Blog
“I wanted to survive for the sake of my children” Mother’s Day in Belarus
14 October is Mother’s Day in Belarus, but many mothers have been, or still are, political prisoners of an inhumane system. Countless children have been forced to grow up without their mothers because the regime took them away for political reasons. This is the painful reality in Belarus.
Florian Wiedemann
Program Manager Belarus
We were loud for political prisoners in Belarus
From the former shipwharf in NDSM you can look across the water and see the skyline of Amsterdam. You can see it even better if you stand on a several meters high tribune. This is what we did: the core team of Belarusian, Ukrainian and Dutch artists and activists, the day before this same tribune would erupt in sound.
Christie Miedema
LIBERECO Representative in the Netherlands
A cup of tea is no substitute for a window
At the Samar vocational school in the Dnipropetrovsk region of Ukraine, many of the windows can no longer be closed, which is why LIBERECO, together with RE-WIN and Angels of Salvation, is replacing them with high-quality second-hand windows from Switzerland as part of the Windows for Ukraine project. Warm, usable rooms provide the foundation for young people to feel safe, learn a trade and build a future for themselves.
Alex Valin
Program Associate Ukraine & Communication Officer
Amnesty and deportation for 25 political prisoners from Belarus
‘I left 30 kilos of my body weight behind in my homeland.’ 25 political prisoners were pardoned and deported to Lithuania. But what does this newly regained freedom in another country mean for the former political prisoners?
Florian Wiedemann
Program Manager Belarus
The sound of drones as soundtrack of childhood: Psychosocial support in frontline communities
Living in frontline proximity is not only highly dangerous – it also affects every aspect of children´s lives. It limits their opportunities to connect with peers, it eliminates all possibilities to roam freely and discover the world, and deprives them of nearly all other experiences that are a natural part of childhood.
Kateryna Shutaliova
Psychologist with Somatic Experience Ukraine projects
Hope Is Stronger Than Captivity
This blog looks at the Shadows Behind Bars project and discusses how despite their terrible conditions and imprisonment, prisoners were able to stay hopeful throughout their sentences.
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
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”
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