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The trial of the Russian servicemen Konstantin Smirnov and Denis Podgorny began in July 2024 and the verdict was announced by a three-judge panel of the Chernihiv District Court on February 3, 2025. © Oksana Matsopa/IWPR
The trial of the Russian servicemen Konstantin Smirnov and Denis Podgorny began in July 2024 and the verdict was announced by a three-judge panel of the Chernihiv District Court on February 3, 2025. © Oksana Matsopa/IWPR
A woman leaves the offices of the Ukrainian General Prosecutor in Kiev, Ukraine.
A woman leaves the offices of the Ukrainian General Prosecutor in Kiev, Ukraine. © Sean Gallup/Getty Images
Buzova village resident Oleksandr looks on as police exhume the bodies of his mother, brother and son to investigate alleged war crimes by Russian forces during the invasion of Ukraine on May 21, 2022 in Kyiv, Ukraine.
Buzova village resident Oleksandr looks on as police exhume the bodies of his mother, brother and son to investigate alleged war crimes by Russian forces during the invasion of Ukraine on May 21, 2022 in Kyiv, Ukraine. © Christopher Furlong/Getty Images

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Ukraine Justice Report

Ukraine Justice Report provides updated and in-depth coverage of judicial processes taking place across the country.

Years active: 2022-present

IWPR’s Ukraine Justice Report is strengthening the capacity of Ukrainian journalists to provide updated and in-depth coverage of judicial processes taking place across the country. The objective is to increase national and international audiences’ access to fair, accurate and reliable independent information about justice processes connected to the ongoing invasion.
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The entirety of Ukraine is a crime scene, and the vast scale of the violence will challenge national and international judicial processes for years to come. The Ukraine prosecutor’s office is investigating more than 130,000 cases, while the International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants against senior figures including Russian President Vladimir Putin. Universal jurisdiction cases are also being developed to bring cases abroad. 

The scale and complexity of judicial proceedings are creating a particular challenge for media, which will tend to focus on high points – such as the first and the last days of a trial – but neglect critical procedural aspects or detailed content, as well as the legal complexities, resource realities and other issues in actually establishing justice.

The Ukraine Justice Report trains and mentors local Ukrainian journalists to produce accurate court reporting and coverage, as well as publishing dedicated analysis, interviews and news features on key ongoing justice issues.

The publication will:

  • Support and develop a network of expert Ukrainian justice reporters;
  • Inform Ukrainian and international specialists, as well as the media and diplomatic community, about justice processes;
  • Produce and amplify resources to boost understanding of war crimes justice processes amongst the Ukrainina public and international stakeholders.

The Ukraine Justice Report is overseen by a Ukraine and UK team, and supports a range of Ukrainian contributors in its production, alongside critical social media outputs. Content is supported in English and Ukrainian.
 

Latest Reports

Conflict Sensitive Reporting on War Crimes
Conflict Sensitive Reporting on War Crimes
Conflict Sensitive Reporting on War Crimes

A Guide for Ukrainian Journalists

This handbook provides a practical guide to conflict-sensitive reporting on war crimes in Ukraine with a strong focus on local Ukrainian voices and experience.

With a foreword from Beth Van Schaack, former Ambassador-at-Large for Global Criminal Justice in the US State Department and extensive contributions from Ukrainian journalists covering the conflict, the user-friendly guide lays out both key concepts and best practice.

Understanding War Crimes Trials
Understanding War Crimes Trials
UNDERSTANDING WAR CRIMES TRIALS

A Guide for the Ukrainian Public

A new IWPR guide aims to provide the Ukrainian public with a concise and accessible resource to understanding the war crimes justice processes ongoing in their country. 

With a foreword from Nobel Peace prizewinner and IWPR international board member Oleksandra Matviichuk, the user-friendly guide provides an overview of key concepts and best practice.

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Ukraine Justice Report
A 21-year-old Russian POW has been sentenced to life in prison for the October 2024 murder of civilians in the Kupiansk district of the Kharkiv region. © Office of the Prosecutor General, Ukraine
A 21-year-old Russian POW has been sentenced to life in prison for the October 2024 murder of civilians in the Kupiansk district of the Kharkiv region. © Office of the Prosecutor General, Ukraine
Items are seen inside a cell at a preliminary detention centre which is believed to have been used by Russian forces to jail and torture civilians on November 16, 2022 in Kherson, Ukraine.
Items are seen inside a cell at a preliminary detention centre which is believed to have been used by Russian forces to jail and torture civilians on November 16, 2022 in Kherson, Ukraine. © Chris McGrath/Getty Images
A member of the Ukrainian military walks through the basement rooms of a restaurant local residents say was used as a torture site by Russian forces during their occupation of Snihurivka, Ukraine.
A member of the Ukrainian military walks through the basement rooms of a restaurant local residents say was used as a torture site by Russian forces during their occupation of Snihurivka, Ukraine. © Chris McGrath/Getty Images
Captured Russian soldier, Sgt. Vadim Shishimarin, 21, attends a court hearing on May 18, 2022 in Kyiv, Ukraine. Sgt. Shishimarin pleaded guilty to shooting a civilian on a bicycle in the village of Chupakhivka, Sumy Region, days after Russia's invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24.
Captured Russian soldier, Sgt. Vadim Shishimarin, 21, attends a court hearing on May 18, 2022 in Kyiv, Ukraine. Sgt. Shishimarin pleaded guilty to shooting a civilian on a bicycle in the village of Chupakhivka, Sumy Region, days after Russia's invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24. © Christopher Furlong/Getty Images
Svitlana Povaliaeva (center), mother of Roman Ratushny, cries during the memorial service for her son in St. Michaels Cathedral on June 18, 2022 in Kyiv, Ukraine.
Svitlana Povaliaeva (center), mother of Roman Ratushny, cries during the memorial service for her son in St. Michaels Cathedral on June 18, 2022 in Kyiv, Ukraine. © Alexey Furman/Getty Images
At least 700 murdered civilians have been found in towns around Kiev, according to Ukrainian authorities. The slayings launched investigations for possible war crimes perpetuated by Russian forces during the occupation. Cemetery in Irpin, Ukraine, 21 April 2022.
At least 700 murdered civilians have been found in towns around Kiev, according to Ukrainian authorities. The slayings launched investigations for possible war crimes perpetuated by Russian forces during the occupation. Cemetery in Irpin, Ukraine, 21 April 2022. © John Moore/Getty Images
More than a thousand missiles and rockets fired by Russian forces and collected by the Kharkiv prosecutors office to be included in future war crimes investigations are seen at a cataloguing depot on December 18, 2022 in Kharkiv, Ukraine.
More than a thousand missiles and rockets fired by Russian forces and collected by the Kharkiv prosecutors office to be included in future war crimes investigations are seen at a cataloguing depot on December 18, 2022 in Kharkiv, Ukraine. © Chris McGrath/Getty Images
Military personnel look at the destroyed apartment block following an air strike, on September 24, 2024 in Kharkiv, Ukraine.
Military personnel look at the destroyed apartment block following an air strike, on September 24, 2024 in Kharkiv, Ukraine. © Nikoletta Stoyanova/Getty Images
Residential buildings in a flooded area on June 8, 2023 in Kherson, Ukraine. Early Tuesday, the Kakhovka dam and hydroelectric power plant, which sits on the Dnipro river in the southern Kherson region, was destroyed, forcing downstream communities to evacuate due to the risk of flooding.
Residential buildings in a flooded area on June 8, 2023 in Kherson, Ukraine. Early Tuesday, the Kakhovka dam and hydroelectric power plant, which sits on the Dnipro river in the southern Kherson region, was destroyed, forcing downstream communities to evacuate due to the risk of flooding. © Alex Babenko/Getty Images
Crimea, an internationally recognised Ukrainian territory with special status, was annexed by the Russian Federation on March 18, 2014. The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has found Russia guilty of systematic violations of human rights in Ukraine’s occupied Crimean peninsula.
Crimea, an internationally recognised Ukrainian territory with special status, was annexed by the Russian Federation on March 18, 2014. The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has found Russia guilty of systematic violations of human rights in Ukraine’s occupied Crimean peninsula. © Alexander Aksakov/Getty Images
Security Service of Ukraine served notice of suspicion to Russian propagandist Mardan who called for repressions against Ukrainians.
Security Service of Ukraine served notice of suspicion to Russian propagandist Mardan who called for repressions against Ukrainians. © SSU
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Anthony Borden interviews Oleksandra Matviichuk, 2022 Nobel Peace Prize co-recipient & Head of the Centre for Civil Liberties, Ukraine
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