occupied territories
Family rescued from forced separation in temporarily occupied territory
This family lived under occupation, during which the children were forced to attend a Russian school. Occupation structures systematically pressured the mother: they threatened her with fines and promised to take the children to an orphanage. Russian military personnel regularly came to their home for inspections. The father, who is an ATO veteran, was repeatedly detained, interrogated, and beaten
Disqualified skeleton racer Heraskevych and German initiative Athletes for Peace launch campaign for fallen Ukrainian athletes’ families (updated)
The athlete showcased a helmet featuring 24 portraits, yet emphasized that far more athletes [650 persons] have been killed. He urged that this must be remembered
Over the four years of the full-scale war, Russians have killed 45 employees of Ukrposhta
According to Smilyanskyy, the enterprise has invested over 1 billion hryvnias of its own and borrowed funds into restoring its vehicle fleet. The company is also involved in implementing social initiatives: it delivers aid under the "Winter Support" program, facilitates the registration of Starlink equipment, and ensures the delivery of medicines and charging stations for children with disabilities so they can maintain the operation of essential equipment during power outages
Human rights defenders urge Zelenskyy to prioritize protection for war victims
Human rights advocates believe that following the liquidation of the Ministry for Reintegration of Temporarily Occupied Territories -- a decision approved by the President -- the head of state himself could initiate a revision of the support architecture and the creation of an effective government body
Children in one of the schools in occupied Sevastopol are being militarized by Russian militant Pavel Klyasyuk
1.6 million Ukrainian children might have remained under Russian occupation. Their militarization intensified with the start of the full-scale war, although it has been ongoing in Crimea and parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions since 2014
Government agencies have appointed officials responsible for the temporarily occupied territories: human rights advocate explains what this will change
The ZMINA editorial team sent a request to the Secretariat of the Cabinet of Ministers to find out which ministries had been designated as responsible for policy on the temporarily occupied and frontline territories. In response to the request, the Secretariat provided a list of such representatives in 21 executive bodies, including ministries, the State Emergency Service, the Pension Fund, the State Property Fund, and other relevant institutions
UN condemns Russian aggression, human rights violations on occupied territories and demands troop withdrawal from Ukraine
The resolution relies on the findings of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on violations by Russia, which confirm facts of enforced disappearances and torture both in the occupied territories and in Russia itself
The Mission of the President of Ukraine in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea named the key Russian and occupation agencies responsible for the deportation of Ukrainian children
The Mission of the President of Ukraine in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea pointed out that the Russian occupiers have established this vertical by involving a number of institutional structures at both the federal level of the Russian Federation and the local occupation administrations
US and Russia draft “peace plan” legitimizing Russian violations of Ukraine’s territorial integrity and internal interference
Two of Ukraine’s security guarantors under the Budapest Memorandum -- the United States and the Russian Federation -- have drawn up a so-called peace plan that legitimizes the violation of Ukraine's territorial integrity and interference by Russia in its internal affairs
DIU has identified more than 170 cultural properties stolen by Russians from Ukraine
Intelligence officials reported that over 140 artifacts were stolen during illegal archaeological excavations in temporarily occupied Crimea from sites such as the Southern Suburb of Chersonesos Taurica, the Kadykivske settlement (a Roman camp), and the Byzantine architectural monument known as the "Church of John the Baptist."
Words of support from a free land: A letter to a peer in occupation from a ninth-grader in the Chernihiv region
ZMINA publishes a letter from a competition participant, Yaroslav Horovyi, a student in the 9th grade at Nizhyn Gymnasium No. 9 in the Chernihiv region
Putin is not seeking peace, so Alaska meeting won’t change that – ISW expert
Barros commented on expectations surrounding the Trump-Putin summit scheduled for August 15 and ISW's recent assessments that the Kremlin is trying to use the meeting to sow discord between the U.S. and Europe
From “soft power” to torture chambers: patterns of Russia’s seizure of new states based on Ukraine’s experience
ZMINA summarised the main highlights and recommendations included in the Special Report on the situation in the territories of Ukraine temporarily occupied by the Russian Federation
Expert warns about three challenges to proper documentation of international crimes and preservation of evidence of Russian aggression against Ukraine
The absence of a unified state strategy for documenting the events of the Russian-Ukrainian war, cuts in funding for human rights projects, and aggressive Russian propaganda create risks of losing years of achievements in the field of recording war crimes, Anton Drobovych stated
Only 34 civilians released from Russian captivity received medical care in specialised facilities – Ombudsman monitoring
Civilians released from Russian captivity lack adequate access to medical care and rehabilitation, despite these being guaranteed by Ukrainian law
Ukrainian investigators and judges continue to ignore international humanitarian law when considering collaborationist cases
ZMINA releases an analytical report titled "Liability for collaborationism: how has judicial practice changed?", which analyses the verdicts listed in the Unified State Register of Court Decisions
Russian media is an important link in the chain of intimidation against Crimeans under occupation – ZMINA human rights advocate
During the First Crimea Week in Brussels, a human rights advocate from the Human Rights Centre ZMINA explained how the Russian media plays a crucial role in intimidating Crimeans with pro-Ukrainian views in the temporarily occupied territories
Russia continues the Soviet-era practice of destroying Ukrainian identity at the state level – human rights advocates
Human rights activists are certain that in this way, the Russian authorities are committing not only a war crime but also a crime against humanity with elements of genocide
Columns
The lesson of Crimea: Rewarding aggression only invites more war
Not just Ukraine — Russia is preparing Ukrainian children for future wars elsewhere
Why “good Russians” in exile repeat Russian and Soviet colonial narratives
Reconciliation never ends: on the challenges of decolonization in South Africa
