Police: Russian forces attack civilian car in Chernihiv Oblast, killing man

Russian troops opened fire at a civilian car in the border area of Chernihiv Oblast, killing a man, Ukraine's National Police reported on April 13.

Ukraine war latest: Ukraine reportedly hits aviation training center in Russia's Voronezh Oblast

Key developments on April 9: * Ukraine hits aviation training center in Russia's Voronezh Oblast, source says * Russian attacks against 3 Ukrainian regions kill 2, injure 10 * Germany to deliver 20 additional armored vehicles to Ukraine * IAEA: Drone attack reported on Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant's training center * Prosecutors investigating executions of

Police: Russian soldier suspected of torturing civilians in Mykolaiv Oblast identified

The National Police in Mykolaiv Oblast identified a 28-year-old Russian military mechanic from the 205th Motorized Infantry Brigade, who reportedly tortured civilians, the police said on April 8.

Prosecutor General's Office: Russian soldiers kill 3 Ukrainian POWs

The Prosecutor General's Office has opened an investigation into a video that purportedly shows Russian soldiers shooting three captured and unarmed Ukrainian servicemen in Kherson Oblast, the office announced on April 7.

Netherlands allocates $11 million to help Ukraine investigate Russian war crimes

The Netherlands pledged to make available 10 million euros ($10.8 million) to help Ukraine investigate Russian war crimes, Dutch Foreign Minister Bruins Slot said on April 2 at the Restoring Justice for Ukraine Conference.

Allies demand international tribunal to hold Russia accountable for crimes in Ukraine

Over 40 countries called for a special tribunal to hold Russia accountable for war crimes committed in Ukraine at the Restoring Justice for Ukraine conference held in the Netherlands on April 2.

Experts warn UN court’s approach in Ukraine versus Russia genocide cases ‘may lead to more instability’

The UN’s International Court of Justice, or ICJ, is currently hearing cases related to genocide in Ukraine as the country looks to seek justice for Russia’s ongoing crimes against it. Experts interviewed by the Kyiv Independent are worried that the Hague-based court, which is the principal judicial organ

Portrait of the Invader: 2 years of Russian soldiering in Ukraine

In two years of total war, Moscow has tried every trick to keep the death march going. It held a draft, expanded state-sponsored mercenary companies, recruited convicted prisoners, integrated proxies from occupied Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts, and forcibly conscripted Ukrainians in occupied territories and Ukrainian POWs. Lately, Russia has seized

Danylo Mokryk: Say the word ‘genocide’

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

Kyiv Independent's new documentary debuts on YouTube

"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.

Prosecutor General's Office: Over 128,000 victims of war crimes recorded in Ukraine

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 POWs ‘widespread and systematic,’ UN commission says

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.

Ukraine charges 2 Russian soldiers with murdering civilian in Bucha in 2022

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.

Opinion: Call of Duty's Modern Warfare III whitewashes the Kremlin's crimes

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

Opinion: Sexual violence is not a hidden war crime in Ukraine

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

‘20 Days in Mariupol’ can win an Oscar. Will it make the world care about Russian war crimes in Ukraine?

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

Russian forces kill Ukrainian priest in occupied part of Kherson Oblast

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.

How Russian troops killed 3 unarmed teenagers in Ukrainian village

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

Inside a prison where Russia tortured Ukrainian POWs. Investigation by the Kyiv Independent

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?

‘I’m afraid we’ll never find them:’ Russia holds thousands of Ukrainian civilians hostage

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

Olenivka POW camp, where Ukrainians were tortured, was likely supervised by a high-ranking official from Moscow

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.

Clooney Foundation for Justice brings alleged Russian crimes to German prosecutors

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

The writing is on the wall: Ukrainian archivists collect Russian graffiti as evidence of war crimes

“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

Abducting the future: How Ukrainian parents fight to rescue their children from Russia

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

BULLET HOLES | An investigation into Russia’s systemic killings of Ukrainian children

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.

Deliberate murders of Ukrainian children by Russian soldiers reveal culture of impunity

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

UPROOTED | An investigation into Russia’s abduction of Ukrainian children

The Kyiv Independent's War Crimes Investigation Unit established the names of Russian-controlled officials who took part in the abduction and followed the paths of families who risked their lives to bring their children back.

UPROOTED | An investigation into Russia’s abduction of Ukrainian children

EU top justice official: We aren't waiting for war's end to prosecute Russian crimes

As Russia's war against Ukraine rages on, the European Union's top justice official says the EU and its partners want to bring all perpetrators of international crimes to justice. "Not only war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide, but also the crime of aggression," European Commissioner for Justice Didier Reynders

'It was hell.' Mother speaks of rescuing her child from Russian captivity

On Oct. 8, Tetiana Bodak was busy organizing a funeral for her mother, who was killed by a Russian attack in then-occupied Kherson Oblast, when she got an unexpected and very emotional phone call from her son. "Mom, I'm in Oleshky (a Russian-occupied settlement in Kherson Oblast). On the way

'They are destroying us.' People plea to escape flooded Russian-occupied areas

Editor’s note: For this story, we spoke to people living or having family in the Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine. For their safety, they are identified by first name only. After destroying the Nova Kakhovka dam and stranding thousands of Ukrainians in the catastrophic flood zone, Russians prevented people in

What are the consequences of the Kakhovka dam’s demolition?

The destruction of the Kakhovka dam can lead to serious humanitarian, ecological, economic, military, and legal consequences. The demolition was carried out by Russian forces in southern Ukraine in the early hours of June 6.  And it’s among the most dramatic violations of the Geneva Conventions in recent decades.