Themes by tag: russian crimes

On the fourth anniversary of the terrible tragedy that occurred at the Mariupol Drama Theater, journalists are invited to attend memorial events and honor the memory of the civilian and military victims.

In particular, a prayer service will be held in Kyiv on March 15. On March 16, memorial events honoring those killed at the Mariupol Drama Theater will take place in various cities across Ukraine: Kyiv, Vinnytsia, Dnipro, Zhytomyr, Zaporizhzhia, Ivano-Frankivsk, Lviv, Kalush, Kamensk, Kremenchuk, Kropyvnytskyi, Poltava, Kryvyi Rih, Odesa, Rivne, Ternopil, Uzhhorod, Khmelnytskyi, Cherkasy, and Chernivtsi.

For reference: On March 16, 2022, russian occupiers dropped aerial bombs on the Mariupol Drama Theater. The word “CHILDREN,” written in large letters and clearly visible from the sky, did not stop them. Hundreds of Mariupol families were taking shelter in the theater. Hundreds of innocent people were killed that day, including children.

The russian occupation authorities restored the building, permanently destroying any possibility of conducting a fair investigation into the deaths at the Drama Theater.

• children
• dead
• russian crimes
• Dnipro
• Kyiv
• Lviv
• Odesa

Marking the 4th anniversary of the russian occupation of the village of Yahidne, the Public Interest Journalism Lab (PIJL) has produced an audio guide titled “Yahidne. A Village in Captivity.”
The presentation took place on March 3 in Yahidne itself, in the Chernihiv region, where 368 local residents became victims of russian war crimes.

It was on March 3, 2022, that russian troops herded almost all residents of the village into the basement of the local school, including dozens of elderly people, children, and infants. They were held there for nearly a month and used as a human shield, forbidden to leave the cramped space while russian soldiers set up a military headquarters inside the school building. Under these horrific conditions, ten people died in the basement.

The audio guide is a documentary tour of the site of a war crime — the school grounds and its basement.
The English-language version is narrated by American historian Timothy Snyder, while the voices of Yahidne residents in English are read by American writer and journalist Anne Applebaum, Canadian politician Khrystya Freeland, British journalist and propaganda researcher Peter Pomerantsev, American journalist Sabra Ayres, American-French writer Jonathan Littell, and American historian Marcy Shore.

The audio guide is available in Ukrainian and English on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube.
A QR code with the link is displayed on banners next to the school, which continues to be visited by tourists and foreign delegations.

By prior arrangement, journalists can speak with representatives of the Public Interest Journalism Lab online or in person in Kyiv.

Background: The PIJL team has a unique connection to the village community, as its journalists were among the first to visit the liberated Chernihiv region in April 2022.

Based on testimonies documented from Yahidne residents, the team produced a documentary film, which—together with a written report from the village—was published in TIME magazine in an issue dedicated to the publication’s centennial. In addition to English, the film has been translated into eight other languages: Spanish, Italian, Chinese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, Turkish, and French.The story of Yahidne was also included in the reportage book “The Scariest Days of My Life”, which became a historical record of the first year of russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine.

• casualties
• dead
• occupation
• russian crimes
• Kyiv

A North Korean cluster munition that hit the window of the Kherson Regional Museum has been added to the exhibition “Unbreakable Kherson Region.” The exhibition features exhibits about the defense of Kherson, the occupation, the liberation of the city from russian troops, and life under shelling. The Korean munition got stuck right in the window of the exhibition hall. A fragment of a russian shell warhead was also found in the museum courtyard.

In addition, museum staff created an exhibition called “When War Loses Its Power” from the remains of weapons used by russian troops to shell the city. Fragments of various types of weapons became parts of works of art.

Due to constant enemy shelling, the Kherson Regional Museum is closed to visitors, but virtual tours are available.

Before the full-scale invasion and occupation, the Kherson Regional Local History Museum had one of the largest collections of antiquities in southern Ukraine. In October 2022, russian occupation forces stole more than 23,000 exhibits from the museum’s collection. Among them were archaeological finds, Scythian gold, antique icons, ethnographic collections, and archival materials. After the de-occupation of Kherson, the museum resumed its work. More than 160,000 exhibits were evacuated to safer regions.

For reference: The museum was founded in 1890 at the suggestion of Ukrainian archaeologist and local historian Viktor Ivanovich Goshkevich. The buildings that house the museum’s exhibition are architectural monuments of the 19th century.

• culture
• occupation
• russian crimes
• Kherson

Myroslav Chornomor is a choreographer by profession who danced and toured abroad with a folk ensemble. In 2016, he received his draft notice, and after completing his mandatory military service, he signed a contract. He then mastered the profession of scout.

Myroslav enrolled at Ostroh Academy to study national security, then at the Security Service of Ukraine Academy, and in June 2022, he was to receive two diplomas.

The soldier met the start of the full-scale invasion at his position near Mariupol as commander of the reconnaissance unit of the 36th Separate Marine Brigade. On April 12, Myroslav, along with his comrades who were defending Azovmash, decided to surrender. For the next two years, the soldier’s family did not know where he was or what had happened to him.

The Ukrainian soldier was one of those whom the russian occupiers illegally sentenced to life imprisonment on fabricated charges of alleged crimes against civilians in Mariupol. In the russian colony where he was serving his sentence, his cellmates included a serial killer, and the cell next door held the perpetrator of the Beslan terrorist attack. Myroslav was returned to Ukraine during a prisoner exchange on February 5, 2026. The soldier plans to seek medical treatment, see his father, who is serving in the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and resume his studies to obtain his diplomas.

Journalists can speak with Myroslav Chornomor online or in person near Kyiv from March 20, by prior arrangement.

• casualties
• military
• prisoners
• russian crimes
• Kyiv

Serhiy Petrenko, a soldier with the pseudonym “Bashnya” — Natalia Petrenko’s son — died on the night of July 29, 2022. The soldier encountered a full-scale invasion in Mariupol, defended the city, then Azovstal, and before being taken prisoner on orders, he called his parents and told them to prepare his ammunition so that he could rejoin the army upon his return.

Serhiy Petrenko’s name was on one of the first lists of those killed during the russian terrorist attack in Olenivka. His mother, Natalia, decided not to shut herself away in her grief and to support Serhiy’s comrades. In memory of her son, she created the online platform “Basht,” which helps military personnel find their place in civilian life.

Natalia and her like-minded friends gathered useful information for veterans in one place: from medical, psychological, and legal assistance to courses and training.

Journalists can speak with Natalia Petrenko both online and in person in Kyiv, by prior arrangement.

• dead
• military
• russian crimes
• women
• Kyiv

To remind people about the defenders of Azovstal and other military personnel who are still in enemy captivity, peaceful events are planned in 28 cities.

On March 7, events will take place in Okhtyrka, Chernihiv, Shpola, Volochysk, Zaporizhzhia, Pavlohrad, Lviv, and Dnipro.

On March 8, events are planned in Kyiv, Krolevets, Pivdennoukrainsk, Mykolaiv, Korop, Obukhiv, Ovruch, Korosten, Kharkiv, Kremenchuk, Dolynska, Kovel, Cherkasy, Lozova, Poltava, Uzhhorod, Berdychiv, Kropyvnytskyi, Rivne, and Odesa.

The events are organized by the families of prisoners of war from the Mariupol garrison. Ukrainians who have been released from captivity often join in the events.

• prisoners
• russian crimes

Nazarі Krasovsky signed a contract with the 12th Azov Brigade of the National Guard of Ukraine in 2020. The soldier encountered a full-scale invasion in Mariupol, defended Azovstal, and, together with his comrades, carried out the command’s order and surrendered in May 2022.

Nazari spent 3.5 years in captivity. To keep himself going, the soldier wrote poems, scratched lines on a bar of soap, and when the opportunity arose, transferred the texts to scraps of paper. The man was returned home in August 2025 during a prisoner exchange.

Since then, Nazarі has been undergoing rehabilitation at the UNBROKEN center in Lviv. The soldier has a serious spinal injury, which he sustained while in captivity. The soldier said that he had long wanted to sing with Khristina Soloviy. During a gala evening organized by the rehabilitation center, Nazarі managed to fulfill this dream. On stage, they performed the song “Who, if not you?”, and the audience gave them a standing ovation.

You can speak with Nazari Krasovskyi both online and in person in Lviv or Kyiv by prior arrangement.

• casualties
• culture
• military
• prisoners
• russian crimes
• Kyiv
• Lviv

The NGO “Civilians in Captivity” invites the public to a peaceful action titled “We Are Not Waiting for Flowers — We Are Waiting for Our Own,” dedicated to supporting Ukrainian civilians who remain in captivity. The event will take place on March 7 in Kyiv.

The program includes speeches by government officials and civil society representatives, performances, a minute of silence, statistics on civilian detainees, and calls to action.

The purpose of the event is to draw public and governmental attention to the tragedy of civilian captivity and to demand urgent measures for the return of unlawfully detained Ukrainians.

• prisoners
• russian crimes
• Kyiv

Yuriy Shapovalov is 61 years old. He is a neurophysiologist from Donetsk with 30 years of experience. He was also the head of a local cactus club and had a large collection of these plants.

After the russian occupation began in 2014, Yuriy did not leave the city and, under the pseudonym “Zalyshenets Donetskyi,” reported on Twitter about how Donetsk was changing. In January 2018, when he was returning home from work, he was detained by security forces of the so-called “Ministry of State Security of the DPR.” Yuriy was accused of “spying” for Ukraine and ‘sentenced’ to 13 years in prison.

In particular, he spent 100 days in the “Izolyatsia” prison in occupied Donetsk, where he was beaten, intimidated, and tortured.

In total, he spent 7 years, 7 months, and 3 days in enemy captivity and was released on August 14, 2025, during a prisoner exchange.

By prior arrangement, journalists can talk to Yuriy in Kyiv.

• casualties
• occupation
• prisoners
• russian crimes
• Kyiv

On March 8, the Center for Civil Liberties will join the Women’s Rights March in Kyiv.

“We stand up for women who are currently serving on the front lines and fighting alongside men. Female military personnel must be provided with everything necessary for service and safety, have equal access to positions and opportunities, and be protected from discrimination, sexual harassment, and violence.

We stand up for women—military and civilian—who are in russian captivity. For those who are tortured, raped, starved, kept in complete isolation—without communication, without information, without the right to a voice,” say representatives of the Women’s March.

Violence against women in this war is a weapon that russia deliberately uses to humiliate, intimidate, destroy human dignity, and silence.

That is why the Center for Civil Liberties is marching with the following demands:

• to take immediate and systematic action to return women from russian captivity;
• to increase international pressure on the aggressor state;
• to provide full support for those who have returned — psychological, medical, social, and legal.

Women should not disappear behind prison walls, in statistics, or in public silence. Our task is to talk about them and together demand justice.

A separate set of demands of the March concerns legislative changes. These are drafts of the new Civil Code, which contain provisions that could narrow women’s rights and contradict the principle of equality.

• casualties
• prisoners
• russian crimes
• women
• Kyiv