Ukraine: How the War Began
Hear from Ukrainians describing how the war began for them - and their efforts to ensure it ends in justice.
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Ukraine: How the War Began
Hear from Ukrainians describing how the war began for them - and their efforts to ensure it ends in justice.
Welcome to IWPR’s Frontline Update, your go-to source to hear from journalists and local voices at the front lines of conflict.
THE BIG PICTURE
As we approach the fourth anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, we hear from Ukrainians recalling how the war started for them - and their efforts to ensure it ends in justice and accountability.
VOICES FROM THE FRONTLINE
“Just before the full-scale invasion began, I was one of the very few people in my circle of colleagues, journalists and friends who believed that it actually might happen,” said journalist Olga Tokariuk. She had taken her family from Kyiv to her western Ukraine hometown of Chernivtsi.
“I said, this will be just for a few days, we will be back soon,” she continued, describing intense guilt when the attack began. Tokariuk vowed she would devote herself to speaking out about the war.
“I decided, as a journalist, that I could be a voice for those people who could not tell their story,” she said.
“For my family, the war began probably at least 100 years ago,” said Olia Hercules, a London-based Ukrainian food writer and chef. “I realised recently that not one generation of my family has escaped dispossession, deportation and war.”
She described the horror of following events as Russian tanks rolled into her hometown Khakhovka, in southern Ukraine, and the terror as her family eventually had to flee.
Journalist and author Natalya Gumyenuk noted that for her, the war began with Russia’s invasion of Crimea more than a decade ago.
“A different fight started in 2022,” she continued, “and then, working on accountability and justice and recording war crime testimonies, we started to think; can we do something so that these stories won't be erased?”
WHY IT MATTERS
Four years on from the full-scale invasion, Ukrainians have shown extraordinary resilience.
Gumyenuk’s imperative to document grew into The Reckoning Project, a groundbreaking initiative launched and incubated by IWPR in its first year of operation which collected survivor testimonies to be used in journalism as well as justice processes.
(Tokariuk, Gumyenuk and Hercules were speaking as part of The Reckoning, a powerful play by Dash Arts, using some of those narratives to keep the story alive in the public consciousness).
Hercules went on to launch the #CookForUkraine social media initiative which raised over two million pounds for humanitarian assistance, and Tokairuk, now based in London, is an academy associate in the Ukraine Forum at Chatham House and continues her advocacy.
“There needs to be accountability for Russian war crimes,” said Tokariuk, “and there won't be a durable, sustainable peace in Ukraine unless that happens.”
THE BOTTOM LINE
IWPR has worked in Ukraine since 2014, with current projects including training a cadre of local reporters to cover ongoing efforts to see those responsible for atrocities brought to trial.
The information space remains a vital front against Russia’s attacks, and IWPR continues to support brave Ukrainian voices exposing human rights violations, countering disinformation and exposing injustice.
