Themes by tag: russian crimes

The Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine says that according to preliminary estimates, the war has already caused more than UAH 2 trillion in damage to Ukraine’s environment (figures as of early May)

Journalists can learn more about the impact of russia’s full-scale invasion on the environment from experts from the Ecoaction Center for Environmental Initiatives. 

For reference:  The Center for Environmental Initiatives Ecoaction (Ecodia) is a non-governmental organization, whose experts and activists are united by the idea of preserving the environment through influencing decision-making.

• ecology
• russian crimes

Students of the Ukrainian Leadership Academy brought a 50-kilogram book “Crime without Punishment” to Europe. This book contains information on russia’s crimes in Ukraine. The book is 6,000 pages long, which symbolizes the 6,000 children kidnapped by the russian occupiers. The activists were “inspired” to create the book, the title of which is an allusion to the russian classics, by the arrest warrant for Maria Lvova-Belova, the children’s ombudsman of the russian federation. The book will arrive in Ukraine in a few days.

• children
• culture
• russian crimes

Ukrainian military man Maksym Kolesnikov, whose photo with an apple went viral and made him famous after the release from captivity, returned into the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. In addition, in April, Kolesnikov took part in the OSCE meeting in Vienna, where he spoke of the crimes that the russians are committing to Ukrainian prisoners. He is ready to tell his story to the media as well.

For reference: Maksym Kolesnikov was captured in March 2022. He was released during prisoner exchange on February 4, 2023.

• military
• prisoners
• russian crimes

37-year-old Iryna Horobtsova worked for a Ukrainian IT company and became known for her social media posts about life under occupation. Iryna posted photos with Ukrainian symbols and called her apartment her “home resistance headquarters.” On May 13, 2022, the Russians abducted her from her home and kept her in a pre-trial detention center in Simferopol. No one is allowed to visit Iryna, and she is completely isolated from the outside world. The activist’s parents are ready to talk to the media to spread her story and get their daughter released as soon as possible.

• prisoners
• russian crimes
• Kherson

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