ZMINA participated in the preparation and presentation of the Special Report on the situation in the territories of Ukraine temporarily occupied by the Russian Federation

On 27 March 2025, the Special Report of the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights on the situation in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine was presented, which describes in detail the stages, methods and goals of the Russian occupation, exposing Russia’s systematic use of violations of international humanitarian and human rights law as tools for seizing and maintaining control over the occupied territory.

Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights Dmytro Lubinets

The document consists of four sections and contains recommendations for Ukrainian institutions and appeals to international partners. More than 100 human rights defenders, civil society experts and government officials participated in its preparation, including experts from the Human Rights Centre ZMINA.

The report covers the period since 2014, the beginning of Russia’s armed aggression against Ukraine, and analyses systemic human rights violations during the occupation of Ukrainian territories. It is not about isolated crimes, but about a comprehensive strategy of subjugation of the population in the TOT and systemic practices of human rights violations, including repression, forced passportisation, deportation and intimidation. After Russia’s full-scale invasion began in 2022, these methods reached a new level of violence: indiscriminate mass shelling, forced deportations, and the persecution of Ukrainian citizens through the Russian judicial system.

Thus, Onysiia Syniuk, Legal Analyst of the Human Rights Centre ZMINA, stressed during the presentation that Russia had a specific intention from the very beginning, not only to seize Ukrainian territories, but also to establish its power there and illegally incorporate them into its territory. She also noted that “in the TOT, there is not only military suppression of resistance, but also the eradication of any centres of peaceful resistance“.

“Russia is trying to seal the illegal annexation of these territories by destroying Ukrainian identity – from the judicial system to education. They are doing this in order to raise a generation that will perceive the TOT as part of the Russian Federation,” said Onysiia Syniuk.

Particular attention was paid to the need to establish and maintain a Centre of Excellence to study and develop solutions to counter the use of violations of civilian rights and the rules of war as a tool for preparing and waging war, conquering territories. This centre will allow not only a deeper analysis of the current situation, but also forecasts of Russia’s further actions against Ukraine and in the wider global context, including through the collection and analysis of data, including from third countries, as well as the development of security solutions based on NATO standards, sharing these solutions and preparing training programmes for specialists in this field, with the involvement of interested NATO member states in the establishment and development of the Centre.

The special report will serve as a basis for future analytical materials and recommendations aimed at combating Russian aggression and identifying markers of aggression and possible ways to counter them.

The full text of the report is available in Ukrainian and English.

Photo: Office of the Ombudsman