Occupied areas of Ukraine

Ukrainians in occupied territories continue to resist Russian colonisation, forced assimilation, violence and economic pillage. This page presents reliable sources of information, news and analysis, and links to solidarity campaigns.

There are campaigns trying to engage elected representatives (municipal and regional) in solidarity with their counterparts in the Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine.

There are efforts to diffuse information from local human rights groups.

There are solidarity initiatives to provide practical support to prisoners and their families.

Please also check out the British initiative on the same themes: https://ukraine-solidarity.org/more-information/

Russian troops attack demonstrators in occupied Kherson, 21 March 2022.

ENSU and friends are organising Zoom meetings with civil society activists active in human rights protection and labour solidarity with the temporarily Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine.

At these session, our Ukrainian friends will speak about what is happening in the occupied areas, what their organisations are doing to support civil society and the labour movement there, and what we might do from other countries.

We are united in supporting the human rights of people in the occupied areas, and those who have been displaced from them, and in calling for the withdrawal of Russian troops.

NEXT EVENT: The labour movement and human rights. Thursday 14th July, 6.0pm-7.30pm UK / 9:00-20.30 Central European Time / 20:00-21:30 Kyiv. Speakers include Pavel Lisyansky and Vera Yastrebova (Eastern Human Rights Group) as well as Ukrainian trade union activists

To participate, please register in advance here

Reliable sources of information

The following groups have a track record of accurate and truthful monitoring of human rights in Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine

Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group
Zmina (a human rights group based in Lviv)
Eastern Human Rights Group (please write in Russian/Ukrainian only)
Opora civil network
Cities4Cities (matching platform for Ukrainian and other European cities)

For a comprehensive overview, we recommend consulting the latest OSCE report on violations of international humanitarian and human rights law, war crimes and crimes against humanity 24 Feb-12 April. For information on the temporarily Russian-occupied territories see Section E.5, pages 18-25

Here is the video of our previous public event on this topic

Occupied: Human rights, democracy and civil society. Monday 4th July . Speakers: Maria Kurinna (Human Rights Centre ZMINA); Oleksandr Kliuzhev (Opora civil network); Denys Volokha (Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group); Vlad Mykhnenko (University of Oxford)

14 июля, с Павлом Лисянским и Верой Ястребовой (Восточная правозащитная группа), а также украинскими профсоюзными активистами | 14th July, with Pavel Lisyansky and Vera Yastrebova (Eastern Human Rights Group) as well as Ukrainian trade union activists.

Nom	Author	Date
“When there’s a problem, people come to us”	Pavel Lisyansky Posle	August 3, 2022
Ukraine: Censorship and self-censorship in time of war	Matt Salusbury	August 1, 2022
Do Crimeans await liberation from Russian occupation?	Olena Mukhina	July 25, 2022
Texte du groupe ukrainien « No Borders Project/ Projekt Bez Kordoniv » sur la détention de Maksym Butkevich, défenseur ukrainien des droits humains et anti-raciste, fait prisonnier par l'armée russe [ma traduction]	Evguénia Markon	July 14, 2022
Vérité et liberté pour Maksim Butkevitch : pourquoi cette campagne est importante.	Vincent Présumey	July 14, 2022
Free Maksym Butkevych: Russian troops capture Ukrainian anti-fascist activist	Federico Fuentes	July 14, 2022
Truth is only thing to counter Russian lies about Maksym Butkevych – father of captured human rights defender	Oleksandr Butkevych Andriy Kulykov	July 13, 2022
"Le bus avait une inscription " Ecole " écrit en ukrainien : comment une famille de Mariupol a été déportée en Russie.	ZMINA	July 13, 2022
We are all waiting for Maksym: we will hug him and continue making this world better.	Collective	July 12, 2022
Макс пошёл, чтобы с оружием в руках защищать те же ценности, за которые боролся всю жизнь	Александр Володарский	July 12, 2022
Max est allé défendre les mêmes valeurs pour lesquelles il s'est battu toute sa vie, les armes à la main.	Alexandre Volodarsky	July 12, 2022
Ukraine: “Women will not be able to forget everything and take the backseat again”	Nina Potarska	July 12, 2022
Discussion with Simon Pirani about Donbass, Crimea, Maidan and Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine	Cheryl Zuur Simon Pirani Charles Rachlis Bradley Mayer Denys Pilash	July 12, 2022
Ukraine: the ‘Russian world’ is militarising children	Simon Pirani	July 12, 2022
Maksym Butkevych, captured by the Russian invaders	Денис Пілаш	July 11, 2022
Un combattant ukrainien, représentatif de la résistance de gauche à l'envahisseur, est aux mains de l'impérialisme totalitaire russe…	Denys Pilash	July 11, 2022
RENDEZ MAKSIM BUTKEVITCH AUX OPPRIMES DU MONDE ENTIER !	Denys Pilash	July 10, 2022
Inside the Ukrainian resistance	David Patrikarakos	July 9, 2022
Volodimir Artiuh: Rusia nu vrea să cucerească Ucraina ca pe o colonie pentru a o exploata. Pentru Rusia e un război de poziție – să cucerească Ucraina ca pe un post pentru o luptă imperialistă mai lungă…	Vasile Ernu Volodimir Artiuh	July 7, 2022
How Solntsepyok, a brutal 2021 propaganda film, primed Russians for war with Ukraine	Greg Dolgopolov	July 5, 2022
Tragédia ukrajinskej triedy pracujúcich	Karmina.sk	June 29, 2022
Ukrainians face forcible deportation and conscription by Russian forces	Simon Pirani	June 27, 2022
Inside the Ukrainian Resistance	Alona Liasheva Denys Pilash	June 24, 2022
‘Death sentences’ of British & Moroccan POWs in occupied Donbas show clearly why Russia must be driven out of all of Ukraine	Halya Coynash	June 19, 2022
A pós-realidade de Donbass segundo Sergei Loznitsa	Paulo Portugal	June 8, 2022
Teachers in occupied Kherson refuse to collaborate with Russian occupiers	Halya Coynash	June 4, 2022
‘The Russian empire is failing in its own way’	Simon Pirani Anthony McIntyre	June 1, 2022
Oui, il y a génocide en Ukraine	Michel Fize	May 30, 2022
Notes: Support for people and organisations in the Russian-occupied areas	Minutes: Simon Pirani	May 27, 2022
Putin’s conquest of southeast Ukraine: Vexed questions of ‘negotiations’, gotcha moments and real imperial interests	Michael Karadjis	May 22, 2022
Destruction of signs, signs of destruction	Volodymyr Artiukh	May 17, 2022
I falsi storici al tempo della guerra in Ucraina. I casi Canfora e D'Orsi	Luciano Capone	May 14, 2022
Autodeterminação e a Guerra na Ucrânia	Taras Bilous	May 14, 2022
Selbstbestimmung und der Krieg in der Ukraine	Taras Bilous	May 14, 2022
«Easter and Kalashnikov»	Maksym Butkevych	May 8, 2022
Autodétermination et guerre en Ukraine	Taras Bilous	May 8, 2022
Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine Is a Colonial War	Amy Goodman, Timothy Snyder, Nermeen Shaikh	05/05/2022
Miti e realtà: sui fascisti in Ucraina, nel Donbass, in Russia, e sulla strage di Odessa / Parte 3 – Il nazifascismo separatista e le false leggende sul Donbass antifascista	Andrea Ferrario	May 4, 2022
Message to Russians from a Ukranian Socialist	Taras Bilous	March 5, 2022
Ein Brief aus Kiew an die russische Bevölkerung	Taras Bilous	March 3, 2022
Обращение к россиянам от украинского социалиста	Taras Bilous	March 1, 2022
Ukraine. La région de Kherson face à l’entreprise de «russification»	Léa Masseguin	30/04/2022
Ukraine : l’occupation russe face aux municipalités

More news (in English) on these themes compiled by our British friends, at https://ukraine-solidarity.org/more-information/