To absolutely no-one’s surprise, in Ukraine and The Netherlands v Russia [2025] ECHR (Applications nos. 8019/16, 43800/14, 28525/20 and 11055/22) the Grand Chamber agreed with the applicant states’ allegation that Russia had perpetrated multiple, flagrant and unprecedented violations of the Convention in Ukraine.

The judgment is extremely comprehensive, covering violations of almost every Article of the Convention, and extremely long. As to religion and Article 9 specifically, the Ukrainian Government complained of the following breaches from 11 May 2014 onwards:

“a.  the abduction and illegal imprisonment of religious leaders and adherents of minority religious groups; Continue reading →