Side event to the 62nd Session of the UN Human Rights Council: Russia’s Destruction of the Kakhovka Dam: Violation of the Right to Life, Ecocide, and A New Pathway to Justice for Victims

July 3rd 2026

Date & time
3 July 2026,
14:00 – 15:00

Location
Concordia 1,
Palais des Nations

Sponsored by: Permanent Mission of Latvia, Permanent
Mission of Ukraine, Permanent Mission of the European Union
Facilitated by Legal Action Worldwide (LAW) and Truth Hounds

During the 62nd Session of the UN Human Rights Council, Legal
Action Worldwide and Truth Hounds will host a side event to
present their recent complaint to the Human Rights Committee,
filed on behalf of seven families whose relatives were killed by
the destruction of the Kakhovka Dam in southern Ukraine in
2023.

The complaint argues that Russia violated the victims’ right to
life by destroying the dam and causing their deaths. This
landmark case brings together human rights law, environmental
protection, and the law of armed conflict - an area where
jurisprudence remains limited, and accountability for victims
has often been difficult to achieve.

It is the second time the organizations have relied on a
previously untested interpretation of international human rights
law. In 2018, the Human Rights Committee’s General Comment
No. 36 recognized that all killings resulting from an act of
aggression violate the right to life. In July 2024, Legal Action
Worldwide and its partners filed a case on behalf of 18
individuals killed in a missile strike in Vinnytsia, marking the first
practical application of General Comment No. 36.

With the Kakhovka Dam case, the applicants aim to
demonstrate that General Comment No. 36 extends beyond
direct killings (such as missile strikes) and applies across the
broader scope of right to life jurisprudence.

In parallel, the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court
criminalizes extensive environmental destruction, and Truth
Hounds’ report Submerged argues that the destruction of the
Kakhovka Dam constitutes a war crime. To date, there have
been no convictions for purely environmental crimes. The scale
of harm caused by the dam’s destruction makes this case a
compelling candidate for advancing such accountability.

The side event seeks to use the complaint and its novel legal
arguments to foster discussion on key issues in international
justice, including the prohibition of aggression, the role of
human rights law in armed conflict, the recognition of
environmental degradation as a war crime, and the range of
accountability mechanisms available to victims of international
crimes and human rights violations. The organizers hope this
discussion will contribute to advancing justice for victims and
survivors in Ukraine and beyond.

Context
Since Russia s full scale invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022,
Russian forces have committed countless war crimes and human
rights violations. Due to the unprecedentedly swift response by
international and national justice mechanisms, the active
involvement and collaborative approach of the Ukrainian authorities
and real time documentation efforts capturing evidence, the
situation in Ukraine presents a unique opportunity for international
justice and accountability.

National authorities in Ukraine and international mechanisms,
including the International Criminal Court, have been collecting
evidence for future criminal investigations and prosecutions of
perpetrators, with civil society organizations actively supporting
official processes by documenting crimes and collecting information
to help bring perpetrators to account.

A consistent feature of Russia s invasion of Ukraine has also been
large scale, indiscriminate environmental harm. The destruction of
the Kakhovka Dam in June 2023 caused massive flooding, loss of
life, disruption of ecosystems, and long-term ecological damage
across southern Ukraine. More broadly, the conflict has been
marked by repeated attacks on critical infrastructure, industrial
facilities, and natural ecosystems, resulting in widespread and
lasting environmental harm that affects civilian populations far
beyond the immediate zone of hostilities.

Yet, given the limitations of international humanitarian law and
international criminal law, many of these damages may not amount
to war crimes. As a result, widespread harm to both people and the
environment may go insufficiently addressed, underscoring the
need to explore complementary legal approaches grounded in
human rights law.

Impact
Our complaint argues that Russia is responsible for the destruction
of the Kakhovka Dam and caused the deaths of our clients family
members. As such, the first and most important message is
recognition of Russia s responsibility for the killings of our clients
family members and demand for compensation. In this recognition,
as part of its decision, the Committee would be the first
international judicial organ to hold that Russia was engaged in an
act of aggression.

A decision confirming Russia s responsibility for the destruction of
the dam would also have broader implications. Because the cause
of the dam’s collapse has never been confirmed by a judicial body,
countries still hesitate to assign responsibility to Russia. The
decision would thus be important for inter state advocacy at the UN
and other bodies.

Objective
The side event will serve as the initial platform for discussing the
role human rights law can play in advancing accountability and
international justice efforts. We will hear from international legal
experts, practitioners, environmental experts and survivor
advocates on how human rights law and mechanisms can be
used to advance justice for victims and survivors in Ukraine and
beyond.

Agenda
1. Chair: Antonia Mulvey, Executive Director, Legal Action Worldwide

2. Opening remarks: H.E. Mr. Ivars Pundurs, Ambassador of Latvia to the United Nations in Geneva, with voices of family members of victims

3. Panel discussion: Zera Kozlyieva, Head of Legal Department, Truth Hounds, Kate McFarland, Ukraine Legal Advisor, Legal Action Worldwide; Prof. Miles Jackson, Jesus College, Oxford, Brad Samuels, Founding Partner, SITU Research

4. Closing remarks: H.E. Mr. Yevhenii Tsymbaliu, Ambassador of Ukraine to the United Nations in Geneva

Learn more about LAW's case filing to the United Nations Human Rights Committee here.