Themes by tag: russian crimes

At the onset of the full-blown war, Nadiia’s husband stood up to defend the country and joined the Territorial Defense. He was killed while holding the defense of Chernihiv region in March 2022. Three children became fatherless. The house that the man was building for his family was destroyed by the occupiers. Nadiia was offered to sell the land, but she refused because she dreamed of rebuilding the house in memory of her loved one.

Currently, Dobrobat volunteers are helping to restore the house. They have already brought building materials to the construction site.

• dead
• reconstruction
• russian crimes
• volunteers
• women
• Chernihiv

Building shelled, employees pressured, and more than 10,000 of the most valuable exhibits looted by the occupiers are what the Shоvkunenko Kherson Regional Art Museum has experienced since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Russia.

It was a few days shy of the de-occupation of Kherson (November 11, 2022) that the museum heist was committed by armed Russian occupiers under the slogans of “preserving cultural property.” The artifacts were taken as plunder to the occupied Crimea. The identification of the missing items is currently underway.

Apart from that, the occupiers hit the museum building twice: in November 2022 (windows were smashed, and the facade was shattered) and in April 2023.

Journalists can send a request to arrange interviews and filming in the museum.

For reference: Before the full-scale invasion, the museum’s collection included nearly 14,000 pieces of art.

• culture
• occupation
• russian crimes
• Kherson

Valentyna Hantseva has been working in the library of Soldatske village, Sumy oblast for 32 years. A few months before the full-scale invasion, the library had undergone modern renovation and purchased new equipment. But the building of the library could not withstand the air strike of the russians, who aimed right at the center of the occupied village. Only the roof and walls remained of the library: everything inside the building was damaged by the blast wave. Despite the occupation and the enemy aircraft, Valentyna, together with her husband, began to gather the undamaged books and hide them in grain sacks. The woman managed to take out and save more than 1000 books.

In April 2022, the Ukrainian military de-occupied the village. A philanthropist from Germany helped restore the library premises, and last fall, Valentyna opened the doors of the library to readers again.

• culture
• occupation
• russian crimes
• women
• Sumy

On October 20-21, the International Forum “United for Justice. United for the Environment” will be held in Kyiv. At the event, Ukrainian and international statesmen, government officials, leading experts and representatives of NGOs will discuss the consequences of the war for the Ukrainian environment. The participants will also work out mechanisms to hold the russian federation accountable for the damage it caused, in particular, with regards to the clause 8 of the Peace Formula – stopping the ecocide and paying reparations to Ukraine for the devastated environment.

The topics of discussion at the forum will also include: the impact of russian ecocide in Ukraine on the whole world; how the environmental damage caused by the russian’s war in Ukraine is estimated; how the war affects the climate crisis in the world, in particular the Southern countries of the world.

One of the Forum’s key results will be the project of the environmental treaty, which will create conditions for sustained protection of the environment and the cessation of ecocide.

A briefing by Ukrainian and foreign guests of the conference is planned for the first day of the Forum.

Accreditation for media is required. Please confirm your participation by 6:00 PM on October 17.

• ecology
• russian crimes
• Kyiv

Olena Yahupova, a resident of Kamianka-Dniprovska, was abducted from her home by the occupiers in October last year. A denunciation was made against the woman for her husband’s Armed Forces of Ukraine service. While in the occupiers’ custody, Olena was tortured. The Russian military wanted to locate her beloved whereabouts. They were also gathering information about people with pro-Ukrainian views. Besides that, Olena was forced into labor slavery by the occupiers, and hostages were pressured to dig trenches. Yahupova did hard labor and lived in inhumane conditions. Olena managed to be freed after more than six months in captivity and is now in Kyiv.

• casualties
• prisoners
• russian crimes

 On September 27, in Kyiv, the “Tribunal for putin” initiative will present two complaints to the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court: one of them concerns places in Kharkiv region where Ukrainians were held captive and tortured, and the other one – extrajudicial executions of Ukrainians by the russian military. Human rights defenders argue that russia’s actions are crimes against humanity.

Participants:

– Hanna Ovdiienko, expert at the Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group, co-author of the complaint;

– Maksym Reviakin, expert at the Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group, co-author of the complaint;

– Vladyslav Dolzhko, lawyer at the Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group, co-author of the complaint;

– Yulia Polekhina, Coordinator of the Admissions Office of the Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union in Dnipro and Human rights group “SICH”;

– Nataliia Yashchuk, Project Management Coordinator at the Centre for Civil Liberties;

• casualties
• dead
• russian crimes
• Kyiv

On September 27, the Ukrainian Agrarian Council, with the support of the USAID Agriculture Growing Rural Opportunities Activity (AGRO), will organize a press tour for journalists to the affected agricultural enterprises of Chernihiv oblast and a roundtable discussion with the participation of representatives of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine, the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine, the Committee of Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on Agricultural and Land Policy, local self-government agencies, representatives of partner countries, charities and affected farmers.

During the press tour, media representatives will visit three farms in Chernihiv region of various sizes and specialized in different areas, which got damaged as a result of hostilities and lost their production facilities as well as livestock.

After the press tour, Kyiv will host a roundtable discussion to consider priority needs and tools to support the recovery of the agricultural sector. The participants include:

Mykola Solskyi, Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food

Yulia Svyrydenko, First Deputy Prime Minister – Agrarian Policy and Food Minister

Oleksandr Haydu, Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Committee on Agrarian and Land Policy

Kseniya Sydorkina, Director for USAID AGRO Program

Andriy Dykun, Chair of the Ukrainian Agrarian Council

Also, the discussion will be joined by the affected agricultural producers from different regions of Ukraine and representatives of international donors.

Registration is required. A detailed event agenda will be provided after confirmation of media accreditation.

• casualties
• russian crimes
• Chernihiv

On September 19, Kyiv will host a “Nuclear prison: how Rosatom turned Europe’s largest nuclear power plant into a torture chamber and how the world can stop it” by Truth Hounds, documentary filmmakers, and international crime investigators.

Speakers:

• Roman Avramenko, Executive director of Truth Hounds;
• Dmytro Koval, Legal Director of Truth Hounds; 
• Oleksandra Romantsova, Executive Director at the Center for Civil Liberties NGO;

The study analyses systematic kidnappings, torture, and murders of ZNPP employees, which have been carried out with the assistance of the russian state atomic energy corporation Rosatom since March 2022. Truth Hounds interviewed witnesses and victims, analyzed photo and video materials, and studied data from Ukrainian law enforcement agencies. The researchers proved that the actions of the russian occupation forces, which were known to Rosatom, constitute serious violations of international law in the form of war crimes and crimes against humanity. 

• casualties
• russian crimes
• Kyiv

On September 19, in Zhovten cinema in Kyiv, journalist Danylo Mokryk will present an investigative documentary for The Kyiv Independent “Children Who Never Were.” The film tells about the murders of Ukrainian children by the russian military.

Pre-registration is required.

• russian crimes

Lyceum No. 3 will be opened in Irpin, Kyiv region, on September 16. The institution suffered the greatest destruction at the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion. The Lyceum building and the surrounding area were hit by 30 enemy shells and mines. The level of damage was about 75%.

The restoration of the building of Irpin Lyceum No. 3 is currently being completed. The work was funded by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in Ukraine. Foreign and Ukrainian philanthropists have also contributed to the reconstruction of the lyceum, and funds have been raised from the local budget.

The opening ceremony will be attended by:

– Oksen Lisovyi, Minister of Education and Science of Ukraine;

– Ruslan Hurak, Head of the State Education Quality Service of Ukraine;

– Serhii Babak, Chair of Verkhovna Rada’s Education, Science, and Innovations Committee;

– Ruslan Kravchenko, Head of Kyiv Oblast Military Administration;

– Danylo Mavlianov, Head of Bucha District Administration;

– Oleksandr Markushyn, Mayor of Irpin.

Event accreditation is required.

For reference, Irpin Lyceum No. 3 is one of the largest general secondary education institutions in the community and the only one located in a densely populated city neighborhood. Before the start of the full-scale war, about 2,000 students took morning or evening classes. 

• children
• occupation
• reconstruction
• russian crimes
• Kyiv