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Japan Forward
10-07-2025
- Politics
- Japan Forward
Inside Ukraine: Nuclear Peril, Torture, and Environmental Crisis
More than three years into Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, experts gathered at the Ukrainian Embassy in Tokyo on July 7 to spotlight a deepening pattern of Russian war crimes, nuclear threats, and environmental destruction. Jointly organized by Ukrainian human rights NGO Truth Hounds and United States-based Project Expedite Justice (PEJ), the briefing presented findings from a years-long investigation. Panelists opened the session with a stark reminder that the world's attention is fading just as Moscow's actions become more coordinated and brazen. "When Russia launched a full-scale invasion in February 2022, Russia's atrocities were on the first pages of newspapers," said Dmytro Koval, co-executive director of Truth Hounds. "It's unfortunate but not unexpected that Ukraine is disappearing from the media." Dmytro Koval, co-executive director of Truth Hounds and legal adviser at PEJ, responds to questions from the press. (©Kenji Yoshida) He stressed that the Russian military's violations are ongoing and not isolated. "They are not just some unconnected acts that violate international law or international human rights law, but a system of connected, organized violence." The impact, he added, stretches far beyond the front lines. One example cited was the June 6, 2023, destruction of the Kakhovka Dam on the Dnieper River in Kherson Oblast. The dam, which provided cooling water to Europe's largest nuclear facility at Zaporizhzhia, collapsed in what panelists described as a deliberate act of Russian sabotage. "[Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant] was licensed to operate only with the Kakhovka dam for cooling, but it was shut down by the Russians," said Roman Koval, head of research at Truth Hounds. The damage was immediate and widespread. An artificial flood destroyed wetlands, wiped out ecosystems, and contaminated drinking water for nearly one million people. In some areas, restoring groundwater is expected to take decades. Settlements on the left bank of the Dnieper River are underwater after the Kakhovka Dam was breached on June 6, 2023. (©АрміяInform) Using seismic data, satellite imagery, and firsthand accounts from engineers and residents, the investigation concluded that explosives were planted in the dam structure, access to which was controlled by Russian forces. "Based on our investigation, we concluded Russian troops carried out the explosion, and they were fully aware of the environmental consequences that would follow," said Cynthia Tai, an attorney and executive director of PEJ. Moscow has denied responsibility and blamed Ukrainian forces for the breach. The destruction of the dam has further destabilized the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, which has been under severe conditions since Russian forces took control in March 2022. While the plant was placed in cold shutdown in the following September, it continues to experience power outages and other operational hazards. On July 4, just days before the Tokyo briefing, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reported another complete loss of off-site power to the facility. Though the cause was not immediately determined, the incident coincided with air raid alarms in the region. A soldier stands guard at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in southern Ukraine, June 15, 2023. (©Reuters) The recurrence of such incidents, Tai warned, shows how fragile the plant's safety has become. "What was once virtually unimaginable, that a major nuclear power plant would repeatedly lose its external power connections, has unfortunately become a common occurrence," she said, quoting the IAEA Director General. Experts also raised concerns over the militarization of the facility. According to Dmytro Koval, the Russian military has positioned veterans at or near the plant and has launched missiles over the facility to strike other parts of Ukraine. The use of critical civilian infrastructure for military purposes, along with its susceptibility to attack, presents significant long-term risks that extend beyond Ukraine's borders. Inside the plant, the situation is no less dire. Ukrainian personnel continue to work under what experts described as an atmosphere of intimidation and abuse. "Since the occupation of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in 2022, dozens of Ukrainians have been held captive," said Roman Koval. "They are tortured because they resist the Russian occupation... Others fall victim because they refuse to sign contracts with the Russian [nuclear energy] company Rosatom." Based on 40 interviews conducted in Enerhodar City, where the plant is located, panelists said Rosatom officials were aware of the systematic torture and the existence of a network of detention chambers. In one incident, Ukrainian engineers were approached by members of the Russian security services and Rosatom associates, who pressured them to cooperate with Rosatom or face torture in the basement. Despite these conditions, Koval said satellite imagery of power line construction in May and June suggests Russia is seriously preparing to restart operations at the plant. Closing the session, the speakers called for stronger and more coordinated global action. "Strengthen and expand the international law framework with governance and response from the international community," said Dmytro Koval. "Joint actions that might change the behavior of the state." Asked whether existing legal institutions can deliver justice, he expressed confidence that both the dam's destruction and the occupation of the nuclear plant will ultimately reach the International Criminal Court. President Zelenskyy meets with European leaders at a security summit on March 26, 2025. European nations reaffirmed their support for Ukraine amid concerns over a weakening US commitment. (©Emmanuel Macron Twitter) Meanwhile, Tai said Japan is well positioned to contribute, citing its experience with the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings and the Fukushima nuclear accident in 2011. As one example, she noted that Fukushima University's Institute of Environmental Radioactivity is working with German and Ukrainian researchers to produce daily radiological forecast. In a related development on Wednesday, the European Court of Human Rights found Moscow responsible for grave and widespread human rights abuses in Ukraine since its full-scale invasion in 2022. Author: Kenji Yoshida
Indian Express
26-06-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
‘A tragic completeness': Ukrainian novelist awarded Orwell prize posthumously for unfinished final book
Two years after she was killed in a Russian missile strike, Victoria Amelina, a Ukrainian novelist who became a war crimes researcher after Russia's full-scale invasion of her country, was posthumously awarded the Orwell Prize for Political Writing for her unfinished work, Looking at Women, Looking at War: A War and Justice Diary from Ukraine. The book, released by HarperCollins with a foreword by Margaret Atwood, was described by prize judges as 'technically unfinished but with a tragic completeness.' Atwood, writing in the introduction, calls the war 'Russia's appalling and brutal campaign to annihilate Ukraine,' and reflects that 'in the middle of a war, there is little past or future … there is only the white heat of the moment.' It is in this white heat that Amelina's final book lives, between being witness of the violence, preserving fragments of memory, and brief moments of calm and camaraderie . Born in Lviv in 1986, Amelina trained as a computer scientist before turning to literature. Her debut novel The Fall Syndrome was published in 2014, and her follow-up, Dom's Dream Kingdom (2017), established her as one of Ukraine's leading young literary voices. She also wrote children's books, ran literary festivals, and was raising her young son when Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022. At the time, Amelina was at work on a novel. Within weeks, she had set it aside. 'The quest for justice has turned me from a novelist and mother to a war crimes reporter,' she would later write. She joined Truth Hounds, a Ukrainian human rights organisation, and began documenting war crimes: interviewing witnesses, photographing the ruins of cultural sites, and writing. The book she eventually began was part memoir and part chronicle and traced the lives of Ukrainian women who fell prey to wartime brutality. Among them were Evgenia, a lawyer-turned-soldier; Oleksandra Matviichuk, who helped document war crimes and won a Nobel Peace Prize in 2022; and Yulia, a librarian who helped expose the abduction and murder of a children's book author. The manuscript Amelina left behind — roughly 60 percent complete — included essays, field notes, and fragments, some with no more than a title. The first chapter, titled The Shell Hole in the Fairy Tale, opens with the author preparing for a vacation to Egypt. Her newly purchased handgun looks out of place lying near colourful dresses and swimsuits. 'A full-scale Russian invasion has been postponed for the last eight years since 2014,' she writes, still half-believing that war might be avoided. 'Amelina is setting off for a holiday with her young son as the war comes chasing after her and everyone else in Ukraine,' the Orwell Foundation noted in its citation. 'She is finishing a funding application for a literary festival while standing in the airport security line, checking the news and thinking about her new gun.' On the night of June 27, 2023, Amelina was dining with a group of international writers in Kramatorsk, a city in the embattled Donetsk region, when a Russian cruise missile struck the restaurant. She suffered critical head injuries and died four days later. She was 37. Her husband, Alex Amelin, accepted the £3,000 award at a ceremony in London this week, held on George Orwell's birthday. The prize money will support the New York Literary Festival in Donetsk, which Amelina founded. The town, ironically named after the American city, now lies close to the front lines. The Orwell Prize, awarded annually by the Orwell Foundation, honours work that exemplifies George Orwell's values of integrity, decency, and truth-telling in political writing. It seeks to fulfill Orwell's enduring ambition 'to make political writing into an art.'
Forbes
14-06-2025
- Politics
- Forbes
Russian Strikes On Ukrainian Hotels Silencing The Press
A damaged five-star Kharkiv Palace hotel after Russian missile attack on December 31, 2023, in ... More Kharkiv, Ukraine. As a result of the night attack, the building of the five-star Kharkiv Palace hotel was damaged, as well as cars parked on the street nearby. (Photo credit: Yan Dobronosov/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images) In May 2025, Reporters without Borders (RSF) and Truth Hounds, both non-governmental organizations, published a report on the deliberate attacks on journalists by the Kremlin, 'Last check-in: The Russian strikes on Ukrainian hotels silencing the press.' As the report outlines, since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, both Ukrainian and foreign journalists have come under Russian fire, even in their hotels. As the research shows, between February 24, 2022 and March 15, 2025, Russia conducted 31 strikes on 25 Ukrainian hotels, mostly in regions near the front line, including Kharkiv, Donetsk, Dnipro, Odessa, and Kyiv, the capital. As the report suggests, only one of these hotels was being used for military purposes, and all others were civilian objects. In total, 25 journalists and media professionals have found themselves under these hotel bombings. At least seven have been injured. One person, Reuters' safety advisor Ryan Evans, was killed during a strike on his hotel in August 2024 in Kramatorsk, eastern Ukraine. As the report concludes, Russian strikes on civilian hotels in Ukraine are clearly aimed at obstructing independent war coverage. It further explains that, as the war progressed, such attacks have multiplied with eight in 2022, five in 2023, 14 in 2024, and four in the first two months of 2025. The report further identified emerging trends from such attacks, including that the majority of the attacks (or 27 out of 31) took place near the battle front, namely, Kharkiv, Donetsk, Odessa, and Dnipro. Twenty-three attacks occurred at night when hotels are most occupied. Furthermore, at least 15 strikes were conducted with missiles launched from 9K720 Iskander systems, known for their precision. Some have a margin of error of just around 20 meters. These attacks have had a profound effect on the working conditions and working practices of journalists and the media more broadly. As the report indicates, since 2023, 64% of Ukrainian journalists and 43 % of foreign correspondents have avoided staying in hotels near the battle front. Around 13% of all surveyed journalists had to reduce or suspend assignments in these regions, and 64 % of Ukrainian and international journalists report logistical obstacles to their reporting due to difficulty accessing safe accommodation. Journalists in the affected regions now use unmarked vehicles, do not use the 'press' signs on bulletproof vests, and turn off geolocation to avoid being seen. Furthermore, 44% of journalists reported having suffered from stress or psychological trauma following the hotel attacks. The deliberate attacks on journalists follow a well-established disinformation narrative disseminated by several actors, including the Russian Ministry of Defense and pro-Kremlin Telegram channels. This disinformation narrative presents journalists as mercenaries and hotels as military bases. However, as the report makes it clear, of the 25 hotels, 24 were civilian facilities. The report explains how this disinformation strategy has led to the killing of Ryan Evans, Reuters' safety advisor. On August 24, 2024, a Russian strike hit the Sapphire Hotel in Kramatorsk, killing Ryan Evans and injuring two of his journalist colleagues, Dan Peleschuk, an American citizen, and Ivan Liubysh-Kyrdey, a Ukrainian citizen. The report confirmed that no military personnel were present in the hotel. Russia accused Ryan of being a 'former MI6 agent,' allegations which have been denied by the family and employers. Attacks on journalists are part of Russia's systematic weaponization of information during the full-scale invasion of Ukraine and aim to control the narratives around Russia's war against Ukraine. All such attacks must be addressed, including with legal avenues for justice and accountability. Journalists and news media benefit from the general protections under international humanitarian law enjoyed by civilians and civilian objects, and cannot be considered as military objectives, unless they make an effective contribution to military action. Russia's attacks on journalists can amount to war crimes and must be investigated and prosecuted as such. The report makes several recommendations, including for the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the Ukrainian Prosecutor General to prioritize investigations into attacks on journalists and civilians and treat them as a war crime. It further calls upon authorities globally to prioritize prosecuting crimes against journalists and media workers using all legal means available, including the principle of universal jurisdiction.
New Straits Times
30-05-2025
- Politics
- New Straits Times
Many Ukrainians baulk at conceding land to Russia
MARIUPOL natives Oleksandr and Liudmyla Lytvyn fled home three years ago during Russia's 86-day siege of the port city in southern Ukraine. Now they are following peace talks between the warring countries anxiously, fearing they may never return. Mariupol, home to more than 400,000 people before the full-scale invasion, was seized by Russian forces in May 2022 when the city's last defenders were ordered to surrender, ending one of the bloodiest chapters of the war. "We lived our entire life in Mariupol. I believe that until the very last that it will be Ukrainian. I do not know how," said Liudmyla, 65, a retired teacher. Her longing to see occupied land back under Ukrainian control is widely shared, presenting a challenge to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as he comes under pressure to consider territorial concessions under any peace agreement with Russia. Russian President Vladimir Putin has pushed Kyiv to cede not only occupied territory but also land not controlled by Moscow, while the United States has said loss of land seems inevitable. More than three years into its full-scale invasion, Russia controls nearly one fifth of Ukraine and its troops are making incremental but steady gains in the east. Zelenskyy himself has acknowledged that Ukraine cannot recapture all of its lost territory through military force, but wants to settle the issue through diplomacy. Oleksandr, 65, said the issue of what Ukraine may have to give up in return for peace depends not only on Kyiv. "The issue here is whether there are any limits on weapons," he said, referring to doubts over whether the US will continue military support for Ukraine now that Donald Trump is in the White House and moving closer to Russia. "It depends not only on Zelenskyy but also on other matters, weapons in particular," Oleksandr added, sitting next to his wife in a dormitory in the central city of Dnipro where they have moved temporarily. This month, Kyiv and Moscow held their first direct talks since 2022, yielding little progress on ending the war. After a subsequent phone call between Trump and Putin, the US president appeared to withdraw from efforts to mediate peace, leaving Ukraine exposed against a larger enemy. For displaced residents of Mariupol — the largest Ukrainian city to fall to the Russians since 2022 — that raises concerns not only about territorial concessions but also over whether justice will be served. Vadym Boichenko, Mariupol's mayor-in-exile, said his team gathered evidence showing at least 22,000 civilians were killed in nearly three months of fighting that reduced a city once famous for its vibrant port and giant steel plants to rubble. Human Rights Watch, along with Truth Hounds and SITU Research, estimated 8,000 people died from fighting or war-related causes. Russia pounded Mariupol with artillery, rockets and missiles and cut off access to electricity, heating, fresh water, food and medical supplies — creating a humanitarian catastrophe, Boichenko added. "All we ask for is recognition (of the alleged crimes) and punishment," he said in Kyiv in one of the "IMariupol" centres set up in 22 cities across Ukraine to help displaced residents with basic needs. Moscow-installed authorities have overseen a major reconstruction programme in Mariupol, and hold it up as a symbol of the benefits of Russia's annexation of four Ukrainian regions as well as the Crimean peninsula. Moscow has demanded that Ukraine withdraw its troops from four Ukrainian regions where fighting is raging, even though it does not control all of them. The overwhelming majority of Ukrainians — 82 per cent — reject those demands, according to an opinion poll by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology conducted in May. Slightly more than half of the population — 51 per cent — would support a compromise with a de-facto recognition of currently occupied territories in exchange for security guarantees from Europe and the US. But about 40 per cent considered this unacceptable, raising questions over how Ukraine and Russia can break the deadlock in a nascent peace process. "It is not fair to leave them what they took away. It is our land," said Dmytro, 35, who had settled in Mariupol after being forced to leave the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk in 2015.
TimesLIVE
29-05-2025
- Politics
- TimesLIVE
Many Ukrainians balk at conceding land to Russia, entangling nascent peace process
Mariupol natives Oleksandr and Liudmyla Lytvyn fled home three years ago during Russia's 86-day siege of the port city in southern Ukraine. Now they are following peace talks between the warring countries anxiously, fearing they may never return. Mariupol, home to more than 400,000 people before the full-scale invasion, was seized by Russian forces in May 2022 when the city's last defenders were ordered to surrender, ending one of the bloodiest chapters of the war. 'We lived our entire life in Mariupol. I believe until the very last that it will be Ukrainian. I do not know how,' Liudmyla, 65, a retired teacher, told Reuters. Her longing to see occupied land back under Ukrainian control is widely shared, presenting a challenge to President Volodymyr Zelensky as he comes under pressure to consider territorial concessions under any peace agreement with Russia. Ukraine has given no indication it is willing to do so, but Russian President Vladimir Putin has pushed Kyiv to cede not only occupied territory but also land not controlled by Moscow, while the US has said loss of land seems inevitable. More than three years into its full-scale invasion, Russia controls nearly one fifth of Ukraine and its troops are making incremental but steady gains in the east. Zelensky himself has acknowledged that Ukraine cannot recapture all of its lost territory through military force, but wants to settle the issue through diplomacy. Oleksandr, 65, said the issue of what Ukraine may have to give up in return for peace depends not only on Kyiv. 'The issue here is whether there are any limits on weapons,' he said, referring to doubts over whether the US will continue military support for Ukraine now that Donald Trump is in the White House and moving closer to Russia. 'It depends not only on Zelensky but also on other matters, weapons in particular,' Oleksandr added, sitting next to his wife in a dormitory in the central city of Dnipro where they have moved temporarily. Without US military backing, Ukraine's position in negotiations would be significantly weakened. RARE DIRECT TALKS This month Kyiv and Moscow held their first direct talks since 2022, yielding little progress on ending the war. After a subsequent phone call between Trump and Putin, the US president appeared to withdraw from efforts to mediate peace, leaving Ukraine exposed against a larger enemy. For displaced residents of Mariupol — the largest Ukrainian city to fall to the Russians since 2022 — that raises concerns not only about territorial concessions but also over whether justice will be served. Vadym Boichenko, Mariupol's mayor-in-exile, said his team gathered evidence showing at least 22,000 civilians were killed in nearly three months of fighting that reduced a city once famous for its vibrant port and giant steel plants to rubble. Human Rights Watch, along with Truth Hounds and SITU Research, estimated 8,000 people died from fighting or war-related causes, though it could not establish how many were civilians and said the true count may be significantly higher. Reuters could not independently verify estimates of the death toll. Russia pounded Mariupol with artillery, rockets and missiles and cut off access to electricity, heating, fresh water, food and medical supplies — creating a humanitarian catastrophe, Boichenko added. 'All we ask for is recognition (of the alleged crimes) and punishment,' Boichenko said in Kyiv in one of the 'IMariupol' centres set up in 22 cities across Ukraine to help displaced residents with basic needs. Russia's defence ministry did not respond to a request for comment on this article. Russia says it liberated the city from Ukrainian 'neo-Nazis', using one of the main justifications for its invasion that Kyiv and its allies dismiss as absurd. Moscow-installed authorities have overseen a major reconstruction programme in Mariupol, and hold it up as a symbol of the benefits of Russia's annexation of four Ukrainian regions as well as the Crimean peninsula. Russia blames Ukraine's armed forces for the city's destruction, alleging they used the local population as human shields. Ukraine rejects that accusation. SWEEPING DEMANDS Moscow has demanded that Ukraine withdraw its troops from four Ukrainian regions where fighting is raging, even though it does not control all of them. The overwhelming majority of Ukrainians — 82% — reject those demands, according to an opinion poll by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology conducted in May. Slightly more than half of the population — 51% — would support a compromise with a de facto recognition of currently occupied territories in exchange for robust security guarantees from Europe and the US, even though the latter has indicated it would not provide them. But about 40% considered this unacceptable, raising questions over how Ukraine and Russia can break the deadlock in a nascent peace process. 'It is not fair to leave them what they took away. It is our land,' said Dmytro, 35, who had settled in Mariupol after being forced to leave the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk in 2015. Dmytro, now also based in Dnipro but concerned he might have to flee again, declined to give his last name as his mother and grandmother still live in the occupied Donetsk region. 'What we lived through in Mariupol is horror,' he said, recollecting how he shielded his son, now 10, from bombardment and cooked food on open fires in the streets. He fled Mariupol in March 2022.
