human rights

Pride 2025: LGBTQ+ troops call for equal rights on and off the front

As Kyiv prepares for this year’s Pride events, LGBTQ+ activist Anna Sharyhina and veteran Viktor Pylypenko explain why the Equality March remains essential — even in wartime.

7 June 2025, 12:51 PM

Human rights activism in Ukraine’s war-affected towns — opinion

In the small town of Karlivka, located in northeastern Ukraine’s, Yelyzaveta Otlivanna coordinates services for people with disabilities. Her work addresses long-standing accessibility issues while responding to the increased needs caused by the full-scale Russian invasion.

28 April 2025, 07:53 AM

Ukraine's Defense Ministry outlines key guarantees for protecting soldiers' rights

Ukraine's Defense Ministry continues systematic efforts to protect the rights of soldiers and their families, Serhii Melnyk, Deputy Defense Minister and Brigadier General of Justice said on March 28.

2 April 2025, 01:33 PM

Rights violations by military recruiters becoming more widespread, ombudsman warns

Human rights violations by the employees of Territorial Recruitment Centers (TRC) “have become systemic and widespread,” Ukrainian Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets said on March 26.

26 March 2025, 09:52 PM

The brutal truth behind Russia’s execution of Ukrainian POWs: motives, patterns, and the road to justice

A group of Ukrainian soldiers, unarmed and defenseless, kneel in the dirt. Their hands are bound. A Russian soldier gives the order. Gunfire erupts. The bodies collapse, lifeless. The video surfaced online on March 13, 2025, offering a horrifying glimpse into the systematic execution of Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs) by Russian forces. Ukraine’s Human Rights Ombudsman, Dmytro Lubinets, confirmed its authenticity, calling it yet another war crime added to an already staggering list.

15 March 2025, 01:48 PM

Russia forces Ukrainian citizens in occupied Donetsk Oblast into its army

Russian so-called authorities has launched a draft mechanism under the guise of "training exercises" in the temporarily occupied Donetsk Oblast, the National Resistance Center (NRC) wrote on Feb. 18.

19 February 2025, 08:10 AM

Ukrainian ombudsman: Russian commanders endorsing executions of Ukrainian POWs

Russian military channels are circulating videos allegedly showing the execution of Ukrainian prisoners of war by Russian forces. Ukraine’s Human Rights Commissioner, Dmytro Lubinets, reported this on Feb. 17.

17 February 2025, 06:45 PM

Ukraine’s military to modernize personnel management by 2027

Ukraine’s Defense Ministry has approved a Human Capital Development Strategy for the Defense Forces until 2027, aiming to modernize military personnel management, the officials wrote on Jan. 6.

6 January 2025, 12:27 PM

Pro-Russian MP Boyko likely to lose committee post

In the coming days, the Ukrainian parliament (Verkhovna Rada) will consider removing pro-Russian MP Yuriy Boyko from his position on the parliamentary Human Rights Committee.

16 December 2024, 09:24 PM

Ukraine Defense Ministry presents soldier rights reform plan

Defense Minister Rustem Umerov has presented President Volodymyr Zelenskyy with a concept for establishing the institution of a military ombudsman, the Ministry wrote on Telegram on Dec. 4.

4 December 2024, 01:48 PM

Lubinets refutes claims of child exchange agreement between Ukraine and Russia

Dmytro Lubinets, the Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights, denied a report from Le Monde claiming Qatar had signed an agreement with Ukraine and Russia for the exchange of 13 children, stating that the claim is false on Sept. 27.

27 September 2024, 12:42 PM

Putin’s ‘Human rights advocates’ demand drafting the sick and disabled — Video

In the so-called “Human Rights Council” under the administration of Kremlin dictator Vladimir Putin, it is believed that even the sick and people with disabilities should be drafted into the Russian army.

12 September 2024, 01:21 PM

UN Human Rights Commissioner condemns Russian strikes on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, has condemned Russia's consistent strikes on civilian infrastructure in Ukraine and expressed concern for Ukrainian civilians as winter approaches, VOA reported on Sept. 9.

10 September 2024, 01:22 AM

Ukraine to launch hotline addressing complaints from the military

Ukrainian MPs plan to open a dedicated hotline to address reports from Ukrainian soldiers about violations of their rights or misconduct by commanders, Ukrainian MP and sitting member of the Human Rights parliamentary committee Serhiy Kozyr announced on Aug. 8.

8 August 2024, 10:52 PM

Georgian President urges protesters to show restraint, not storm parliament

Georgian President Salomé Zurabishvili has urged citizens protesting "foreign agent" laws in the Georgian capital, Tbilisi, to not storm the parliament building, according to Georgian news site Georgia.Online on May 1.

2 May 2024, 12:00 PM

Georgian President demands that the crackdown of peaceful protests ends

Georgia's President, Salomé Zourabichvili demanded that the crackdown on protests against the "Foreign Agents" bill end, Georgia’s Internal Ministry reported.

1 May 2024, 09:29 AM

Ukraine updates international community on human rights deviations amid ongoing Russian aggression

Ukrainian Foreign Ministry has consistently reported deviations from the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights since the onset of Russian aggression in 2015, it announced on April 29.

30 April 2024, 11:43 AM

Russia deliberately targets populated areas — Amnesty International

The Russian military repeatedly and intentionally broke with conventions and norms of war in its invasion of Ukraine, Amnesty International (AI) said in its annual report, published on April 24.

24 April 2024, 09:16 PM

Russia continues to employ sex violence in its military and occupation operations in Ukraine - UN

The UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine recorded 85 cases of war-related sexual violence in 2023, said the Special UN Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict, Pramila Patten, Voice of America reported.

24 April 2024, 11:05 AM

Ukraine’s Human Rights Commissioner takes on Kharkiv bar over provocative cocktail names

There’s a free speech battle looming in the Eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv after the Ukrainian parliament’s Human Rights Commissioner, Dmytro Lubinets, opened proceedings against the city’s ‘Poza Zonoyu’ (Beyond the Zone) bar over the venue’s provocative cocktail names, NGO Divchat (Girls) expert Olha Novak reported on Facebook.

2 April 2024, 03:14 PM

human rights

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