Thank you to the thousands of you who took action demanding the UK Foreign Secretary help deliver justice for all victims and survivors of Russia’s full-scale war of aggression and war crimes in Ukraine. Your support and solidarity has been incredible.

Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine continues to be a human rights catastrophe. It was a violation of the United Nations Charter and an act of aggression, a crime under international law. All those responsible for grave human rights violations and crimes under international law must be brought to account through independent, impartial, fair and well-resourced international mechanisms for justice.

What’s been happening?

On 24 February 2024, it will be two years since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. However, this date also marks 10 years since the war started in 2014. Russia’s full-scale invasion wasn’t a new conflict, but a new phase of a war that has been going on for 10 years, after Crimea was illegally annexed in 2014.

10 years ago Russia started its war in Ukraine, changing millions of people's lives forever. The fight for justice for victims of violations of international humanitarian law and war crime continues:

• On 2 March 2022, the International Criminal Court Prosecutor announced an investigation into the situation in Ukraine
• On 4 March 2022, the UN Human Rights Council voted to establish an independent international commission of inquiry
• The UK subsequently launched a structural investigation into alleged war crimes in Ukraine.

Securing genuine justice and ending impunity is vital for humanity to win, and for the non-repetition of atrocities. Every time we allow international crimes to happen in one place, we allow them to happen anywhere.

Victims’ and survivors’ needs must be at the centre of all justice responses. The UK must commit to meaningful justice and effective reparations for victims and survivors through effective investigations and fair trials of all persons suspected of war crimes and other crimes under international law.

What more can I do?

Thousands of older people in Ukraine are seeing their human rights crumble, and are in need of urgent support. Our report on the intersecting challenges of disability, to poverty to age discrimination, compounded during the crisis, has placed older people at heightened risk. The UK Foreign Secretary can help by supporting a UN convention on the rights of older persons.