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As part of his support for President Vladimir Putin’s war effort in Ukraine, President Lukashenko held a sham referendum on 27 February to allow Russian nuclear missiles on Belarusian territory. This sparked mass protests in the streets of the capital Minsk and elsewhere, with people chanting ‘No to war!’ ‘Glory to Ukraine!’ and ‘Long live Belarus!’…
Continue reading Opposition in Belarus to the War in Ukraine
OpenDemocracy and the Public Sociology Laboratory, an independent research initiative, carried out more than 200 in-depth interviews with Russians since 27 February. The people sampled tended to be educated and from large cities. The research showed that within this sample attitudes to the war split into three broad camps: supporters, opponents and, the largest group, the doubters.…
Continue reading Russians’ Views of the War in Ukraine
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has verified a total of 5,587 civilian deaths during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as of 14 August, but says real numbers are likely to be much higher. The UN reports at least 12 million people have fled their homes. Nearly 9,000 Ukrainian military have…
Continue reading Update on Ukraine and Ukrainian Refugees
Between April and July, researchers from Amnesty’s IS spent several weeks investigating Russian strikes in the Kharkiv, Donbas and Mykolaiv regions. They inspected strike sites, interviewed survivors, witnesses and relatives of victims and carried out weapons analysis. The subsequent press release, which can be read here https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2022/08/ukraine-ukrainian-fighting-tactics-endanger-civilians, has proved highly controversial. The researchers stated that…
Continue reading Controversial Press Release on Ukraine from Amnesty’s International Secretariat (IS)
Good News Kalush Orchestra, the Ukrainian entry, won the Eurovision Song Contest on 14 May. The band members had special permission to leave Ukraine and had to return on the following Monday. The Orchestra then sold their trophy, raising £712,000 to buy drones for the military. Russian human rights activists have formed an ‘underground railroad’…
Continue reading June Update on the War in Ukraine