Blog
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 Instead of Birdsong: Psychosocial Support for Children 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
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
A little peace of mind
Hannah tells the story of two escapes, a dilapidated house in Saksahan, and the search for a place safe from shelling. When we visit her to talk about the new windows in her house, it quickly becomes clear how much loss, fear, and exhaustion lie behind this new home. What new windows can mean for a family that has already had to leave everything behind twice.
Ira Ganzhorn
Humanitarian Aid 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
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.