Blog
One of the harshest verdicts ever handed down against a Ukrainian civilian family
After friends discovered they hadn’t heard from Artem Murdid for months, they searched for answers and found that he and his family had been violently arrested and handed some of the longest sentences held against any Ukrainian civilian prisoners.
Liubov Pravdina
Head of the NGO “New Ukrainian Narratives”
Return and Arrival
The teenagers’ pimped-up motorcycle roaring through the streets of Berlin could be a Shahed drone. The noises coming from the construction site resemble an explosion. Returning from Ukraine to Germany does not merely come with logistical baggage.
Ira Ganzhorn
Humanitarian Aid Officer
What is independence? Ukraine’s long fight for autonomy.
From the Ukrainian People’s Republic in 1917 to Russia’s full-scale invasion, Ukraine’s struggle for independence has been shaped by repression, resistance and the defence of its right to self-determination. Writing from a Scottish perspective, this blog explores how Ukraine’s history has shaped a different understanding of what independence means to me and why Ukrainians continue to defend it today.
Grace Maclean
Intern
Make noise for freedom
You can land in Belarusian prison for a myriad of reasons. Some are highly political – sabotaging the infrastructure crucial for the Russian invasion into Ukraine for example -, yet others highly trivial – a social media post maybe, a donation, or the fact that a family member was arrested before you.
Christie Miedema
LIBERECO Representative in the Netherlands
When even shelters are no longer safe
Three of my friends and colleagues from Kyiv share how they experienced the night of the Russian attack on 24 May: in the hallway of their apartment building, in an overcrowded metro station, among shattered windows, burned-out familiar places, and the exhaustion that followed.
Kseniia Levadna
Public Relations Officer
A normal workday – but make it Ukrainian
What does everyday life in Ukraine mean when meeting friends, going to cafés and working ordinary days exist alongside air raid alerts, explosions and nights spent in the hallway? In Dnipro, an apparently normal Sunday in a café ends with Shahed drones, ballistic missiles and burning residential buildings.
Ira Ganzhorn
Humanitarian Aid Officer
Reading Belarus
What would be the first thing that would come to mind thinking of “Belarus”? Would it be potatoes, repression and dictatorship? If so, it’s hardly surprising, for if news makes it out of the country, it’s mostly bad. But what if I told you that there’s a lot more to discover about the country and its people?
Thomas Brennecke
LIBERECO Volunteer
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