Blog
30 Years of Viasna – 40 Years Since Chernobyl: What a Nuclear Disaster Has to Do with Human Rights
When it comes to human rights work in Belarus, the Human Rights Centre Viasna is an indispensable part of the landscape. As the 40th anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster approaches, Viasna is celebrating its own 30th anniversary. This is no mere coincidence...
Florian Wiedemann
Program Manager Belarus
From prison into uncertainty: Belarusian refugees between Asylum, paperwork and fear of deportation
What people go through after being forced to leave their homes, how the German bureaucracy works in practice, and how we try to help exactly where support is urgently needed, but often not sufficient.
Yana S.
Program Manager Legal Help
What does a parcel mean for a political prisoner in Belarus today?
For a person deprived of freedom, a parcel is much more than just a set of food and items. We spoke with former political prisoners and asked them what parcels meant to them.
Aija S.
Advocacy Officer
The last train to Kharkiv: Infrastructure under fire
Today is March 18. For the first time in four years of war, Ukrainian Railways has suspended Intercity high-speed service on the Poltava–Kharkiv route.
Dariia Khlebnikova
Project Manager at WBWU in Kharkiv
Stories of 5 seriously ill Ukrainian women in Russian captivity
The exact number of Ukrainian women currently held in Russian prisons is unknown. According to the Office of the Prosecutor General, over 4,000 cases of illegal imprisonment have been opened, affecting around 15,000 civilians.
Kseniia Levadna
Public Relations Officer
Evacuation as a chance to restore faith that everything will be alright
How medical evacuations take place, the fears people face, why many delay the decision to leave, and how support and care can help restore their hope for the future.
Tetiana Fiial
Paramedic at the charitable foundation “Angels of Salvation”
What Russian occupation really means for Ukrainians
When politicians discuss occupied territories during peace negotiations, they speak as if these are empty spaces. But millions of Ukrainians live there. These people are caught in a gray zone with no tools to defend their rights, freedom, property, lives, children, or loved ones.
Oleksandra Matviichuk
Ukrainian human rights lawyer and the head of the Center for Civil Liberties.
How do you survive winter in Kharkiv?
I am sitting in the passenger seat next to my friend Ivanka. Suddenly she says: “Don’t put on your seatbelt.” I laugh. “Is that a new law in Kharkiv?” She answers seriously: “It depends what you’re more afraid of – a car accident or not being able to get out of the car quickly enough during a Russian drone strike.” We laugh. But we don’t buckle up.
Kseniia Levadna
Public Relations Officer
15-year prison sentence for protesting: the story of Bohdan Ziza.
Bohdan Ziza is a Ukrainian artist from Yevpatoria in occupied Crimea. In May 2022, he protested against Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine by pouring blue and yellow paint on the doors of the occupation administration. For this, Russia unlawfully sentenced him to 15 years of imprisonment.
Kseniia Levadna
Public Relations Officer
Belarus: the consequences of choosing freedom.
Thousands of people took to the streets in Belarus in 2020 to protest against the authoritarian rule of Alexander Lukashenko. They chose freedom. Today, half a decade later, many of them are paying a heavy price. In Belarus, waving a flag once can turn your whole life upside down.
Ken McBain
LIBERECO Representative in the UK