European court finds Russian responsible for international law violations. Here’s the key takeaways

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Europe’s top human rights court delivered damning judgments on Wednesday against Russia, finding Moscow responsible for widespread violations of international law in Ukraine and the shooting down of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 in 2014.

Judges at the European Court of Human Rights issued judgements in four cases brought by Kyiv and the Netherlands accusing Moscow of atrocities in Ukraine dating back more than a decade.

They include the murder, torture, rape, and destruction of civilian infrastructure and kidnapping of Ukrainian children.

It’s the first time an international court has concluded there have been widespread human rights abuses by Russian forces in Ukraine.

The 501-page ruling combined four complaints — three stemming from the separatist conflict that broke out in eastern Ukraine in 2014, and one linked to alleged violations of international law following the invasion.

In all four cases, the court’s 17 judges unanimously found Russian forces breached international humanitarian law.

One of the complaints was brought by the Netherlands in connection with the downing of MH17 over separatist-controlled eastern Ukraine. It is the first time an international court has held Russia responsible for the tragedy in which 298 people died.

The Boeing 777 flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur was shot down on July 17, 2014, using a Russian-made Buk missile fired from territory in eastern Ukraine controlled by separatist rebels loyal to Moscow. Among the victims were 196 Dutch citizens.

The judges found that Russia’s refusal to acknowledge its involvement in the disaster also violated international law. Russia’s failure to properly investigate it “significantly aggravated the suffering” of the relatives and friends of the dead.

In 2022, a criminal court in the Netherlands convicted two Russians and a Ukrainian rebel in absentia of multiple murders for their roles in the downing of MH17 in a separate case.

The ECHR is an important part of the Council of Europe, which is the continent’s foremost human rights institution.

Founded in 1949 and headquartered in Strasbourg, France, the Council of Europe is an international organization dedicated to promoting human rights, democracy, and the rule of law. It has 46 member states. The organization expelled Moscow in 2022 in response to the invasion of Ukraine.

However, the court can still deal with cases against Russia dating from before its expulsion and, legally, the country is still obliged to participate in the proceedings.

The rulings won’t be the last from the ECHR dealing with the war.

Kyiv has other cases pending against Russia and there are nearly 10,000 cases brought by individuals against the Kremlin.

The court will rule on financial compensation at a later date, but Russia’s expulsion leaves little hope that damages will ever be collected.

Typically, judges at the ECHR award damages to victims for financial loss or hardship suffered when their rights were violated.

The court ordered Russia to pay millions of dollars in compensation to Georgia for a swath of violations after the 2008 Russia-Georgia war. That money has never been handed over.

In 2023, more than 40 nations and the Council of Europe agreed to set up a system to tally the destruction Russia has inflicted on Ukraine in the hope of getting reparations.

The Hague-based Register of Damage for Ukraine, also known as RD4U, began accepting claims last year.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy last month formally approved plans to set up a new international court to prosecute senior Russian officials for the invasion of Ukraine.

The special tribunal will be created through an agreement between Ukraine and the Council of Europe. It aims to target senior Russian leaders for the “crime of aggression,” which underpins the countless war crimes Ukraine accuses Russian forces of committing since the start of the war.

Existing international courts, including the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, lack the jurisdiction to prosecute Russian nationals for that specific offense.

The ICC has multiple outstanding arrest warrants for Russian officials for war crimes. They include President Vladimir Putin, who is accused of personal responsibility for the abductions of children from Ukraine.

Netherlands' Grace van Zijtveld-Schardijn reacts after the European Court of Human Rights issued its judgment on Russian violations in Ukraine since 2014, including the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, Wednesday, July 9, 2025 in Strasbourg, eastern France. (AP Photo/Antonin Utz)

René Lefeber, right, deputy Legal Adviser of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, hugs agent to the European Court of Human Rights for Netherlands Babette Koopman after the European Court of Human Rights issued its judgment on Russian violations in Ukraine since 2014, including the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, Wednesday, July 9, 2025 in Strasbourg, eastern France. (AP Photo/Antonin Utz)

Netherlands' Silene Fredriksz-Hoogzand, center, whose son died in in the MH17 crash, hugs other plaintiffs after the European Court of Human Rights issued its judgment on Russian violations in Ukraine since 2014, including the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, Wednesday, July 9, 2025 in Strasbourg, eastern France. (AP Photo/Antonin Utz)

People demonstrate outside the European Court of Human Rights before it issues a landmark set of rulings about alleged Russian violations in Ukraine since 2014, including the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, Wednesday, July 9, 2025 in Strasbourg, eastern France. (AP Photo/Antonin Utz)

Plaintiffs sit in the European Court of Human Rights before it issues a landmark set of rulings about alleged Russian violations in Ukraine since 2014, including the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, Wednesday, July 9, 2025 in Strasbourg, eastern France. (AP Photo/Antonin Utz)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump said Iran wants to negotiate with Washington after his threat to strike the Islamic Republic over its bloody crackdown on protesters, a move coming as activists said Monday the death toll in the nationwide demonstrations rose to at least 544.

Iran had no immediate reaction to the news, which came after the foreign minister of Oman — long an interlocutor between Washington and Tehran — traveled to Iran this weekend. It also remains unclear just what Iran could promise, particularly as Trump has set strict demands over its nuclear program and its ballistic missile arsenal, which Tehran insists is crucial for its national defense.

Meanwhile Monday, Iran called for pro-government demonstrators to head to the streets in support of the theocracy, a show of force after days of protests directly challenging the rule of 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iranian state television aired chants from the crowd, who shouted “Death to America!” and “Death to Israel!”

Trump and his national security team have been weighing a range of potential responses against Iran including cyberattacks and direct strikes by the U.S. or Israel, according to two people familiar with internal White House discussions who were not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

“The military is looking at it, and we’re looking at some very strong options,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Sunday night. Asked about Iran’s threats of retaliation, he said: “If they do that, we will hit them at levels that they’ve never been hit before.”

Trump said that his administration was in talks to set up a meeting with Tehran, but cautioned that he may have to act first as reports of the death toll in Iran mount and the government continues to arrest protesters.

“I think they’re tired of being beat up by the United States,” Trump said. “Iran wants to negotiate.”

He added: “The meeting is being set up, but we may have to act because of what’s happening before the meeting. But a meeting is being set up. Iran called, they want to negotiate.”

Iran through country's parliamentary speaker warned Sunday that the U.S. military and Israel would be “legitimate targets” if America uses force to protect demonstrators.

More than 10,600 people also have been detained over the two weeks of protests, said the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which has been accurate in previous unrest in recent years and gave the death toll. It relies on supporters in Iran crosschecking information. It said 496 of the dead were protesters and 48 were with security forces.

With the internet down in Iran and phone lines cut off, gauging the demonstrations from abroad has grown more difficult. The Associated Press has been unable to independently assess the toll. Iran’s government has not offered overall casualty figures.

Those abroad fear the information blackout is emboldening hard-liners within Iran’s security services to launch a bloody crackdown. Protesters flooded the streets in the country’s capital and its second-largest city on Saturday night into Sunday morning. Online videos purported to show more demonstrations Sunday night into Monday, with a Tehran official acknowledging them in state media.

In Tehran, a witness told the AP that the streets of the capital empty at the sunset call to prayers each night. By the Isha, or nighttime prayer, the streets are deserted.

Part of that stems from the fear of getting caught in the crackdown. Police sent the public a text message that warned: “Given the presence of terrorist groups and armed individuals in some gatherings last night and their plans to cause death, and the firm decision to not tolerate any appeasement and to deal decisively with the rioters, families are strongly advised to take care of their youth and teenagers.”

Another text, which claimed to come from the intelligence arm of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, also directly warned people not to take part in demonstrations.

“Dear parents, in view of the enemy’s plan to increase the level of naked violence and the decision to kill people, ... refrain from being on the streets and gathering in places involved in violence, and inform your children about the consequences of cooperating with terrorist mercenaries, which is an example of treason against the country,” the text warned.

The witness spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity due to the ongoing crackdown.

The demonstrations began Dec. 28 over the collapse of the Iranian rial currency, which trades at over 1.4 million to $1, as the country’s economy is squeezed by international sanctions in part levied over its nuclear program. The protests intensified and grew into calls directly challenging Iran’s theocracy.

Nikhinson reported from aboard Air Force One.

In this frame grab from video obtained by the AP outside Iran, a masked demonstrator holds a picture of Iran's Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi during a protest in Tehran, Iran, Friday, January. 9, 2026. (UGC via AP)

In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran shows protesters taking to the streets despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026.(UGC via AP)

In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran showed protesters once again taking to the streets of Tehran despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Saturday Jan. 10, 2026. (UGC via AP)