Read in Ukrainian
In 2025, Truth Hounds:
- identified >120 perpetrators of war crimes.
- conducted 15 field missions to the Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, Mykolaiv, and Odesa regions.
- travelled >26,000 km and spent 94 days in missions.
- entered >43,900 incidents of alleged war crimes into the monitoring database.
- made 7 submissions under the principle of universal jurisdiction.
Read in Ukrainian
In 2025, Truth Hounds:
identified
>120
perpetrators of war crimes
conducted
15
field missions to the Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, Mykolaiv, and Odesa regions
travelled
> 26,000 km
and spent 94 days in missions
entered
> 43,900
incidents of alleged war crimes into the monitoring database
made
7
submissions under the principle of universal jurisdiction
Over 50 advocacy events were held in Ukraine, Kenya, South Africa, Japan, Thailand, Colombia, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Denmark, Belgium, and the United Kingdom.
Last Check-In: The Russian Strikes on Ukrainian Hotels Silencing the Press
In this research, we documented 31 attacks on 25 hotels and described how Russian propaganda justifies these strikes by portraying journalists and civilians as “legitimate” military targets.
In Ukraine, we presented this research at the Lviv Media Forum. Together with Ukrainian journalists who were victims of Russian attacks on hotels – Violetta Pedorych and Oleksandra Mykolyshyn – we held a presentation and discussion in London.
Seizing Power: Rosatom’s Complicity in Occupation, Torture, and Nuclear Safety Breaches at the Zaporizhzhia NPP
This research examined the physical and administrative seizure of Enerhodar and ZNPP by Russian occupying forces, the systematic torture and persecution of civilians, including plant employees, and the active involvement of Russia’s state-owned nuclear corporation Rosatom in governing the occupied city and in the mentioned crimes.
Simultaneously with the presentation in Kyiv together with representatives of Project Expedite Justice, Greenpeace Ukraine, the Association of Relatives of Political Prisoners of the Kremlin, and DiXi Group, Truth Hounds also presented the study at the Vienna International Centre, in cooperation with the Permanent Mission of Ukraine to the International Organisations in Vienna and the Delegation of the EU to the International Organisations in Vienna. The event was attended by representatives of EU Member States, diplomats from the delegations of Australia, Chile, Peru, Morocco, Ghana and Pakistan, as well as officials from the IAEA Secretariat.
Carl Hallergård, EU Ambassador to the International Organisations in Vienna, stated:
“I have read the Truth Hounds’ research ‘Seizing power’. It is difficult to surprise us with the way Russia treats people. But still, this was very depressing reading – when it comes to what people under occupation have to endure. It is something that leaves no one indifferent.”
The key findings of this research were also presented at the Side Event on the margins of the 60th Session of the UN Human Rights Council on Corporate Complicity, War Crimes, and Risks of Nuclear Catastrophe. The event was attended by representatives of the Permanent Mission of Ukraine to the UN Office and other international organizations in Geneva, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine, and the organisations No Peace Without Justice and Greenpeace Ukraine.
Truth Hounds, together with Project Expedite Justice, held a discussion within the framework of the OSCE Warsaw Human Dimension Conference, dedicated to the environmental and nuclear aspects of modern warfare and the lessons of Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine. During the event, we discussed the militarisation of the ZNPP, violations of its nuclear safety and security, and the human rights of plant personnel; the humanitarian, environmental, and agricultural consequences of the destruction of the Kakhovka Dam; and international accountability mechanisms.
At the Nobel Peace Conference marking the 80th anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Oleksandra Romantsova, Executive Director of the Centre for Civil Liberties, delivered a speech on the ZNPP prepared jointly with Truth Hounds. Through this event, peace prize laureates, activists, and experts from around the world honored the memory of the victims of the disaster and reminded everyone of the constant danger of nuclear weapons.
Key findings of this Truth Hounds study were also presented at the University of Copenhagen and at the European Policy Centre in Brussels.
Killzone: How Russian Drones Are Devastating the River Dnipro’s Right Bank
The key findings of the study on Russia’s ‘drone safari’ targeting Ukraine’s southern civilian population were presented at the international Crimea Global conference. The Security Service of Ukraine has reviewed our research results and will use them in its practical work.
Truth Hounds also contributed to the:
- IPHR report on Russian tortures at Kherson Temporary Detention Center (TDC) No. 1. This TDC was one of the largest among 11 torture sites in Kherson alone, holding 500 civilians who were detained by Russian forces.
- Norwegian Helsinki Committee report «Arbitrary detention and torture: Balakliia under Russian Occupation, from 3 March to 8 September 2022». The report used materials collected by Truth Hounds. After the liberation of the Kharkiv region, we conducted field missions in the area and visited places of detention used by Russian troops during the occupation, interviewing witnesses, victims of detention and their relatives. We also analysed data on specific military units that are likely to be responsible for these crimes.
- Submission with the Office of the Prosecutor of the ICC about crimes against humanity and war crimes committed in the Central African Republic (CAR) since 2018 by Larochelle Avocats. Among those likely to be involved in these crimes are Russian mercenaries from the Wagner Group, who operated in the country under the guise of ‘instructors.’ Truth Hounds’ investigators conducted an OSINT analysis based on witness testimonies. In particular, they verified references to alleged crimes and their possible perpetrators, as well as publications on Telegram channels.
- Human Rights House in Chernihiv report based on the results of monitoring cluster munition strikes on Chernihiv between 24 February and 2 April 2022. The report documenting war crimes was based, in particular, on data from Truth Hounds field missions.
- Yuriy Uhryn and Andrii Latsyba, Truth Hounds’ Legal Counsels, wrote a report “Key Environmental Violations Committed By Russia During The Full-Scale Aggression Against Ukraine”. Which provides an overview of the main types of environmental damage caused by Russia during the full-scale aggression against Ukraine.
In July the European Court of Human Rights ruled that Russia was responsible for numerous and systematic violations of the European Convention on Human Rights in the temporarily occupied territories of Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine since 2014. In particular, for the downing of flight MH17. Truth Hounds was recognised in a court’s judgment as an organisation that extensively documented allegations and findings of extrajudicial killings of civilians and Ukrainian soldiers hors de combat.
In December The Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court launched its new Policy on Addressing Environmental Damage Through the Rome Statute. The final policy incorporated several key principles mentioned in the Truth Hounds’ recommendations we submitted to the ICC Office of the Prosecutor. Our submission drew on extensive documentation of war crimes and environmental damage, including insights from our research on the destruction of the Kakhovka Dam.
In October Truth Hounds became the first Ukrainian NGO to receive the Polish Prize of Sérgio Vieira de Mello
The prize is awarded for contributions to the democratisation of society and the promotion of human rights.
“Receiving this award renews our strength. It reminds us that, even amidst the storm, there are people who stand together – united by a belief that truth matters, that justice can prevail, and that every human life has equal worth,” – Oksana Pokalchuk, Co-Executive Director at Truth Hounds, stated in her speech during the ceremony.
