Since the recent Russian invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022, there have been multiple reports of potential violations of international humanitarian law and other atrocity crimes. In the face of these events, over 13 million Ukrainians have left their homeland to seek shelter in neighbouring countries. Many of these displaced persons have witnessed the cruellest crimes imaginable in the modern world, and the scale of their suffering is striking. The number of potential witnesses to the crimes committed in Ukraine is enormous, and no justice system is able to cope with the sheer volume of information they possess. Past experience in international and domestic criminal proceedings for such crimes indicates that only a few of the victims will testify before prosecutors, and even fewer will testify on the stand in a court. Therefore, it is important to collect information regarding evidence of such crimes and the victims of these crimes. This project is designed to be complementary to the activities of state authorities or any international courts established to prosecute and adjudicate war crimes, a crimes against humanity, genocide, aggression, or other serious human rights violations connected to the recent Russian invasion of Ukraine.
