Russia lodges an application against Ukraine before the European Court of Human Rights.

On 23 July 2021, the European Court of Human Rights divulged that Russia had lodged its first inter-state application against Ukraine concerning killings, abductions, forced displacements, interference with the right to vote, restrictions on the use of the Russian language and attacks on Russian embassies and consulates in the country. The Russian authorities also claimed that Ukraine had switched off the water supply to the region of Crimea and was responsible for the deaths of those on board Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 as it failed to close its airspace. Russia had also submitted an urgent request for interim measures to the court to stop restrictions on the rights of Russian-speaking persons notably in schools, at the media and on the Internet, and to order the Ukrainian authorities to suspend the blockade of the North Crimean Canal. However, the Court denied Russia’s request, as the situation described by the applicant country did not involve a serious risk of irreparable harm of a core right under the European Convention on Human Rights.