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Dear readers, while Andrew is away this week, I’m taking over the newsletter. My name is Lisa-Marie Maier and I’m part of HRW’s media team, based in Berlin.
Today marks yet another grim milestone. It’s been three years since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
In this newsletter, we have been reporting on Putin’s atrocity-ridden assault on Ukraine since its very first day.
Russia’s indiscriminate bombing has been well-documented in many cities since: Chernihiv, Kharkiv, Kherson, Kramatorsk, Kremenchuk, Mariupol, Mykolaiv, and so many others – in violation of the laws of war.
And for many more civilians, rather than let them flee to safety in Ukrainian government-controlled areas, the Russian military forcibly transferred them to Russia and Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine – also a war crime.
It was Russia’s mass abduction of children in Ukraine that led the International Criminal Court (ICC) to issue arrest warrants for Putin and another Russian official.
At the same time, this dreadful anniversary coincides with a rapid series of Trump administration statements about negotiations to end the war.
These have prompted extensive public debate about the place of Ukraine and Europe at the negotiating table, security guarantees for Ukraine, Moscow’s reliability, and the like.
Three key issues of justice and civilian protection should be central to negotiation.
First and foremost, perpetrators of war crimes and crimes against humanity must be held accountable. Victims of atrocities deserve justice and compensation through reparations for the harm they have suffered. Investigations and prosecutions need to be supported and well-resourced – especially in the face of the Trump administration’s sanctions against the ICC.
Secondly, ensuring the safety of civilian detainees and prisoners of war (POWs) should be central in any future negotiations. The release of Ukrainian civilian detainees from Russian custody is an urgent priority and should not have to wait for negotiations to start. Neither should the timely exchange and repatriation of all prisoners of war. All children deported by Russia from the territories it occupies should be returned to Ukraine.
Finally, Russia continues to be an occupying power in parts of Ukraine and is bound by the laws of occupation. Therefore, investigations should continue into Russian forces’ violations of the laws of occupation and international human rights law.
What happens next in Ukraine has been the subject of much speculation in recent days, but one thing remains certain regardless. The victims of Russian terror and atrocities in Ukraine deserve justice. It must not be negotiated away.
