Russian deputies announced that Moscow will seek compensation from European countries for damages that, according to Russia, were caused by the war in Ukraine, reported The Moscow Times on Monday, July 27.
Olexiy Chepa, First Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs, told the Russian publication Lenta.ru that European countries should pay for their “contribution to the conflict”. “We will demand compensation from Europe, and this issue will be constantly raised. I am absolutely convinced that we have enough strength to force Europe to do this,” Chepa said. He also stated that Russia intends to recover 300 billion dollars in assets frozen by Western countries following the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Senator demands West pay for destruction
Oleksandr Voloshyn, a member of the Federation Council of Russia representing the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, backed the call for compensation from the West. He asserted that Ukraine cannot cover the damages inflicted on Donbas, the occupied parts of Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions, as well as Russian border areas. According to Oleksandr Bastrykin, head of the Investigative Committee of Russia, these damages amount to 1 trillion rubles (about 13 billion dollars).
“This burden should be borne by the countries that supported the escalation of the conflict, financed Kyiv’s war machine, and consistently rejected any attempts at a peaceful settlement,” Voloshyn said. He added that “if Western governments found hundreds of billions for arms supplies, they should understand that sooner or later they will also have to pay for the destroyed cities, schools, and hospitals. This is a matter of political responsibility for unleashing an aggressive war and killing our citizens.”
Kremlin blames NATO for scale of war
The Kremlin accused the West of escalating what it refers to as its “special military operation” into a war that has been ongoing for five years. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated that without NATO’s assistance, the conflict would not have reached its current scale, claiming that “Berlin, Paris, The Hague, Oslo, and, unfortunately, Washington stand behind Kyiv.”
According to the Kiel Institute for the World Economy, Western aid to Ukraine exceeds 384 billion euros. The United States has provided Ukraine with 114.6 billion euros in aid from the start of the Russian invasion in 2022 to January 2026, while European countries have contributed another 270 billion euros. Western allies also provide Ukraine with intelligence support.
According to the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), by June 2026, Russia’s losses on the front reached 1.4 million people, of which about 450,000 were killed.
Putin reiterated his position on the war
Russian President Vladimir Putin stated on Sunday that Russia “did not start any war” and only responded to hostilities that, according to him, were “unleashed by the Kyiv regime with the support of the West.” He also claimed that there was “no aggression” on Russia’s part.
