MOSCOW: Russia will not comply with a European court ruling ordering it to pay Georgia almost $300 million for violations it has allegedly committed since their 2008 war, the Kremlin said Wednesday.
Russia invaded Georgia in 2008 after Tbilisi launched a surprise offensive against pro-Moscow separatist forces that it said were shelling Georgian villages.
Since then, it has occupied areas of northern and western Georgia comprising almost one-fifth of the country and installed puppet governments that have prevented the return of ethnic Georgian citizens, according to Tbilisi.
It has also blocked the teaching of Georgian in schools, Georgia says.
On Tuesday, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) upheld Georgia’s complaints, ordering Moscow to pay just over 253 million euros ($292 million) in compensation.
“We will not comply with the ruling,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
Moscow quit the Council of Europe, of which the ECHR is part, following its 2022 offensive on Ukraine but the court says it remains liable for violations committed before then.
Moscow has repeatedly ignored ECHR rulings, including while it was still a member of the Council of Europe.
Georgia formally cut diplomatic relations with Russia in the wake of their 2008 war, but has taken informal steps to improve ties in recent years — a process that Georgia’s opposition has heavily criticized.
When asked on Wednesday whether the non-payment of the fine would affect the diplomatic thaw, Peskov said it was a “separate matter.”
Moscow recognizes the breakaway Georgian regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent, while most of the world recognizes them as Georgian territory.
Russia rejects compensation to Georgia over 2008 war
https://arab.news/nnrdq
Russia rejects compensation to Georgia over 2008 war
- ECHR upheld Georgia’s complaints, ordering Moscow to pay just over $292m in compensation
- “We will not comply with the ruling,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said
35 million Nigerians ‘risk hunger after global funding collapse’
- The UN can only aim to deliver $516 million to provide lifesaving aid to 2.5 million people this year, down from 3.6 million in 2025, which in turn was about half the previous year’s level
ABUJA: Nearly 35 million Nigerians are at risk of hunger this year, including 3 million children facing severe malnutrition, the UN said, following the collapse of global aid budgets.
Speaking at the launch of the 2026 humanitarian plan in Abuja, UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator Mohammed Malick Fall said the long-dominant, foreign-led aid model in Nigeria is no longer sustainable and that Nigeria’s needs have grown.
Conditions in the conflict-hit northeast are dire, Fall said, with civilians in Borno, Adamawa, and Yobe states facing rising violence.
BACKGROUND
UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator Mohammed Malick Fall said the foreign-led aid model in Nigeria is no longer sustainable and that the country’s needs have grown.
A surge in terror attacks killed more than 4,000 people in the first eight months of 2025, matching the toll for all of 2023, he said.
The UN can only aim to deliver $516 million to provide lifesaving aid to 2.5 million people this year, down from 3.6 million in 2025, which in turn was about half the previous year’s level.
“These are not statistics. These numbers represent lives, futures, and Nigerians,” Fall said.
He also said the UN had no choice but to focus on “the most lifesaving” interventions given the drop in available funding.
Shortfalls last year led the World Food Programme to also warn that millions could go hungry in Nigeria as its resources ran out in December and it was forced to cut support for more than 300,000 children.
Fall said Nigeria was showing growing national ownership of the crisis response in recent months through measures such as local funding for lean-season food support and early-warning action on flooding.
