Documenting war crimes helps Ukrainians affected by the actions of the occupiers during the russian-Ukrainian war. The Vostok SOS Charitable Foundation launched this initiative in 2015 when we began collecting and documenting facts of human rights violations and international humanitarian law in terms of russian armed aggression in the East of Ukraine (illegal arrests, imprisonment, murders, torture, persecution, shelling of civilian infrastructure, etc.)
Our main goals are to restore justice, bring war criminals to justice, and preserve memory. The Vostok SOS team cooperates with law enforcement agencies and plans to submit the collected materials directly to the International Criminal Court. Also, in November 2022, a Vostok SOS representative joined a roundtable discussion at the International Criminal Court in the Hague.
In the context of the full-scale russian invasion, the documenting direction of the Vostok SOS has expanded to the entire territory of Ukraine. The team works in offices in Kyiv, Dnipro, and Uzhhorod, and carry out regular onsite visits. We conduct interviews with war victims in any convenient format, including online.This year, the team recorded more than 430 interviews with witnesses and victims of war crimes committed in Ukraine after February 24, 2022. Most of the interviews were in IDP centers and shelters, and the team made over 60 visits.
Based on the documented information, we submitted 40 complaints to the European Court of Human Rights (before russia withdrawal from PACE) and published 3 reports on human rights violations in the temporarily occupied territory, which you can find on the Foundation’s website.
Last week, the team of documenters held a two-day strategic session. We have ambitious plans that require improving processes and solving common challenges. There are currently several approaches to processing and disseminating information on russian war crimes among law enforcement agencies and civil society organizations (Ukrainian and international).
The team of documenters will continue its work with the Support For Vulnerable and Hard-To-Reach Groups in War-Affected Ukraine project, funded by the EU.
Vostok SOS has been collecting information about russian war crimes for eight years to ensure justice. If you have witnessed or become a war crime victim, please report it. You can tell your story by calling (+38 099 297 64 34 or +38 099 736 42 41).
You can also send your story to [email protected] or the @documenting_vostok_sos_bot chatbot.
This publication was produced with the financial support of the European Union. Its contents are the sole responsibility of Vostok SOS and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union (European Union in Ukraine)
