Russian lawmakers said Moscow will demand compensation from European countries for damages caused by the war in Ukraine, The Moscow Times reported on Monday, July 27. Alexei Chepa, first deputy chairman of the State Duma’s international affairs committee, told Russian outlet Lenta.ru that European countries must pay for their “contribution to the conflict.”JOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official. “We will demand compensation from Europe, and this issue will be raised constantly. I am absolutely certain that we have enough strength to make Europe do this,” Chepa said. He added that Russia also intends to recover $300 billion in assets frozen by Western countries after Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Senator says West must pay for destruction Alexander Voloshin, a member of Russia’s Federation Council representing the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, agreed that Moscow should demand compensation from the West. He argued that Ukraine cannot compensate for damage to Donbas, occupied parts of Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions, or Russian border areas – estimated at 1 trillion rubles (about $13 billion) by Russia’s Investigative Committee head Alexander Bastrykin. “This burden must be borne by countries that supported the escalation of the conflict, financed Kyiv’s war machine, and consistently rejected any attempts at peaceful settlement,” Voloshin said. “If Western governments found hundreds of billions for arms supplies, they must understand that sooner or later they will also have to pay for destroyed cities, schools, and hospitals. This is a matter of political responsibility for unleashing an aggressive war and killing our citizens.”