30 November 2023
Articles
How Ukraine passes judgment on violations of the laws and customs of war?
Over the past two years, Ukrainian judges have convicted at least 101 people for violating the laws and customs of war. Among them are Russian officials, soldiers, and officers of the Russian army who robbed civilians in Ukraine, shelled residential buildings, abducted, tortured, and killed residents of the occupied territories, as well as Ukrainian citizens who helped the Russians commit violence during the occupation.
Ten years of occupation of Crimea: memories of Crimean journalists on how it began
Taras Shevchenko’s birthday і Taras Shevchenko is a famous Ukrainian poet and artist from the XIX century. is significant in civic resistance to the occupation of Crimea. In 2014, on March 9, Crimeans came to the monument to Taras Shevchenko in Simferopol with flowers and posters to declare that they did not support the war and the armed Russian military on the streets of their hometowns. The Crimeans were in danger because even then, every protest was accompanied by attacks by aggressive Russian figures, pro-Russian activists, and militants.
Re-education under the guise of recovery: how Belarus helps Russia to take Ukrainian children from the occupied territories
There is more and more information that the Republic of Belarus joined the deportation of Ukrainian children from the occupied territories of Ukraine. And even the analysis of open data suggests that the country’s leadership is involved in this process, not only its citizens. After all, it will not be possible to take children from the occupied regions without coordination with the officials. In addition, in every message of the Belarusian state media about the arrival of children from “Donbas for recovery,” the propagandists thank the self-proclaimed president Lukashenko for supporting this “initiative.” I
Women with disabilities share about their experience with volunteering and inclusion amidst the war in Ukraine
In this article, women with disabilities shared their experiences of living through the war, the challenges they face, particularly in the context of gender equality, and their plans for the post-war future
Is Ukraine’s strategy in the International Court of Justice justified, and what lessons should we learn?
Experts from the Ukrainian Legal Advisory Group analyzed the Court’s decision and the prerequisites that could have contributed to the dismissal of most of the claims
“Mariupol is a pattern of Russian warfare” – how Russia destroyed the city
ZMINA recounts the main points from the study “Our City Was Gone.” Russia’s Devastation of Mariupol, Ukraine"
How should Ukraine respond to court decisions issued during the occupation?
Judges, prosecutors, and human rights activists shared their vision during the discussion “What should be the state’s approach to court decisions made during the occupation after the liberation of the territories of Ukraine?” organized by the ZMINA Human Rights Center.
Ukraine: Ten victories in human rights in 2023
ZMINA has compiled the most significant developments and events in the field of human rights that took place in 2023 in Ukraine
Columns
What triggers world wars?
ZMINA published a TED Talk by Anton Drobovych, Director of the Ukrainian Institute of National Memory and military serviceman, titled "Remembering the past. Fighting for the future."
Forced filming in propaganda: How Russians use civilian hostages to strengthen their power
Since the full-scale invasion, the number of civilians who have been victims of illegal detention and subsequent imprisonment by the Russians is measured in thousands. According to the Ukrainian Ministry of Internal Affairs, as of October 2023, the official register contained over 28,000 citizens missing under special circumstances. Some of these people are civilians who are being held in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine or have already been transferred to Russia.
News
Russians destroyed an entire street in border village of the Kharkiv Oblast with a modified FAB-1500 glide bomb
No more than a hundred locals were in this border village in the Kupiansk district, and no soldiers were present
India’s Trapped Sons: Duped by Russia, Indian citizens forced to fight on the front in Ukraine
BBC News told the stories of affected persons, including David Moothappan, 23, from the Indian village of Pozhiyoor in Kerala
Russians kill six people and injur 32 civilians in their Odesa ballistic missile strike, likely with cluster munitions (updated)
Kiper reported that as of 22:00, four people had been reported killed, along with a dog. Another man died of a stroke brought on by the attack. A total of 32 people were injured, and 25 are in hospital, including two children and a pregnant woman
Crimean human rights organization explained how Russians persecute Crimeans who stand against Russian military aggression
Crimean Process is still convinced that the application of article 20.3.3 of the Russian administrative offense code in the temporarily occupied territory is not directed at prevention of crime but is preserved exclusively as a tool of oppressing Ukrainian sentiment among Crimeans
Russians damaged four thermal power plants, injuring civilians
Ukraine's Air Force reported the Russians used a total of 34 air-, ground- and sea-launched missiles. 21 missiles were shot down by Ukrainian air defense
Russia is ready to export its scheme of passport issuance into EU, post-Soviet countries and other European states – report
A human rights lawyer of the Eastern Human Rights Group, Vira Yastrebova, warned countries to pay attention to these markers of their passport issuance
Nine people killied in a Russian strike in the Dnipropetrovsk region
Besides the apartment block, two infrastructure facilities in Dnipro were damaged. Four houses were partially destroyed in the town of Synelnykove, and eight more were damaged. A facility in the town of Pavlohrad was also hit
Ukrainian Foreign Ministry outraged by Georgian PM’s statement about law on “foreign agents” and Ukraine
The leading members of the European Parliament has stated that the “foreign agent” law passed in the first reading in Georgia is an attack on independent media and civil society and threatens the country's Euro-Atlantic integration
Eighteen dead in Russian missile strike on Chernihiv (updated)
Ukraine's Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said there were more than 60 injured in the attack, which hit an eight-story building in a densely populated area. Two children were among the casualties. According to the officials, three missiles had struck close to the centre of the city
“Crippling strikes”: Russia destroyed key power plant in Kyiv oblast and aims to plunge Ukrainian cities into darkness (updated)
Armed Forces of Russian Federation launched another mass attack on Ukrainian critical infrastructure using Shahed kamikaze drones, cruise missiles launched from Tu-95MS aircraft, and Kinzhal hypersonic missiles and guided air missiles from Su-34 jets overnight on April 11
Russia has been suppressing freedom of expression and religion during years of temporarily occupation of Crimea – UN and Amnesty International
In temporarily occupied Crimea, Russia has significantly curtailed the space for civil society to function, including criticizing or advocating. Media outlets have been shut down, disproportionately impacting Crimean Tatar and Ukrainian communities' rights to free expression, information access, and cultural expression
“There are no LGBTQ+ people in Crimea”: Russia cracked down on the LGBTQ+ сommunity in the temporarily occupied peninsula
As of 2014, the number of representatives of the LGBT+ community in Crimea amounted to approximately 16,200 persons. However, the number of people who remain in the territory in 2023 is unknown
Russia struck Kyiv by two ballistic missiles from temporarily occupied Crimea: ten people injured
The officials reported the debris from the rockets fell in the Pecherskyi, Solomianskyi, Holosiivskyi, and Darnytskyi districts of Kyiv, damaging two high-rise buildings and injuring five people, including one child
Russians significantly damaged Ukraine’s largest dam, the Dnipro Hydroelectric Power Plant, in mass missile attack (updated)
The President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy has repeated his calls for further military aid over recent days, specifically calling on the West to send Ukraine more air defence systems
A decade of repressions: Crimean Tatars and Ukrainains targeted in Russia’s brutal crackdown on dissent
Amnesty International stated that with international crimes, Russia has attempted to change the ethnic makeup of Crimea while suppressing non-Russian identities on the peninsula, including through restricting education in Ukrainian and Crimean Tatar languages, attacking religious minorities, stifling media and culture, as well as undermining representative institutions and abusing the criminal justice system
Ukrainian Watchdog OPORA urges global community to reject results of the Russian “presidential election”
The NGO explains that the legitimacy of the entire result of the presidential election of the Russian Federation will be called into question by the very inclusion of ballots received in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine, especially
OSCE’s Moscow Mechanism will help Ukraine show the true scale of war crimes committed against civilians by Russia in Ukraine
According to the Permanent Representative of Luxembourg to the OSCE, after bilateral consultations with Ukraine, members of 45 OSCE delegations decided to apply the 8th paragraph of the Moscow Mechanism
From hospitals to prisons: 2022 report of Ukrainian Ombudsperson paints grim picture of human rights in custodial settings of Ukraine
Overall, 8% of the Ombudsman's recommendations presented in the report were fully fulfilled by Ukrainian ministries and administrations of the custodial settings, 62% were being implemented, and 30% were not fulfilled in 2022
Memories of Halyna Haiova, a torture survivor of the infamous Izolyatsia prison
Halyna Haiova, a senior nurse from the city of Dokuchaievsk, Donetsk region, was arrested by representatives of the so-called “Donetsk People’s Republic” (“DPR”) at her workplace on October 14, 2016. She was accused of having pro-Ukrainian views and helping the Ukrainian Armed Forces. The woman was held in captivity for nearly sixteen months, most of which she spent in the Izolyatsia torture prison. Then, she was transferred to Donetsk pre-trial detention center, where she stayed for 105 days. Haly
UN ruling might fuel Crimean Tatar persecution by Russia – Chairman of Mejlis Refat Chubarov
Chubarov believes that in the current circumstances, the best "trial" for the Russians is the Ukrainian Armed Forces
The ICJ finds Russia only partially guilty of financing terrorism and discrimination of Crimean residents
The International Court of Justice has announced a verdict in the first case of Ukraine against Russia concerning the violation of the Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.
White Paper on preparation and conduct of postwar elections presented in Ukraine
The White Paper also contains a list of proposed solutions to the most pressing problems that need to be resolved before the election process is announced, with arguments for the time frame required for their implementation
Ukrainian family from Kyiv awarded the title of Righteous Among the Nations
Mariia and Mykhailo lived in the village of Pyrohivka, Khmelnytrskyi region, until the end of the Second World War. Then, they returned to Komsomolske, where they were reunited with their father after the war
Russians killed at least 18 civilians in missile strikes on Kyiv, Kharkiv, and other cities while Republicans in the US Congress blocked military aid to Ukraine (updated)
Earlier, National Security and Defense Council Secretary Oleksiy Danilov called on the world to provide Kyiv with more weapons to stop Russian aggression
Attack in Donetsk market kills civilians, Ukraine vows to hold perpetrators accountable
Civilians have been killed and injured as a result of an attack on a market in Donetsk on January 21, 2024
Kyiv responds to Slovak PM who suggested concession against the territorial integrity of Ukraine
The Slovak prime minister noted that he intends to announce at the meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart Denys Shmyhal that he will block Ukraine's accession to NATO in every possible way
Key Russian drone manufacturer of “Orlan-10” UAVs maintains production despite sanctions: leaked documents
According to the leaked documents, the propellers and engines of Orlan-10 are produced by the Chinese company T-Motor. The flight controllers and GPS modules are produced by the Chinese Radiolink Electronic Limited. Laptops are from Lenovo and cameras are from Sony
Bundestag rejects opposition proposal to supply Taurus to Ukraine
The CDU and CSU had already wanted to put the issue of the supply of Taurus missiles to a vote in the past. Still, the corresponding proposal was submitted to the committees by the coalition majority
Ukrainian President Zelenskyy asks Trump: What will you do if Putin doesn’t stop?
On the previous day, after Donald Trump's victory during the Republican primaries in Iowa the former U.S. President said: “I would bring Putin and Zelenskyy to the table and end the war…”
Mariupol resident, Mariana Checheliuk’s health deteriorated significantly due to captivity
Mariana Checheliuk, a 24-year-old police officer from Mariupol, has suffered a significant deterioration in her health and immune system due to her extended stay in captivity. In August 2023, she was transferred from a prison in Taganrog to Mariupol, where she is still being held.
If Ukraine had been given seven Patriot systems, people would not have been killed – Zelenskyy addressed Ukraine’s Western partners
Zelenskyy also pointed out the delays in supplies of Western weaponry, noting that many Ukrainians are being killed while the Ukrainian forces wait for this aid
Russians hit 4 oblasts with missiles: 4 Ukrainians killed, 45 more injured while Republicans in the US Congress blocked military aid to Ukraine (updated)
It should be understood that such targets can be shot down only by systems capable of doing it, particularly by Patriot systems, a spokesman for the Ukrainian Air Force, Colonel Yurii Ihnat, explained
A Russian missile strike killed 11 people, including five children, in Donetsk Oblast while Republicans in the US Congress blocked military aid to Ukraine
S-300 missiles hit the town of Pokrovsk in Ukrainian-held territory in Donetsk region
Russians killed 5 civilians, injured 129 in Ukraine on January 2. Fires still being put out in Kyiv
Russian President Vladimir Putin has pledged to "intensify" attacks against Ukraine
