Media marathon about 10 years of Russian aggression in Ukraine will be held in Kyiv and online

Ukraine 5 AM Coalition invites you to an open conversation about the Revolution of Dignity, the occupation of Crimea, parts of Donbas, and full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine. We will discuss the interconnection of these events, the legal assessment of each of them, and the situation with punishing the perpetrators and establishing justice. An event will tale place in the Media Center Ukraine – Ukrinform (8/16 Khmelnytskoho St., Kyiv) on February 20.

The media marathon “10 Years of Russian Aggression in Ukraine. The Path to Justice” will include four thematic discussion panels: Maidan, Crimea, East and full-scale invasion with the participation of government officials, human rights activists and victims. The discussion will cover the period of the last ten years, when Ukraine has been going through unprecedented challenges, including the most serious international crimes committed on its territory.

Panel 1: MAIDAN. 10 Years of Russian Aggression in Ukraine. The Path to Justice (10:00 – 11:30 AM)

The Revolution of Dignity was a precursor to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Ukrainian society thus reacted, in particular, to Moscow’s attempts to influence Ukrainian foreign policy vector and stop its European integration movement.

What was the “Russian factor” in the events of the Revolution of Dignity? What is happening now with the “Maidan cases”. How many criminals have been brought to justice? Will the perpetrators be punished, and will the tangle of patterns of this crime be fully unraveled?

Speakers:

• Olena Storozhuk, lawyer of victims in the case of the shootings of Euromaidan participants, representative of the Lawyers’ Advisory Group
• Yurii Aksenin, son of Vasyl Aksenin, killed on Maidan (online)
• Oleksii Donskyi, head of the Department for Maidan Affairs of the Office of the Prosecutor General
• Nataliia Boikiv, deputy director general of the National Memorial Complex of the Heavenly Hundred Heroes – Museum of the Revolution of Dignity, widow of the Heavenly Hundred Hero Volodymyr Boikiv

Moderator: Stas Kozliuk, reporter, photographer

Streaming: MAIDAN

Panel 2: CRIMEA. 10 Years of Russian Aggression in Ukraine. The Path to Justice (12:00 – 13:30 PM)

February 20, 2014, marked the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Despite numerous and massive protests on the peninsula, where local residents attempted to resist Russia’s creeping aggression; including a large demonstration near the Supreme Council of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea on February 26, 2014, the peninsula was occupied.

How did Crimea transform into a peninsula of fear? What are the main crimes and human rights violations recorded by human rights activists and state authorities during the 10 years of occupation of Crimea? In what ways did the occupational authorities persecute Ukrainians and Crimean Tatars on the peninsula? What was the process of indoctrination and militarization of children and the change of their identity through so-called “patriotic education”? How many Crimean crimes have been investigated and transferred to court? How many verdicts have we received in Crimean cases?

Speakers:

• Olha Skrypnyk, head of the Crimean Human Rights Group
• Vitalii Sekretar, first deputy head of the Prosecutor’s Office of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol
• Oleksii Tilnenko, head of the CrimeaSOS
• Mariia Sulialina, head of the Center for Civil Education “Almenda”
• Mykyta Petrovets, lawyer of the Regional Center for Human Rights

Moderator: Valentyna Samar, editor-in-chief of Center of Journalistic Investigations

Streaming: CRIMEA

Panel 3: EAST. 10 Years of Russian Aggression in Ukraine. The Path to Justice (14:00 – 15:30 PM)

Parallel to the occupation of Crimea, Russia launched another stage of the war in eastern Ukraine. In April 2014, Russian military forces and their proxies seized several Ukrainian cities in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Russia, which denied its involvement in these events, established puppet occupation regimes, the so-called “DPR” and “LPR”. In response, Ukraine initiated an anti-terrorist military operation.

How has Russia managed to blindside the international community for almost eight years and why has the world failed to call each thing by its correct name? What evidence of Russian presence in Ukraine was lacking for the ICC? Will the court “see” that Russia had been exercising effective control in eastern Ukraine long before the full-scale invasion? How has Ukrainian legislation and the perception of the events by the law enforcement system transformed? How has Ukrainian legislation and the perception of events transformed from the perspective of law enforcement? Why, after so many years, does Ukraine continue to make the same mistakes by not ratifying the Rome Statute?

Speakers:

• Tetiana Katrychenko, executive director of the Media Initiative for Human Rights
• Alina Pavliuk, lawyer at the Ukrainian Legal Advisory Group
• Olena Lazareva, an anesthesiologist, former hostage who, on October 16, 2017, together with her husband, was taken hostage by representatives of Russia-controlled illegal armed groups in the ORDLO
• Oleksii Kodman, a veteran of the Russian-Ukrainian war, former prisoner of war (2015-2017), a scout of the 56th Motorized Infantry Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, convicted by quasi-courts
• Andrii Leshchenko, deputy head of the Department for Procedural Guidance and Support of Public Prosecution of the Department for Combating Crimes Committed in the Context of Armed Conflict, Office of the Prosecutor General
• Mykola Mazur, judge of the Supreme Court

Moderator: Serhii Stukanov, journalist

Streaming: EAST

Panel 4: FULL-SCALE INVASION. 10 Years of Russian Aggression in Ukraine. The Path to Justice (16:00 – 17:30 PM)

The morning of February 24, 2022, changed the lives of all Ukrainian citizens. Russia attacked Ukraine from the north, south, and east. The Armed Forces of Ukraine, in several stages, pushed the enemy out of half of the newly occupied territories.

In two years of full-scale invasion, the Russian army committed countless crimes, which contain elements of crimes against humanity, war crimes, and genocide. The Ukrainian law enforcement system is practically overwhelmed by cases, the number of which continues to grow and has long exceeded 120,000, according to the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine.

What challenges did law enforcement and civil society face two years ago – what solutions have already emerged and what solutions are still to be found? Why are the high-quality documentation and investigation of Russian crimes the basis for the future of justice, and are its outlines visible? Why is relying on the ICC alone a futile cause? What role do Ukrainian courts play? How many cases have been investigated and transfered to court, and why do war crimes trials in Ukraine receive little or no public attention?

Speakers:

• Tetiana Pechonchyk, head of the Human Rights Centre ZMINA
• Zera Kozlieva, senior legal advisor of the Truth Hounds
• Yuliia Khrypun, co-founder of the Civilians in Captivity NGO
• Yurii Armash, head of the medical unit of the mechanized tank battalion of the 59th Brigade named after Handziuk, who was captured and tortured
• Lidiia Podozerska, a resident of Kherson, who spent more than a year in Russian captivity
• Stanislav Petrenko, head of the Division of the Department for Combating Crimes Committed in the Context of Armed Conflict of the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine
• Arkadii Bushchenko, judge of the Supreme Court.

Moderator: Roman Romanov, director of the Human Rights and Justice Program, International Renaissance Foundation.

Streaming: FULL-SCALE INVASION

The panels will be broadcast on February 20 from 10 AM to 6 PM (UTC +2) on the platforms of the Ukrinform News Agency and organizations that are members of the Ukraine 5 AM Coalition.