Editor's Note: The story is based on the documentary "Destroy, in Whole or in Part," published by the Kyiv Independent's War Crimes Investigations Unit. Since the start of the full-scale invasion, Russia has committed thousands of crimes in Ukraine. Ivan Vyhivskyi, the National Police head, said that Kyiv is investigating
In the spring of 2022, right after Russia’s atrocities in Bucha were exposed, several Western leaders uttered the term “genocide.” U.S. President Joe Biden, former U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson, former Colombian President Ivan Duque, and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau did so in short succession, albeit
"Genocide is the crime of crimes. So, is Russia committing one in Ukraine?" The new documentary by the Kyiv Independent's War Crimes Investigations Unit, "Destroy, in Whole or in Part," debuted on YouTube on March 22.
Key developments on March 20: * Military: Situation near Robotyne 'in flux' but not critical * Drone strikes reportedly hit Russia's Engels airbase, other locations in Belgorod, Saratov oblasts * Prosecutor's Office: Russian officer who shot civilians in Hostomel identified * Lithuania allocates $38 million to buy shells for Ukraine via Czech initiative * Russian
The new Head of the International Criminal Court (ICC) Tomoko Akane told Kyodo News on March 20 that "Heaven's vengeance is slow but sure" when asked what fate awaits Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Ukraine has collected pretrial information on over 128,000 victims of war crimes, Veronika Plotnikova, the head of the Coordinating Center for Support of Victims and Witnesses of the Prosecutor Generals Office, said on air on March 18.
Russian torture of Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs) is “widespread and systematic” and shows a “blatant disregard for human dignity,” a report from a United Nations commission of inquiry on Ukraine said on March 15.
Five Ukrainian children were sleeping peacefully in their beds on March 2 when Russia launched the overnight drone attack against their hometown of Odesa that took their lives. Some came from different families but lived in the same apartment building in the southern Ukrainian port city. Instead of waking up
Lieutenant General Sergei Kobylash and Admiral Viktor Sokolov "are each allegedly responsible" for a number of war crimes, including "directing attacks at civilian objects," the ICC said.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued arrest warrants for two Russian military commanders for carrying out strikes on Ukrainian electricity infrastructure during the winter of 2022 to 2023, the court announced on March 5.
Ukraine's Prosecutor General's Office charged two Russian military servicemen for allegedly shooting a civilian in Kyiv Oblast's Bucha in 2022, killing the person on the spot, prosecutors said on March 5.
I started the "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III" video game campaign on the evening of Nov. 10, 2023, in my apartment in Kyiv with the aim of finishing it in a single night. I was two hours in when Star Wars star Mark Hamill’s familiar voice let out
Key developments on March 2-3: * Russian drone attack on Odesa kills 12, including 5 children * Air Force: Ukraine downs another Russian Su-34 jet * Russian air activity over Ukraine reduced after recent significant aircraft losses, Air Force says * UK Defense Ministry: Average number of daily Russian losses reaches new high in
Driving out of Kyiv the roads tell the dark history of the early days of Russia’s full-scale invasion. A low buzzing sound echoes across the highway as hundreds of cars drive toward the suburb of Bucha. “It’s from tanks and heavy vehicles. They left these cuts in the
Law enforcement opened an investigation into Russian troops executing seven Ukrainian soldiers who surrendered as prisoners of war (POWs) in Donetsk Oblast, the Prosecutor General’s Office reported on Feb. 25.
Working alongside investigators and prosecutors on sexual and gender-based crimes is a horrific experience. It involves listening to, reading, and hearing accounts of unimaginable suffering in sickening detail. To support the work of Ukraine’s Prosecutor General’s Office, Mobile Justice Teams (MJTs) comprised of Ukrainian and international experts were
Ukrainian and Western officials gathered in Berlin on Feb. 23 to discuss how to assist Ukraine with investigating Russian war crimes and bring perpetrators to justice, Ukrainian media outlet Ukrinform reported.
Editor’s Note: This story contains descriptions of graphic scenes. “My brain will desperately want to forget all this,” narrates journalist Mstyslav Chernov over footage he filmed of city workers adding bodies to a mass grave in Mariupol, “but the camera will not let it happen.” At the start of
Ukraine’s Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets said on Feb. 20 he appealed to the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to investigate the killings of Ukrainian prisoners of war at the Zenit strongpoint in Avdiivka.
In a video published by the Ground Forces, Ukrainian soldiers approached a group of Russian troops in a trench. One of them started to shoot and killed two Ukrainian soldiers.
The new package contained 66 vehicles, 250 drones, nine 3D laser ground scanning devices, and a DNA laboratory, the Interior Ministry said.
The Ukrainian priest Stepan Podolchak was kidnapped from his home two days earlier by Russian forces, representatives from Kalanchak's military administration told the Suspilne media outlet.
WARNING: The story contains graphic descriptions. When the neighbor told her what happened to her brothers, Tetiana Zahatna's howl echoed across the village. The twins had stepped out of the house earlier. Then she heard the shooting. Though Russian forces never occupied the village of Mokhnatyn in Chernihiv Oblast, their
Among the Russian camps for Ukrainian prisoners of war, the most notorious one is Olenivka, in Russian-occupied Donetsk Oblast. This prison-turned-camp became infamous due to reports of abuse and torture inflicted upon its prisoners. Who runs this prison?
In the early days of the full-scale invasion as Russian troops were occupying large swaths of territory outside of Kyiv, one local village resident was relieved to see what he thought were Ukrainian troops. The resident, Ivan Drozd, shouted the common Ukrainian salute "Slava Ukraini!" (Glory to Ukraine!) to the
Kirill Popov, the first deputy head of the Russian Federal Penitentiary Service's Moscow branch, is likely to have overseen the work of the Olenivka POW camp, located in the occupied parts of Donetsk Oblast.
Over the past week, the Clooney Foundation for Justice (CFJ), a non-governmental organization founded by Amal and George Clooney, filed three cases with German federal prosecutors to investigate crimes committed by Russian forces in Ukraine. Submitted on Oct. 26, the cases rely on absolute universal jurisdiction in Germany, which allows
“It is not considered a war crime if you had fun,” reads graffiti left by Russian soldiers in the backroom of a bar in the village of Velyka Komyshuvakha, located in the Izium district of Kharkiv Oblast. Before being liberated, the area was occupied by Russian forces for six months
One thought helped Yevhen Mezhevyi overcome the ordeal of Russian captivity – the thought of his three young children. Single father Mezhevyi, 40, was captured by Russian troops at a checkpoint when he and his children were fleeing their war-torn hometown of Mariupol last spring. For 45 days, Mezhevyi was kept
The Kyiv Independent’s findings point to the systemic and deliberate nature of child murders by the Russian military in Ukraine. Our in-depth investigation allowed us to identify those responsible for the killing of a child.
Editor's Note: The story is based on the documentary “Bullet Holes,” published by the Kyiv Independent's War Crimes Investigations Unit. On a cold March morning, the Mahdyk family bundled themselves into their minivan. Their village near Kyiv was occupied, and they couldn’t bear staying there any longer. The family
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