protect, ensure and exercise the rights of internally displaced persons and residents of the occupied territories, those who live near the contact line in Donetsk and Luhansk regions, persons deprived of liberty as a result of the armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, persons who have disappeared in unknown circumstances and members of their families.

The proposals were prepared and sent by experts from the NGO Sector Coalition and were partially taken into account. In particular, the Ministry of Justice proposes to combine the protection of internally displaced persons, residents of the temporarily occupied territories and residents of the so-called “gray zone” in one group – victims of armed aggression in Ukraine. At the same time, according to the logic of the Ministry of Justice, the categories of persons who disappeared during the conflict or who were deprived of personal liberty as a result of the armed conflict are not considered victims.

However, although the text of the draft amendments to the National Strategy for Human Rights includes some proposals submitted by NGOs, the draft Action Plan for the implementation of the National Strategy ignores these proposals.

Due to the fact that not all the measures planned for 2020 were implemented, NGO Sector proposed to update some of the measures and add new ones that would simplify access to education, administrative services, pensions, social benefits, intensify the process of land demining, introduce an evaluation mechanism of the needs of internally displaced persons and ensure the process of permanent financing of housing programs for IDPs.

Unfortunately, instead of developing high-quality and effective measures, the Ministry of Justice has chosen to focus on steps that are easier to implement and less conflicting to agree with other ministries. In particular, most of the measures proposed by the Ministry relate to the development and submission of draft regulations, although the drafting of regulations alone does not change the situation with human rights in Ukraine.

Such a plan, even if fully implemented, will not lead to the achievement of the goals set by the Strategy, which in turn will result in withdrawal of Ukraine’s movement towards a democratic state governed by the rule of law. Instead, the draft of the updated Action Plan, which focuses on regulatory activities, transforms the document into a formal and technical one, focused exclusively on quantitative indicators and does not introduce systemic changes.

We once again draw attention to the fact that the adoption of certain regulations does not necessarily lead to ensuring the realization of human rights and freedoms. Moreover, the decision to adopt them is the power of Parliament, as the National Strategy is a document that shows the intentions and specific actions of public authorities in certain areas.

We, the non-governmental human rights sector organizations who work with the protection of the rights of victims of the armed conflict in Ukraine, call to take into account the provided proposals and develop amendments to the National Strategy for Human Rights, as well as to the Action Plan for its implementation, taking into account the real needs of all categories of victims of the conflict caused by the armed aggression of the Russian Federation.

We emphasize that in the process of proposal for the Action Plan preparation we relied on our experience in the field of protection of the above mentioned persons and indicated their specific needs, that are not taken into account in the Ministry of Justice broad framework of the National Strategy.

Annex – proposals for amendments to the National Human Rights Strategy.

NGO “Civil holding “GROUP OF INFLUENCE”

KrymSOS NGO

ZMINA Human Rights Center

Right to Protection CF

Stabilization Support Services in Ukraine CF

Vostok SOS CF

Crimean Human Rights Group (CHRG)

15.12.20

Since the end of 2018, the legal team of the Right to Protection CF has won 11 cases, including 4 in the appellate instance for compensation for moral suffering caused by injuries or death of a civilian during the anti-terrorist operation.

Recently, the question of why should Ukraine pay for the death of our fellow citizens, which was actually caused by the aggression of the Russian Federation has been raised more and more often in the society.

We will try to answer it, avoiding the formal legal wording, which is set out in detail in our legal position, which was developed in early 2017, and is reflected in the growing number of court decisions made by the courts of Ukraine.

First, it should be understood that the average Ukrainian does not have the means to identify the perpetrators and prosecute them, as only state-authorized bodies can investigate crimes and prosecute the perpetrators. There is no actual investigation into the deaths of civilians, and the victims are left alone with their grief and helplessness. And it’s not just about the deaths of people in the temporarily occupied territories, where the independent investigation is simply impossible. Thus, parents who have lost their children and orphans, who have lost their parents cannot receive compensation from criminals who have directly taken the lives of their relatives.

It should also be borne in mind that suspects in these heinous crimes are sometimes exchanged between the governments of Ukraine and Russia, depriving victims of the right to a fair trial and receiving some compensation from those individuals.

Second, the Russian Federation is not subject to Ukrainian courts by virtue of the rules of international law and the jurisdictional immunity that follows from it. Victims cannot sue the Russian government in a Ukrainian court, and attempts to do so, which are sometimes heard on the Internet, are not just futile, but can be detrimental to victims in terms of the prospect of receiving any compensation at all.

Thirdly, in accordance with the norms of the European Convention on Human Rights and the case law of the European Court of Human Rights, it is our state that must ensure the security of its citizens and the observance of human rights within its jurisdiction.

In Ukrainian law there is a rule provided by Article 19 of the Law of Ukraine “On Combating Terrorism”, which explicitly provides that the state bears the responsibility imposed by a terrorist act, followed by recovery of compensation paid by the victim to the perpetrators. Why does this rule exist? If we move away from the “dry” legal glossary, we can say in simple words: we all abide by the laws of Ukraine, including paying taxes, and the state, having created appropriate authorities, including law enforcement, in turn, must provide us with the security and protection of human rights. If the state fails to do so, it must pay compensation, including compensation for non-pecuniary damage to the relatives of the victims.

We hope that these court decisions will force the state to finally pay attention to such an important issue as the death of innocent people, and to introduce an administrative procedure for obtaining appropriate compensation.

In addition, these court decisions can and should be used by Ukraine when filing claims against the aggressor state in international courts. Our organization is open for cooperation with the Government of Ukraine on these issues.

If we want to live in a decent European state, we must always remember that in Ukraine there is rule of law, according to the Constitution. And the state must fulfill the obligations enshrined both in international treaties and national laws. Selective application of laws and conventions is what autocratic and non-democratic states usually do. Do we want to become such a state? I’m sure not.

Oleh Tarasenko,

Lawyer, Senior Strategic Lawyer of the Right to Protection CF

14.12.20

In 2019, the Right to Protection CF began implementation of both complex but in the same time much needed project «Dialogues». Its primary purpose was to create discussion around the most pressing issues that residents of Government and Non-Government Controlled Areas in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine have faced on a daily basis in the past seven years of violence.

«The peacebuilding project recognizes the idea that dialogue between the parties to the conflict is the most effective way to resolve it. There are three levels of communication: negotiations between political leaders, among experts and less formally, dialogue at the level of ordinary citizens. The latter, in our opinion, helps to focus on the problems of ordinary people, which often disappear from the agenda of political leaders’ negotiations,»
said Natalia Proskurenko, Project Manager at Right to Protection CF.

In order for such meetings to be safe, comfortable and constructive, they are joined by carefully selected facilitators—a number of unbiased moderators who monitor compliance with the rules and who prevent the discussion from sliding towards hostility. The project’s third level dialogues took place in 2019. At this time, the participants discussed acute problems, ways to reach a compromise, a vision for a common future and the possibility of reconciliation.

This year we managed to establish a dialogue of experts—in 2020 there were 10 meetings, which were joined by 8 specialists in the field of ecology. Participants discussed the environmental situation in Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts and the most pressing issues faced by the region: the flooding of mines, the subsidence of soil and mine gas emissions.

«Environmental problems are not always immediately apparent but do almost always have tangible consequences. For example, the closure and flooding of mines in both government controlled and non-controlled territory has a negative impact on the condition of soil, water, air, and most of all, on human health. Immediate action is a necessity, or else we may all soon face the consequences of such environmental neglect,»
added Ms. Natalia.

The second phase of the dialogue project led to a series of recommendations for the taking of joint action on both sides of the contact line in order to prevent environmental catastrophe. The resolution, jointly developed as part of Right to Protection’s project, will be used in advocacy activities and sent to all state institutions whose scope of work includes work on the state of the environment.

09.12.20

The problem of statelessness can happen to anyone. This can be the result of fire, any natural disaster or even fraud. And someone may fall victim to a bureaucratic mistake made in time of the fall of Soviet power.

The story of the Right to Protection CF beneficiary Ms. Olena began many years ago. The woman was born and lived in Ukraine for her whole life. Back in the days she had a Soviet passport.

For some time Olena was not registered at any place of residence. When a woman worked at the factory in Kharkiv, she did not have her own flat or house, as well as was not able to get a dormitory room, thus having no ability to receive registration of the place of residence. It was the year 1991. By the law, a person who officially resided in Ukraine as of August 24 and / or November 13, 1991 is considered a citizen. Despite the fact that Olena was officially employed, she could not prove her citizenship for many years.

Employees of the State Migration Service of Ukraine advised the women to apply for help to the office of the Right to Protection CF in Kharkiv. A number of lawyer’s requests were made and a statement to the court was prepared. During the proceedings, our lawyer represented Ms. Olena’s interests in the courts and proved that she had resided in Ukraine as of August 24, 1991.

Due to the high competence and efficiency of the management of the Kharkiv district department of the State Customs Service of Ukraine in Kharkiv region in the person of Dmytro Kolesnyk and Lilia Myshchenko, the procedure of establishing Olena’s identity was carried out, and all the necessary documents for passport issuance were collected and prepared.

«Finally, I feel like a full-fledged person, a citizen of my country, where I live from my birth. I am so happy!»,
– Says Olena, without hiding her tears of joy, after receiving the Ukrainian passport she had been dreaming of for almost 30 years.

Now, Olena finally can fully exercise all the rights granted by the Constitution and the Laws of Ukraine. Now she can officially work, receive medical and social assistance, buy property and real estate, land, as well as to enjoy full belonging to the citizenship of her Homeland.