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Kyiv Independent's 'He Came Back' documentary wins Best Film award at Prague film festival

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by Olena Goncharova
Kyiv Independent's 'He Came Back' documentary wins Best Film award at Prague film festival
"He Came Back" is an investigative documentary about sexual violence committed by Russian soldiers in Ukraine. (The Kyiv Independent)

The Kyiv Independent's investigative documentary "He Came Back," which uncovers sexual crimes committed during the Russian occupation of Kyiv and Kherson oblasts in early 2022, won the Best Film award at the Press Play Prague film festival on Oct. 12.

The festival, organized by three Czech Republic-based organizations—Project Syndicate, Referendum Daily (Denik Referendum), and Atlas Cinema—was held in Prague from Oct. 8 to 12 and emphasized the crucial role of journalism in contemporary society.

The festival screened over 20 films and presented six feature-length and six short documentaries across two competition categories.

Deputy Chief Editor Toma Istomina presented the film and shared insights on investigating sexual war crimes in Ukraine.

The documentary, authored by Olesia Bida, highlights that Ukrainian law enforcement has documented 292 cases of sexual violence by Russian soldiers, a figure that is likely just a fraction of the total.

Two survivors shared their stories with the journalists, who managed to identify the soldiers responsible for the rapes, along with their commanding officers. In one case, the team reconstructed the crime by working undercover, contacting civilians and military personnel in occupied Donetsk Oblast to uncover key details.

Other Kyiv Independent team members behind the project include Vitalii Havura, Max Yakobchuk, Kostiantyn Nechyporenko, and Yevheniia Motorevska.

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Ukrainian women shared their accounts of rape by Russian forces. We found their assailants
Editor’s Note: This story was produced in collaboration with the Organized Crime and Corruption and Reporting Project (OCCRP) and is published by both organizations. The story is based on the Kyiv Independent’s latest investigative documentary, “He Came Back.” The day after Russia launched its full…
The Kyiv IndependentOlesia Bida
WarUkraineRussian war crimesSexual violenceRussian-occupied Ukraine
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Olena Goncharova

Head of North America desk

Olena Goncharova is the Head of North America desk at The Kyiv Independent, where she has previously worked as a development manager and Canadian correspondent. She first joined the Kyiv Post, Ukraine's oldest English-language newspaper, as a staff writer in January 2012 and became the newspaper’s Canadian correspondent in June 2018. She is based in Edmonton, Alberta. Olena has a master’s degree in publishing and editing from the Institute of Journalism in Taras Shevchenko National University in Kyiv. Olena was a 2016 Alfred Friendly Press Partners fellow who worked for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette for six months. The program is administered by the University of Missouri School of Journalism in Columbia.

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