It is difficult to describe the impression of a few days in Syria. It was a visit of solidarity with Syrian civil society. We were fortunate to arrive on an important date. Exactly one year ago, Syrians reclaimed their country. This happened after more than fifty years of dictatorial rule. I saw another dimension of evil, as well as a nation that refused to be broken. So instead of conclusions, here are some sketches. 1/1 We walk through the cells of Sednaya. This prison, surrounded by minefields, had one simple purpose. People were to die slowly and in terrible agony. We are accompanied by a prisoner who spent 21 years there. His faith helped him survive. He says that when they were taken to the showers, they were beaten so badly that half of them did not return. Because if you fell, you would not get up again. And that was the norm. In this simple way, they freed up space for new prisoners. In the evening, we met an old, crippled man who recalls how happy he was when he ended up in Sednaya. Because before that, he was held in Tedmur in Palmyra. Yes, our “guide” confirms that Sednaya is like a sanatorium compared to Tedmur. 1/2

Today, I spoke at an event in Stockholm about our colleague, Ukrainian journalist Viktoriya Roshchina. I had to turn off the camera right after my speech because it was difficult to contain my emotions.

Today, 13 world media outlets published investigations about the capture and death of Viktoriya Roshchina. I will leave links in different languages ​​in the comments. And I will say a few words from myself.

Viktoriya was young, talented, dedicated to the journalistic profession, and incredibly brave. I met her 11 years ago when she joined our campaign to release illegally detained people in Crimea and eastern occupied territories.

In the first year of the full-scale invasion, she went to the occupied territories herself to write about illegaly detained people and disappeared. We already know that she was abducted, tortured, secretly transported to Russia, and detained there without any legal basis. We know that she did not receive medical care and weighed about 30 kg. But we still do not know how she died. 

Russians refused to return her body for a long time. When they returned the body, it had a visible trace of torture and was missing several internal organs – eyeballs, brain, and part of the trachea.

Russians are even now hardly trying to hide what they did to her. That's why the investigation conducted by 50 journalists from 6 different countries around the world is so important.

Victoria believed in truth and justice so strongly that she knowingly risked her life to tell us what was happening in the occupied territories. We will continue her struggle.

Photo Graty washingtonpost.com/world/interact…

Once again, I have to remind simple things. It is not Putin who kills, tortures and rapes civilians in Ukraine. Ordinary Russians do these atrocities.

The constant attempts to shift the responsibility for this war solely to Putin look somewhat strange. But when you work every day with war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by ordinary Russians, then these attempts look simply obscene.

This will be a long thread. About how ordinary Russians justify murders and war. On why this is #NotJustPutinWar. Read what the readers of Medusa, which is banned in Russia, write about Russian aggression in Ukraine. 

Reminder. If we want to solve a problem, we must have the courage to see what this problem is about. 1/18 2/18

It is unacceptable that there will be no women at the UN meeting with the Taliban.

apnews.com/article/un-afg… Firstly, this legitimizes the Taliban's policy of sidelining women and sets a precedent that other regimes will undoubtedly exploit. Secondly, according to its Charter, the UN is based on human rights, so women's rights should be a priority in these negotiations.

Two days ago, I met with the Pope and in this thread I'll tell you more about this meeting I presented him with a copy of Stanislav Aseyev's book, 'The Torture Camp on Paradise Street.' Stanislav spent two years in the secret prison 'Isolation' in Donetsk, where people were beaten and tortured every day.

I would recommend Western politicians to watch Putin's address to the Federal Assembly. It becomes clear who Russia is fighting against and what the next steps will be. 1/12 Putin defines Russia as "a pillar of traditional values on which human civilization is built." 2/12

I often recollect the large-scale rally that took place on February 26, 2014, at the walls of the Verkhovna Rada of Crimea. It was a bright day of unity, a day of resistance to the occupation, a day when everyone went home with relief because it seemed that we had defended Crimea On March 17, 2014, the Russian military held the so-called "referendum." After that, disappearances and arrests of people, discrimination against Crimean Tatars, and persecution of everything Ukrainian became more common.

For three days, Russia has been holding a sham election for which no opposition candidate has been registered. Putin has ruled Russia for 26 years and plans to die in this position. This staged performance has nothing to do with the right to vote. 1/5 Therefore, the largest turnout in March was not at the polling station but at the grave of the opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who was killed by Putin. 2/5

I know a lot of fantastic women in different fields of society. Women make government decisions, fight in the Armed Forces, coordinate volunteer initiatives, and document war crimes. Women are at the forefront of our fight for freedom. It is because courage has no gender. ⅕ This is not the war between two countries. This is the war between two systems – authoritarianism and democracy. This difference is clearly visible also through a gender perspective. ⅖

My colleague, the head of the human rights center "Memorial," 70-year-old Oleg Orlov, has just been sentenced to 2 years and 6 months in a Russian prison for his human rights activities. 1/4 Throughout these 10 years of war, we worked side by side with Memorial to defend unlawfully detained citizens of Ukraine during Russian aggression. There's much I cannot say right now, but I express gratitude and admiration for Oleg Orlov's courage. 2/4

Today is the anniversary of the full-scale invasion, and I would like to tell you the following. Alone we have been repelling a multimillion nuclear-weapon state for ten years already. Russia has been destroying our cities, burning our grain, killing our families. We were waiting for modern tanks from the allies throughout 2022, and yet, we have not received modern aircraft from them. Those who said they would be with us as long as it took are now busy with the elections. Nevertheless, we do not have the luxury of giving way to despondency

On the morning of Feb 20, 2014, we started receiving plenty of calls to the Euromaidan SOS hotlines. People called to say that peaceful demonstrators were being shot at the Maidan. Our volunteers went to morgues, churches, hospitals to document information about killed & wounded We were given photos of the victims' bodies, their documents, and an inventory of their personal belongings. We rushed because we did not know how much time we had at our disposal to identify all those killed by the Yanukovych’s regime.

Thai authorities arrested Russian musical band “Bi-2” on the request of Moscow. The musicians may be expelled to Russia. They takes a strong anti-war stance and could face criminal charges there. 1/7 On 24 January 2024 the band performed a concert in Phuket, Thailand. Immediately afterwards they were arrested by the immigration police for performing without work visas. They were initially fined, but then nevertheless detained in Bangkok. 2/7

I was in a taxi on my way to the Ukrainska Pravda Award when a car crashed into ours. I was jolted a great deal, and while I was trying to figure out if my head, arms, and legs were intact, I was thinking – just not today, I have to present an award to a special person. 1/8 Olena Tolkachova, the head of Azov’s patronage service, received the UP award in the "Civic Stance" nomination. She has been at war since 2014 and managed to build an institution that provides full medical support to wounded soldiers and takes care of the families of the fallen.

10 years ago, we created Euromaidan SOS. A few hours after the students had been dispersed in Maidan, we published the first post. It looked like this, "If you were beaten, you lost contact with your relatives, or they were arrested – text us, we can provide free legal aid.” 1/7 At that time, there were lawyers among us, but there was no advocate. So, the second post was an appeal to the lawyers who were willing to help for free. And it worked. We launched hotlines to help those who were beaten on the night of November 30, 2013. 2/7

#EmptyChairWeek is coming to an end, and during this week we were commemorating the people of culture who lost their lives due to Russian aggression. I would like to tell the story of 46-year-old musician Yurii Kerpatenko, who was the conductor of the Kherson Philharmonic. 1/6 Yurii loved music and his native Kherson. He spoke Russian in his everyday life, he was educated with Russian music and Russian culture, but could clearly distinguish between art history and occupation tools. 2/6

Today is my birthday. I would like to share a lesson that is important to me. Maybe it will help someone to get through difficult trials. 1/11 The war started for me in February 2014. We at Euromaidan SOS did not have time to mourn the slain –the Heavenly Hundred – and to reflect on three months of working 24/7, as we were already directing the first mobile groups to Crimea, and then to Luhansk and Donetsk oblasts. 2/11

On the night of July 28-29, 2022, a powerful explosion took on the territory of the former penal colony in the occupied Olenivka. Ukrainian prisoners of war were held there in a separate barrack. 1/9 A day before the explosion, the russians took roghly 200 soldiers of the Azov Regiment and moved them there. As a result of the explosion, about 50 people died, and another 70 were injured. 2/9

Russia is forcibly holding at least 500 Ukrainian doctors. There are both civilians and military medics among them. 1/5 The occupiers are committing war crimes against medical personnel. Doctors are intended to save lives and relieve suffering but they are punished for performing their professional duty till the end. 2/5

On June 14, the Southern District Military Court in Rostov-on-Don began hearing the case of 22 Ukrainian defenders from the "Azov" brigade. Eight women are among them. This process violates the norms of international humanitarian law. 1/5 Accusing the Ukrainian military of "participation in a terrorist organization" and "actions aimed at seizing power," the Russian authorities violated the privilege of combatant. 2/5

On Europe Day, I had the opportunity to address Europe with a speech. This is an annual event at the memorial to the victims of the Holocaust in Vienna on the very day of the Schuman Declaration, which initiated the European Union. It was challenging for me. I have never considered myself a public intellectual or a social philosopher. My prism is the human dimension of this war. We protect people who have suffered from abduction, illegal detention, torture, rape and loss of their nearest and dearest.