Russia has committed over 160,000 war crimes in Ukraine, according to Ukraine's Prosecutor General's office.

What kinds of crimes are most widespread in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine?

Why is the Russian approach to war so heavily marked by cruelty?

Why do Russian forces torture Ukrainian civilians and abduct Ukrainian children?

***

Host: Volodymyr Yermolenko, a Ukrainian philosopher, editor-in-chief of UkraineWorld, and president of PEN Ukraine.

Guest: Oleksandra Romantsova, a Ukrainian human rights activist and Executive Director of the Center for Civil Liberties — a Ukrainian NGO that was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2022

Centre for Civil Liberties: https://ccl.org.ua/en/

***

Explaining Ukraine is produced by UkraineWorld, an English-language media project about Ukraine, run by Internews Ukraine.

Listen on various platforms (apple, youtube, spotify, soundcloud, amazon etc): https://li.sten.to/explaining-ukraine

***

SUPPORT US:

You can support our work on Patreon: www.patreon.com/c/ukraineworld

Your contributions are essential, as we rely heavily on crowdfunding.

You can also help fund our volunteer trips to frontline areas in Ukraine, where we support both soldiers and civilians.

Donations are welcome via PayPal: [email protected]

***

CONTENTS:

00:00 — The war that started in 2014: a history of Russian war crimes.

03:00 — First steps of the occupiers: a blueprint for terror.

07:11 — Why Russia fails to understand Ukrainians: a crucial mistake.

11:54 — The myth of “honest” Russian courts and police

14:19 — How Russia kidnaps Ukrainian children

16:07 — How Russia changes Ukrainian demography and militarizes Ukrainian children

19:23 — Preparing teenagers for the Russian army

21:26 — Is there a place for justice in a Russian world?

23:48 — Why returning people and achieving justice is critical

26:06 — A new war crime: kidnapping civilians

28:40 — Why documenting war crimes is crucial

29:50 — How Russia destroys any law in the occupied territories

31:20 — Using captives as hostages and resources

33:28 — Russian torture chambers exist even in small villages

34:30 — Chaos strategy: Moscow tries to create “grey zones” near NATO borders

36:10 — Why Russia is fighting a war against Ukrainian civilians.

39:23 — Why Putin fears democracy

41:14 — Breaking Ukrainians through religious persecution

42:43 — Three levels of justice: punishment, victims’ rights and historical truth

44:36 — Why crimes must be recorded now

47:02 — Lessons from other countries: never wait until the war ends

49:16 — Solutions: universal jurisdiction and a special tribunal