Human rights in Ukraine — website of the Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group

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“The dissident movement in Ukraine”. A virtual museum An online library of KHPG publications in English The right to privacy Tales of the Condemned:
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Documenting
war crimes in Ukraine
The Tribunal for Putin (T4P) global initiative was set up in response to the all-out war launched by Russia against Ukraine in February 2022.

News

7-year-olds in occupied Ukraine taught how to become part of Russia’s war machine

Russia has lowered the age to seven of activities aimed at teaching children, including in occupied Ukraine, to operate the drones it is using to slaughter Ukrainian civilians

Crimean sentenced to 17 years ‘for planning to blow up a Russian military helicopter’

While impossible to verify the information, the charges against Serhiy Kucherenko, the videoed ‘confession’ and many implausible details must raise doubts about this latest 'thwarted terrorist attack trial'

Russian court ignores abduction and torture, increasing huge sentence against Ukrainian for trying to rescue his mother

Ivan Zabavsky was abducted by the Russians as he tried to save his mother, after his aunt was killed by Russian shelling, and systematically tortured for ten months

Russia sentences 19-year-old Ukrainian to 8 years for ‘spying for Ukraine’ as a young boy

Kyrylo Shcherbak may well have been abducted and held captive in occupied Luhansk oblast from when he was just 16

New legislation formalizes Russia’s brutal isolation of Crimean Tatar and other Ukrainian political prisoners

The new provisions are draconian, however Russia’s treatment of Crimean Tatar and other Ukrainian political prisoners and POWs has always been savage, with or without norms

UN monitors report massive increase in Russian attacks on civilians throughout Ukraine

By mass attacks on residential buildings like the missile strike that killed 17-year-old Roman and his younger brother and sister, Russia is openly killing and maiming civilians and seeking to instil terror among the population

Life-threatening reprisals against Russian historian of Stalin’s Terror Yury Dmitriev

Instead of providing (potentially life-saving medical tests and treatment, the Russian prison staff are increasing Dmitriev's torment by punishing him for being too weak to do their 'morning exercises'

Russia sentences 64-year-old Melitopol woman to 16 years on idiotic ‘terrorism’ charges

The Russian FSB clearly needed daylight for their propaganda video, and knew that the lack of even minimal credibility would not stop a Russian court from passing a monstrous sentence against Larysa Havrylenko

New attack on independent Muslim community in Russian-occupied Crimea

The charges against Idris Yurdamov, Head of the Eskir Qirim Muslim community pertain to 'prohibited literature' which the community could have nothing to do with following earlier persecution

6-year sentences for prayer amid Russia’s mounting persecution of Jehovah’s Witnesses in occupied Crimea

It is becoming difficult to keep up with the new armed searches and insane criminal charges, with it a question of time before Russia extends such religious persecution to other Ukrainian territory under its occupation

Publications

Churches of the Donetsk region: The number of Russian attacks has increased this year

A few days before the “truce” announced by Russian dictator Putin, Russian troops attacked the Church of St. Ambrose of Optina in Dobropillya twice. Pokrovsk, Toretsk, and Kostiantynivka churches were also destroyed or damaged. Journalist Serhiy Okunev reported fresh information from the frontline cities about Russian attacks on churches.

Which civilians were released during the significant exchange?

Among the 120 civilians exchanged on May 23 was one political prisoner and 15 individuals who had been convicted of crimes in Ukraine and illegally deported to the Russian Federation from temporarily occupied territories. In addition, many Ukrainians who once committed crimes in Russia and have already served their sentences there were returned. How will their homeland welcome them?

Go to the enemy for evidence? Civilians who went through Russian torture chambers demand justice

Go through the torture chambers of the Vovchansky Aggregate Plant and never receive the status of a person who was deprived of personal freedom as a result of armed aggression against Ukraine. Why is the current law on the protection of civilian prisoners discriminatory?

Captivity, death sentence, and six Russian drone attacks. The story of a volunteer who saves civilians in the Donetsk region

Yevhen Tkachov has been volunteering since 2014. He was captured and almost died. But after being released, he did not stop evacuating people from dangerous areas.

They let you talk to a prisoner and then blackmail you into committing sabotage

Russian special services are trying to use the families of prisoners of war for criminal actions.

Yevhen Zakharov: Ukrainians are tortured in Russian captivity to break them physically and morally

Mordovia, Grozny, and even distant Minusinsk - human rights activists have already identified 127 places of imprisonment where the Russians are holding our citizens. We talked to the director of the Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group, Yevhen Zakharov, about which institutions our prisoners are held in, whether the conditions of detention are the same, and how many Ukrainians end up on trial in the Russian Federation.

Concluding observations of the UN Committee against Torture on Ukraine’s seventh periodic report

In April, the UN reviewed another report from our country on the implementation of the provisions of the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. We are publishing the conclusions, recommendations, and observations of the UN Committee against Torture.

Meeting with Representatives of Ukrainian Roma in Brussels

Anti-Discrimination Centre “Memorial” continues to highlight the challenges faced by Roma communities in Ukraine. This year, with the support of IPHR is organized a meeting with Roma veterans who voluntarily joined the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

A reliable tool in the hands of human rights defenders: how the KHPG database works

Convenient systematization, reliable archiving, and high speed of processing a large amount of information — all these make the database that KHPG fills during the search for missing and captured Ukrainians unique.

‘We dream of becoming unnecessary’: the Tribunal for Putin (T4P) initiative presents three-year report

On March 25, 2025, the Tribunal for Putin (T4P) initiative released the results of its three years of work — nearly 85,000 documented war crimes and nine submissions to the International Criminal Court.

Press Release: International campaign for the release of captives held as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine

Online press conference: On the tragic anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine the UN Special Rapporteur, Nobel Peace Prize laureates and human rights groups demand to free all captives of war.

Three Years of Full-scale Russia-Ukraine war: the Kharkiv Region

To date, personal data of 7,225 witnesses and victims of international crimes allegedly committed by the Russian occupiers, as well as 117 probable perpetrators of such crimes, have been recorded by our organization in the Kharkiv Region.