Themes by tag: russian crimes

Nataliia Sosmii, a cadet of the Ivan Kozhedub Kharkiv National Air Force University, faced the Russian invasion in Kherson. In the first months of the occupation, she rode her bike around the city and passed information about the Russians to the Ukrainian soldiers she possessed. In late August, Nataliia decided to leave Kherson. But the flight was postponed, and 30 armed Russians broke into the cadet’s house. Natalia’s home was searched, and she was taken to a temporary detention center there. There, she was beaten and psychologically pressured: in particular, her 16-year-old daughter was threatened with rape. “They said that they would take me to Donbas and let me go towards the Ukrainian military to be shot by Ukrainian soldiers. I said that I would rather be killed by my people rather than die here,” the cadet recalls.

Nataliia also heard how her classmate Oleksandr was being tortured. To save him, she agreed to take part in the recording of a Russian propaganda video. Nataliia has left Kherson and is safe and ready to talk to the media.

• prisoners
• russian crimes
• women

One of Save Ukraine’s centers, the Good Samaritan House of Mercy, operates in the Lviv region. It takes care of people with limited mobility who suffered due to Russian aggression. Most of them are older adults unable to take care of themselves.

The Save Ukraine team evacuated these people from the dangerous area in time, and now they are safe and well-housed. 

• casualties
• russian crimes
• Lviv

14-year-old Taisiia cannot fully engage in her favorite activity – drawing, because there is no bomb shelter in her art school. The institution is located in Saltivka (Kharkiv district, which suffered greatly as a result of russia’s full-scale invasion). The shelling even caused school windows to shatter. Currently, they are planning to auction off drawings, the money will be used to set up the bomb shelter.

The shelter will allow children to work offline and return to in-person communication.

After the victory, the students of the school plan to use the shelter as a gallery in the future.

• children
• russian crimes
• Kharkiv

The international organization “The Halo Trust” had been helping to demine the territory of Ukraine even before the start of the full-scale invasion. Currently, 800 Ukrainians are involved in mine clearing efforts in 5 regions: Mykolaiv, Kharkiv, Sumy, Kyiv and Chernihiv. “The Halo Trust” also works at the sites of flooding caused by the breach of the Kakhovka Dam. In the last eight weeks alone, sappers discovered more than 5,000 mines in Kharkiv and Mykolaiv regions.

The international organization “The Halo Trust” surveys recently liberated Ukrainian lands, using the methodology tested in more than 30 countries of the world.

For reference: According to the State Emergency Service, 30% of the territory of Ukraine is mined. According to some assessments, it may take more than 10 years to clear the land.

• russian crimes
• Chernihiv
• Kharkiv
• Kyiv
• Mykolaiv
• Sumy

On June 28, Media Center Ukraine – Ukrinform news agency will host a press conference entitled “Missing Ukrainians: presentation of the report on people abducted by russia in the occupied territories,” during which human rights defenders will present data on enforced disappearances and arbitrary detentions of active citizens since the beginning of the full-scale war. The participants of the press conference will include:

• Natalia Okhotnikova, Human Rights Adviser at ZMINA
• Maryia Kvitsinskaya, Expert on Europe and Central Asia at the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT)
• Dmytro Lubinets, the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights (participation to be confirmed)
• Anna, a friend of the kidnapped volunteer, an active parishioner of one of Marharyta Kharenko’s churches
• Oleksandra Stoliar, the mother of kidnapped Iryna Navalna, an active citizen who was accused of planning sabotage in Mariupol
• Anhelina, the sister of the wife of the kidnapped volunteer Yaroslav Zhuk

For reference: russia has been abducting Ukrainians since 2014 in the occupied territories, but after the full-scale invasion, there have been many more cases of disappearances. The russian federation is doing this deliberately in order to suppress the active Ukrainian resistance in the occupation. ZMINA Human Rights Center collected data on enforced disappearances during the full-scale war.  

• russian crimes
• Kyiv

The damaged Russian military equipment exhibit on Mykhailivska Square in Kyiv. The enemy UAVs, burned BM-21 ‘Grad’ rockets, broken tanks, trucks, and infantry fighting vehicles are among the pieces. The enemy drones and the remains of missiles regularly targeting Ukrainian cities are also on display. The Military History Museum of Ukraine prepared the exhibition. It will be open until 6:00 pm on June 18.

For reference: The Military History Museum of Ukraine collects artifacts of the Russian-Ukrainian war. There is currently an exhibition dedicated to the Russian cruiser Moskva’s destruction, featuring the remains of a Neptune anti-ship missile that hit the flagship and a life preserver from the ship.

• culture
• russian crimes
• Kyiv

The Center for the Protection of Children’s Rights works with children who have been subjected or become witnesses of russian crimes. At the institution, specialists receive information from children and their families, conduct medical examinations and provide the necessary assistance.

The Center operates according to the Bring Kids Back UA action plan. This is a set of measures taken by the Ukrainian authorities, foreign governments and international organizations that protect children’s rights. In particular, this plan is to facilitate the return of Ukrainian children who were illegally deported to russia.

• children
• russian crimes

ZooPatrol Volunteers have already brought over a hundred animals from the Kherson region and continue to rescue new ones. The shelter, the clinic, and the partner foster house pets. 

These days, people have already started coming to adopt the saved animals. In addition, volunteers are looking for the previous owners of the animals.

For reference: ZooPatrol is a non-governmental organization formed at the beginning of the full-scale invasion to rescue, evacuate, treat, and find homes for wildlife affected by war and human cruelty.

• animals
• russian crimes
• Kyiv

Various items continue to wash up on the beaches of Odesa Oblast, including building parts and pieces of furniture that washed up in Kherson Oblast due to Russia blowing up the Kakhovka dam. City services periodically clean the city’s beaches, but the sea keeps bringing more and more debris to the shore. Journalists will have the opportunity to talk to environmentalists and volunteers who will show the state of the beaches and tell them about the dangers of coastal littering.

• ecology
• russian crimes
• Odesa

The Khortytsia National Reserve also suffered due to the occupiers’ blowing up the Kakhovka hydroelectric power station. Experts have recorded the water bodies shallowing. In addition, the reserve administration notes that the water level drop in the Dnipro River has revealed the remains of wooden bridges dating back to 1944, which had been underwater for almost 70 years. Read more here.

Journalists can also learn more from local scientists about the consequences of the Kakhovka HPP explosion for the Kamianska Sich National Park in the Kherson region.

For reference: The Khortytsia National Reserve includes the island of Khortytsia (the largest Dnipro island), the adjacent(Baida, Try Stohy, Dubovyi, Rozstebyn islands, and Serednia, Blizniuky rocks), and the Vyrva tract on the right bank of the Dnipro, as well as the Kamianska Sich historical monument of national importance in Kherson region.

• russian crimes
• Zaporizhzhia