Ukrainian citizens have filed about 700 lawsuits with the European Court of Human Rights in connection with the military aggression in the east of the country, Ukrainian Justice Minister Pavlo Petrenko has said.

"Approximately three weeks ago we counted some 700 such claims, and their number is increasing," the minister told journalists in Kyiv on Thursday at a meeting with regional representatives of judicial authorities.

According to Petrenko, Ukraine is awaiting the first ECHR ruling on these lawsuits.

As reported, the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine plans to focus on creating a precedent in the judgments of the ECHR on the lawsuits of Ukraine citizens against Russia for the compensation for damages as a result of the armed aggression, to allow the remaining claims of Ukrainians considered similar.

"The practice of the ECHR is very simple: when it issues the first ruling in the case (and I am convinced that this ruling will be in favor of Ukrainians and those who have suffered from illegal actions of Russian aggressors), all other cases will be considered a precedent. And they will be reviewed very quickly, there will actually be issued similar rulings in favor of the Ukrainian citizens," Petrenko said.