Themes by tag: russian crimes

In the occupied territories of Ukraine, russians most often resort to electric shock torture and beatings while tormenting civilians. The russian army mostly detains and abuses former military personnel and Joint Forces Operation participants, volunteers, civil and political activists, as well as government officials and entrepreneurs. These are the results of the ZMINA Center for Human Rights researchers study conducted from February 2022 to March 2023. 345 cases of torture of Ukrainian civilians were recorded. Media covering this topic will have the opportunity to talk to victims of russian crimes.

• casualties
• occupation
• russian crimes

On April 27, an exhibition of artists’ paintings on the remains of russian rockets that were used in the attack on Kyiv region will open in the capital. The exhibition is dedicated to the anniversary of the liberation of Kyiv region from russian occupation forces.

The opening of the exhibition will be attended by: Emine Dzhaparova, First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine; Lieutenant General Yevhen Moisiuk, Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine; Oleksandr Markushyn, Mayor of Irpin; artist Yosyp Bartosh.

Organizers of the exhibition: Hennadii Udovenko Diplomatic Academy of Ukraine, Strategic Communication Office of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

• culture
• russian crimes
• Kyiv

On May 4, 2023, Dmytro Lubinets, the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights, will hold a large press conference in Kyiv.

The Commissioner is ready to speak about the atrocities he saw with his own eyes: torture chambers in the liberated regions of Ukraine, mass burials in Izyum, testimonies of people who were in occupation and who know from their own experience what the conditions in the torture chambers were like, the return of Ukrainian children kidnapped by the russian federation, communication with the russian Commissioner for Human Rights regarding humanitarian issues, the results of this communication, the return of Ukrainian soldiers who were in russian captivity, problems with the return of civilian hostages currently held by the russian federation.

Accreditation is required.

• children
• military
• occupation
• prisoners
• russian crimes
• Kyiv

On April 27, in Lviv, experts of the Heritage Emergency Response Initiative will present the results of their work. Experts spent over six months going on dozens of expeditions in Chernihiv, Sumy, Kyiv, and Kharkiv regions to record the damage caused to Ukrainian cultural heritage as a result of the russian invasion. The collected information includes: photographs of damage, documentation carried out in accordance with the methodology of the International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property, eyewitness accounts, aerial photography, 3D models, etc.

Detailed program of the conference is available at:  https://bit.ly/3N2HLZX 

Awareness raising events will be held in Kyiv —  with a focus on looted museums, and in Kharkiv —  with a focus on war crimes against cultural heritage.

For reference: in February, Oleksandr Tkachenko, Minister of Culture and Information Policy, said that about 1,500 objects of cultural heritage and cultural infrastructure had been damaged or destroyed as a result of russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

• culture
• occupation
• russian crimes
• Lviv

Tuzly Lagoons National Nature Park together with Green Leaf NGO are holding an awareness raising event “Protect the dolphins — save the Black Sea.” The goal is to educate people about the impact of military operations on cetaceans in the Black Sea.

The park will present the results of its work in 2022. They monitored the death of dolphins caused by the war in the park. According to experts’ estimates, about 50,000 animals died. Hundreds of dolphins suffered concussions, which had never happened in the Black Sea before.

Book “War is the peak of the ecocide of Black Sea cetaceans” by Doctor of biological sciences Ivan Rusev, Head of the Research Department of Tuzly Lagoons National Nature Park, and “Black Sea Dolphins” poster will be presented at the event.

The event will take place in Odesa on April 21.

(April 22 is International Earth Day around the world)For reference: The Ministry of the Environment notes that, due to russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine, about 600 species of animals and 750 species of plants and mushrooms are currently under threat of extinction.

• animals
• ecology
• russian crimes
• Odesa

37-year-old Iryna Horobtsova worked in one of the Ukrainian IT companies and became famous with her posts on social networks about life under occupation. Iryna published photos with Ukrainian symbols, and called her apartment “the home headquarters of the resistance.” On May 13, 2022, the russians abducted her from her home and put her in a pre-trial detention center in Simferopol. No one is allowed near Irina, and she is kept in complete isolation from the outside world. The activist’s parents are ready to talk to the media representatives to share her story and get their daughter released as soon as possible.

• occupation
• prisoners
• russian crimes

Dobrobat volunteer movement members are rebuilding houses damaged by the Russian occupiers in the Demydiv in Kyiv Oblast. Currently, group volunteer recruitment is still ongoing to join the work.

For reference: “Dobrobat is a volunteer building division helping those affected to restore housing and social infrastructure in the de-occupied territories.

• occupation
• reconstruction
• russian crimes
• volunteers
• Kyiv

On April 12, 2023, Media Center Ukraine — Ukrinform, the Media Initiative for Human Rights will present a map of places where the russians are holding Ukrainian civilians and prisoners of war. The map contains systematic data on more than a hundred detention centers in russia, Belarus and the occupied territories of Ukraine. Information on places of detention was collected during interviews with victims and witnesses. Oleksandr Zhuhan, a civilian from Sumy region, who was held hostage by the russians for almost a year, will take part in the presentation.

• casualties
• prisoners
• russian crimes
• Kyiv

Tetiana is a resident of Hostomel and the head of two apartment buildings co-owners association. At the outbreak of the full-scale invasion, she opened all the basements for people to hide and placed pallets to have a stay.  Later, more than a hundred people were hiding there. There was even a 2-month-old baby among them. The woman did the cooking with her neighbors in her own apartment. When all communications were cut off, they prepared food on the street. A blast wave injured Tetiana’s husband.

On March 5, the occupants entered the houses and settled there. People stayed in the basements. Later, some of them decided to evacuate and go to another neighborhood, but they did not manage to leave. The occupiers told people to return, or they would be taken to Belarus. No one has been willing to. Instead, most went to the local prison bomb shelter. 

• occupation
• russian crimes
• Kyiv

At the beginning of russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, more than 65 people were hiding on the territory of the ethnographic complex “Ukrainian village.” (A Sunday school used to be located in the basement of the complex, but later it was converted into a shelter). At that time, there were constant explosions and planes circling around the area. Buildings were riddled with “Grad” fragments. The occupiers did manage to enter the territory of the “Ukrainian Village” complex. They looted the museum and threatened the security guard with a weapon.

Journalists are invited to learn more about the way people were staying alive and how the complex was rebuilt after the russian invasion.

• occupation
• russian crimes
• Kyiv