Ukrainian billionaire sues Russia in human rights court

Ukraine’s richest man on Monday filed a lawsuit against Russia in Europe’s top human rights court, seeking compensation for what he said billions of dollars in business losses since the Russian invasion.

Rinat Akhmetov, owner of the Azovstal steelworks in the city of Mariupol where Ukrainian fighters defied weeks of Russian bombardment, has sued Russia for « serious violations of his property rights » at the European Court of Human Rights. man, its holding company System Capital Management (SCM) said.

He said Akhmetov was also seeking a court order « preventing Russia from engaging in further blockades, looting, embezzlement and destruction of grain and steel » produced by his companies.

« Evil cannot go unpunished. Russia’s crimes against Ukraine and our people are flagrant, and their perpetrators must be held accountable, » the SCM quoted Akhmetov as saying.

« The looting of Ukraine’s export products, including grain and steel, has already led to rising prices and starving people around the world. These barbaric actions must stop and Russia must stop. pay in full. »

Asked about the lawsuit, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia was no longer under the jurisdiction of the European Court of Human Rights.

« We left the (jurisdiction) of the relevant documents. Therefore, here the answer is absolutely obvious, » he said.

Russia has previously dismissed Ukrainian allegations of theft of territories it occupied during what it calls a special military operation in Ukraine.

Forbes magazine estimated Akhmetov’s net worth at $15.4 billion in 2013. Since then, his business empire has been hit by the Russian invasion on February 24 and years of fighting in eastern Europe. Ukraine since Russian-backed separatists seized the territory in 2014.

Akhmetov said last month that his company Metinvest, Ukraine’s largest steelmaker, had suffered losses of $17 billion to $20 billion due to Russia’s bombardment of its steelworks in Mariupol. The final amount would be determined through a trial, he said.

(Reporting by Max Hunder, edited by Timothy Heritage)