Themes by tag: russian crimes

Vitalii Kucherenko is a Ukrainian military man with almost 30 years of experience. He has been defending Ukraine since 2014 (he took part in the battles for Ilovaisk, Maryinka, and Avdiivka in particular). He was discharged from military service in 2017. During his service, he faced the major issue of the occupiers’ mining of Ukrainian land and in 2020, founded a private humanitarian company in mine action and later a training center for those wishing to learn the explosive ordnance survey and clearance experts profession. The center operates in the Khmelnytskyi region. There are already 174 people who have taken the course, including about 30 veterans of the Russia-Ukraine war, who are now qualified as demining experts. Currently, Vitalii’s company employs three veterans, and they are preparing to take part in land release operations.

For reference: According to preliminary forecasts, every 10th worker in Ukraine will be a veteran after the war is over. According to a recent study on ex-military employment, over 60% of employers had no experience working with veterans and, accordingly, had no experience recruiting veterans. 

• russian crimes
• Khmelnytskyi
• demining

Mykola has been working in the agricultural industry for about 30 years. The man manages a farm in Kyiv region that sells seeds on the country’s domestic market. (Specifically, legume, wheat, buckwheat, barley, oats seeds, etc.).

However, due to russia’s full-scale invasion and the blockade of sea ports, Ukrainian farmers cannot sell their crops, so they have no money to buy new seeds.

So, the farm managed by Mykola was able to sell only 10% of last year’s stock of soft wheat seeds.

For reference: On the topic of agricultural enterprises and other farms affected by the full-scale war, journalists are welcome to receive comments from experts of the “Ukrainian Agrarian Council” and the international fund SaveUA, which was created by agrarians in the first days of russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

• russian crimes
• Kyiv
• grain

Antonina Semenova is an illustrator and artist. On the eve of the full-scale invasion, she was working on themed children’s alphabets. After February 24, 2022, she realized that there was no way she could draw peaceful illustrations anymore but instead had to reflect on the events of that day. Thus, she came up with the idea to create a “Visual Diary of War.” The woman draws one small sketch about what is happening daily in the country. (This Diary could be seen at exhibitions in Ukraine and abroad).

Later, the idea arose to transform the diary from a personal lifeline of one artist into a project that would be the voice of different Ukrainians. So now, with the support of the Ukrainian Cultural Foundation, she is working on creating an art book to assemble the artist’s illustrations and stories from Ukrainians. She is currently collecting stories about every day of the war-torn country. 

Selected stories for the period from 24.02.22 to 25.02.23 will be published in a book that will be kept in museums and libraries of Ukraine and Ukrainian cultural centers abroad and will participate in exhibitions dedicated to the struggle of the Ukrainian people against the Russian invaders.

• culture
• russian crimes

A resident of the Kyiv region, Yana Sheremet, has been looking for her father, Serhii Khrolenko, for a year and a half. The man was abducted by Russians in Dymer in late February last year. During the village occupation, the 52-year-old man went to the store but never returned home. According to witnesses, the Russians forced him into an armored personnel carrier. They took him to the territory of a factory where many civilian hostages were being held at the time. On March 19, Serhii was last seen there then the trail of the man disappeared.

Yana conducted her own investigation: she interviewed about 30 people freed on the prisoner exchange who had been held hostage in Russia. She went to the office of the International Committee of the Red Cross in the Czech Republic and is trying to get a response from Ukrainian law enforcement about the investigation into Khrolenko’s case. And in the near future, Yana plans to file a lawsuit with the ECHR over her father’s abduction.

• occupation
• russian crimes

On July 28, at 11:00 AM, Media Center Ukraine – Ukrinform will hold a briefing entitled “Olenivka: Impunity – Encouragement of Terrorism.”  One year ago, the russians committed a terrorist attack brutally murdering the unarmed and powerless defenders of Azovstal, who had been held captive for more than two months at that time. As a result of the barbaric crime, according to unconfirmed data, at least 53 Ukrainian defenders were killed

Participants:

– Nataliia Zarytska, Chair of the “Woman of Steel,” wife of a released from captivity soldier of the Azov Regiment;

– Nataliia Pashniuk-Pashnieva, the mother of the defender of Azovstal who died as a result of the terrorist attack;

– Mariia Alieksieievych, the wife of the wounded defender of Azovstal, injured as a result of the terrorist attack in Olenivka;

– Nelia Shastun, the mother of two soldiers of the Azov Regiment, the elder of whom died, and the second was captured after leaving Azovstal and kept in the Olenivka barracks during the terrorist attack;

– Mykyta Shastun, Azovstal defender released from captivity, who was kept in the Olenivka barracks during the terrorist attack;

– Oleksandr Zarutskyi, international lawyer;

Prior accreditation is required.

• casualties
• dead
• military
• prisoners
• russian crimes
• Kyiv

Christopher is a professional journalist working on world terrorism and disinformation for a long time. In particular, russian terrorism in Ukraine and Syria. Christopher created a single platform to collect reliable and verified information for journalists, politicians, and even investigators to use in their work. Currently, Christopher is focusing his efforts on the russian Wagner PMC, which russia has brought onto the territory of Ukraine during the all-out invasion. Christopher collects, fact-checks, and publishes verified information and journalistic materials on his website. In addition, Christopher plans to hold discussions with journalists and experts covering the russian-Ukrainian war to keep the site up to date.

• russian crimes

On July 26, at the Media Center Ukraine – Ukrinform, the Media Initiative for Human Rights, a member of the 5AM Coalition, presents an investigation into the mass murder of Azovs in Olenivka Colony No. 120. During the presentation, based on the documented testimonies of the victims, the MIHR journalists will reveal in detail the circumstances of the crimes committed in Olenivka colony: how it happened, what happened inside and outside the barracks with the Azovs regiment members, why no one saved them, and who is to blame.

To reconstruct the events of the night of the mass murder of prisoners from July 28 to 29, 2022, the MIHR team interviewed crime witnesses. At the time of the attack, they were inside the barracks. At that time, two explosions killed about 50 Azov soldiers and seriously injured more than 70 others.

Speakers:

Tetiana Katrychenko – author of the investigation, Media Initiative for Human Rights (MIHR)

Maria Klymyk – author of the investigation, journalist at MIHR;

Anna Lobova, wife of a prisoner of war wounded in Olenivka;

Arina Khavanskykh, wife of a prisoner of war killed in Olenivka.

Event accreditation is required.

• dead
• military
• prisoners
• russian crimes
• Kyiv

On July 25, Media Center Ukraine – Ukrinform will hold a briefing entitled “Chemical weapons, biolaboratories and nuclear provocations: how russia lies about the health of Ukrainians — VoxCheck monitoring.” Over 1,800 news stories and posts with lies and propaganda about the health of Ukrainians were discovered by VoxCheck fact-checkers in cooperation with the USAID Health Reform Support Project in the information space of Ukraine, russia and Belarus from June 2022 to June 2023.

Participants:

• Olena Hlyvynska, USAID Health Reform Support Project (online);
• Svitlana Slipchenko, VoxCheck Project Manager (in person);
• Anayit Khoperiya, Head of the Department for Countering Information Threats to National Security at the Center for Countering Disinformation under the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine (in person);
• Mykola Balaban, Deputy Head at the Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security (in person);
• Dzvenyslava Shcherba, Analyst and Journalist at Internews Ukraine NGO (in person).

• russian crimes
• Kyiv

The charity initiative “Save Beauty” is already working with civilians and military personnel who suffered from the russian aggression both in the rear and at the front. The project fully covers the costs of doctor’s consultations, examinations, surgeries and post-surgery procedures. After the plastic surgery, the team, together with doctors and psychologists, supports the patient over the course of their rehabilitation.

Journalists are invited to talk with doctors and, if possible, with patients who came for help.

• casualties
• russian crimes

On July 20, Top Lead content marketing agency’s study “Russia-Ukraine War: Environmental Impact” on the impact of russian armed aggression on Ukraine’s environment will be presented at a press conference. The topics of focus include: what are the damages to the environment from the full-scale war; what is Ukrainian business doing to overcome the consequences of ecocide; the problem of demining agricultural land, “green” recovery.

Participants:

• Stanislav Shum, CEO Top Lead;
• Oleksandr Krasnolutskyi, First Deputy Minister of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine;
• Natalia Slobodian, Head of the Climate Change and Environment Protection Department, DTEK;
• Mykhailo Rizak, Director for Government Relations and Sustainable Development, NIBULON;

Pre-accreditation required.

• ecology
• russian crimes
• Kyiv