International justice

Ukrainian prisoners of war are welcomed following a prisoner exchange on May 25, 2025 in Chernihiv Region, Ukraine. Today's swap brought home 303 soldiers, completing a "1,000 for 1,000" prisoner swap between Ukraine and Russia after three days of exchanges. © Paula Bronstein/Getty Images

Ukrainian Returnees Face Complex Needs

Judicial and human rights institutions integrate support for returning detainees into ongoing war crimes justice processes.

18 Nov 25

Rescue workers exhume bodies from unidentified makeshift graves at the Pishanske cemetery on September 19, 2022 in Izium, Ukraine. © Paula Bronstein /Getty Images

Explaining the Slow Pace of War Crimes Justice

Administrative challenges, staffing issues and lack of capacity have led to a "colossal" gap between documented war crimes and verdicts.

14 Nov 25

Ukrainian families of prisoners of war wait to see if their loved ones will be amongst the arrivals on May 24, 2025 in Chernihiv, Ukraine. © Paula Bronstein/Getty Images

Protecting Ukrainian POWs

Read about efforts underway to hold Russia accountable for its "widespread and systematic" abuses of Ukrainian prisoners of war.

7 Nov 25

A view to Sevastopol on August 12, 2015, Crimea. Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a bill in March 2014 to annexe the Crimean peninsula but Ukraine and most of the international community do not recognise its annexation. © Alexander Aksakov/Getty Images

Demographic Crime: How Russia is Repopulating Occupied Territories

Such actions are a flagrant violation of international laws which protects civilians in wartime.

4 Nov 25

A nurse looks after an orphan child at the Kherson Regional Children’s hospital on November 26, 2022 in Kherson, Ukraine. Throughout Kherson’s more than eight months under Russian control, staff at the hospital have cared for and protected a group of 10 orphans after hearing that occupying authorities were forcibly removing children to Crimea and Russia itself. © Chris McGrath/Getty Images

Ukraine: “They Just Took the Child”

Investigators allege that two Ukrainian children were seized at a de facto care facility in occupied Kherson.

4 Nov 25

Firefighters clear rubble for hours in search of missing people following an air strike, on September 24, 2024 in Kharkiv, Ukraine. © Nikoletta Stoyanova/Getty Images

Ukraine: “I Hold on to My Faith in Justice”

Ukrainians hope that the Hague-based international Register of Damage will eventually secure Russian reparations for victims of the war.

31 Oct 25

Chernihiv Regional Youth Library, partially destroyed by a Russian airstrike on the night of March 11, 2022. © Sceiron

Can Ukraine Prosecute Crimes Against Cultural Heritage?

A lack of provision under Ukrainian law means officials and activists are struggling to make their case in court.

24 Oct 25

A view of a destroyed church which served as a military redoubt for Russian soldiers on April 10, 2022 in Lukashivka village, Ukraine. © Anastasia Vlasova/Getty Images

Ukraine: Torture in Lukashivka

Trial under way for the brutal treatment of POWs in occupied village.

20 Oct 25

Russian rifleman Dmitrii Kurashov, captured by Ukraine's forces in late January 2024, is accused of a shooting a Ukrainian soldier after he had surrendered in Zaporizhzhia region. © Security Service of Ukraine

Ukraine: “Just Sentence Me”

Russian rifleman has admitted to killing a Ukrainian POW, although he refuses to give evidence.

14 Oct 25

Russian POWs are seen waiting in line to call home to Russia in a prisoner of war detention camp on August 3, 2023 in the Lviv region, Ukraine. Hundreds of captured Russian POWs including conscripts, mercenaries, Wagner militia and Storm-Z Russian prisoners are being held in up to 50 sites around Ukraine. © Paula Bronstein /Getty Images

Prosecuting Russia’s Foreign Mercenaries

Fighters have been recruited from as far afield as South East Asia, Africa and North Korea, but their legal status remains ambiguous.