Oleksandra Matviichuk is a Ukrainian human rights lawyer, winner of the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize, and head of the Centre for Civil Liberties, an organisation which has recorded mass atrocities committed by Russia since 2013.
Matviichuk joined The Guardian‘s diplomatic editor Patrick Wintour at the French Institute in South Kensington to discuss what justice for Ukraine really means since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.
Matviichuk said the Centre for Civil Liberties has collected evidence of around 88,000 war crimes by Russia.
She added: “While this war turns people into numbers…we are returning people their names, because people are not numbers, the life of each person matters.”
These atrocities include war crimes on the frontline, abuse of captives, and the illegal abduction, indoctrination, and deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia.
Matviichuk’s research comes as Ukraine estimates Russia has illegally taken more than 19,000 children since the beginning of the war.
The event was in aid of Insulate Ukraine, a charity which has developed a $21 triple-layered window, which can be installed free of charge for Ukrainians in need.
Since Russia’s full-scale invasion, millions of windows have been shattered across frontline Ukrainian towns from bombs and shells.
During the winter in Ukraine, temperatures plummet to around -20ºC, putting even more lives in danger.
Insulate Ukraine’s new windows, invented by charity founder Harry Blakiston Houston, are made from PET (Polyethylene Terephthalate).
They are both transparent and shatterproof, and do not block light or let the cold in, unlike current humanitarian repairs for broken windows.
You can donate to Insulate Ukraine here, and watch the video from the talk below.
Featured image: Sapphire Hope
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