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‘We dream of becoming unnecessary’: the Tribunal for Putin (T4P) initiative presents three-year report

On March 25, the “Tribunal for Putin” (T4P) initiative released the results of its three years of work — nearly 85,000 documented war crimes and nine submissions to the International Criminal Court.

Фото: Ukraine crisis media center Photo: Ukraine crisis media center

Photo: Ukraine crisis media center

The T4P (Tribunal for Putin) initiative was launched in March 2022 by three human rights organizations — the Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group, the Center for Civil Liberties, and the Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union — in response to Russia’s full-scale invasion. Today, the initiative unites more than forty organizations working to document crimes that fall under the definitions set out in the Rome Statute.

“The goal of the initiative is to achieve justice for every person affected by this aggression — and for Ukrainian society as a whole” says Oleksandra Romantsova, Executive Director of the Center for Civil Liberties.

Олександра Романцова, виконавча директорка Центру громадянських свобод, Фото: Ukraine crisis media center Oleksandra Romantsova, Executive Director of the Center for Civil Liberties, Photo: Ukraine crisis media center

Oleksandra Romantsova, Executive Director of the Center for Civil Liberties, Photo: Ukraine crisis media center

T4P documenters work both with open sources and directly on the ground — collecting photo and video evidence, conducting interviews. All information is verified, analyzed using OSINT methods, and systematized into individual case files. These include some of Russia’s most devastating attacks, such as the bombing of the Mariupol Drama Theater, the destruction of the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant, threats to the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, and strikes on religious and medical facilities, including the OHMATDYT children’s hospital.

What makes T4P’s approach unique is its territorial structure: each organization is responsible for a specific region, allowing for deeper understanding of local contexts and more effective data collection. In several regions, T4P has documented more war crimes than state or international institutions. As a result, the T4P database is now one of the largest repositories of data on the war in Ukraine. Yet, the actual number of certain types of crimes is almost certainly much higher than what can currently be recorded.

“There’s also a separate database managed by the Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group itself, which includes cases that have been classified as investigated criminal proceedings. This database currently contains over 15,500 such cases. So we can say that overall, across all our databases, we have documented more than 100,000 incidents” says Yevhen Zakharov, Director of the Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group.

Фото: Ukraine crisis media center Photo: Ukraine crisis media center

Photo: Ukraine crisis media center

As of March 20, 2025, the T4P initiative has documented 84,396 war crimes committed during Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. In addition, at least 3,745 cases of destruction or damage to cultural, religious, and social infrastructure have been recorded — including historic landmarks, churches, hospitals, and educational and research institutions. A total of 17,421 documented attacks have directly targeted civilian objects such as residential buildings, businesses, schools, kindergartens, and other facilities. Full statistics are available on the official T4P website.

Over the past three years, T4P has been actively spreading awareness of war crimes through national and international media, public actions, performances, and a wide range of educational materials. Among its projects are the documentary “Shadows on the Left Bank” by The Kyiv Independent, which depicts life in temporarily occupied territories; “Voices of Mariupol”, telling the stories of three Mariupol residents who survived in a besieged city without power or communication under relentless Russian airstrikes; the documentary “Hostages (Un)Protected”, exploring the challenges faced by former detainees upon their return home; and the poetic project “Stay Strong! I Am Holding On!”, conveying the pain and resilience of Ukrainians in Russian captivity — and of those awaiting their return. Another notable T4P publication is the Prisoners Voice brochure, which collects 50 testimonies of unlawfully imprisoned civilians, offering deeper insight into the scale of human rights violations. The book “Voices of War: Mariupol”, the first printed collection of war witness interviews from Ukraine, features 24 residents of Mariupol sharing their unique stories of life in an encircled city and their attempts to escape.

An essential part of T4P’s mission is international advocacy. The initiative works closely with the United Nations, the Council of Europe, the OSCE, and the European Union to help maintain sustained international pressure on the Russian Federation.

Over the course of three years, the initiative has prepared and submitted nine communications to the International Criminal Court, focusing on:

Євген Захаров, директор Харківської правозахисної групи. Фото: Ukraine crisis media center Yevhen Zakharov, Director of the Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group. Photo: Ukraine Crisis Media Center

Yevhen Zakharov, Director of the Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group. Photo: Ukraine Crisis Media Center

“Not only crimes, but also justice has no statute of limitations. I believe this should be Ukraine’s firm stance”, says Yevhen Zakharov, Director of the Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group.

Yuliya Bohdan, Director of the Center for Law Enforcement Activity Research (CLEAR), emphasized the role of national institutions in the investigation of war crimes:

“I emphasize the objective need for involving national judicial bodies in investigating and documenting crimes committed under the orders of high-ranking military and political leadership — crimes that have mostly targeted civilians, not soldiers, in the temporarily occupied territories. Only this approach reflects the true reality, rather than imitating a fight against some abstract enemy”.

Юлія Богдан, директорка Центру досліджень правоохоронної діяльності (CLEAR). Фото: Ukraine crisis media center Yuliya Bohdan, Director of the Center for Law Enforcement Activity Research (CLEAR). Photo: Ukraine Crisis Media Center

Yuliya Bohdan, Director of the Center for Law Enforcement Activity Research (CLEAR). Photo: Ukraine Crisis Media Center

Vladlena Padun, analyst at the Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union, emphasized the importance of establishing an international tribunal for the crime of aggression against Ukraine:

“We sincerely hope that, with the support of the Council of Europe, the European Union, and a number of European and global partners, the tribunal will be established in the near future. Its goal is not only to bring justice for Ukraine, but also to uphold shared principles of international law for the entire world. It is positive that Ukraine has managed to unite many states around this initiative. This tribunal will become a new mechanism for ensuring accountability — and a crucial precedent: evil will be punished”.

Владлена Падун, аналітикиня Української Гельсінської спілки з прав людини. Фото: Ukraine crisis media center Vladlena Padun, analyst at the Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union. Photo: Ukraine Crisis Media Center

Vladlena Padun, analyst at the Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union. Photo: Ukraine Crisis Media Center

Truth Hounds, one of the participants of the initiative, uses the principle of universal jurisdiction in its work, which allows prosecuting perpetrators of international crimes regardless of where they were committed. As of today, the organization has already submitted five submissions to the competent authorities of other countries to initiate relevant criminal proceedings.

“Russia has been committing war crimes not since 2022, but since 2014, so the lack of accountability and the possibility of alleged impunity give rise to more and more violations. This is why it is important for us to have a result that demonstrates that even in 10–15 years, the perpetrators will be brought to justice, and perhaps this will have some preventive role, which will reduce the number of offenses committed today”, says Zera Kozlieva, Legal Director of Truth Hounds.

Зера Козлиєва, юридична директорка Truth Hounds. Фото: Ukraine crisis media center Zera Kozlieva, Legal Director of Truth Hounds. Photo: Ukraine crisis media center

Zera Kozlieva, Legal Director of Truth Hounds. Photo: Ukraine crisis media center

One of the key aspects of achieving justice is restoring the rights of victims — especially civilians who returned from unlawful detention as a result of armed aggression against Ukraine. Their rights are protected under the Law of Ukraine “On the Social and Legal Protection of Persons Deprived of Personal Liberty as a Result of Armed Aggression Against Ukraine, and Members of Their Families”.

However, as Ihor Kotelianets, Head of the Association of Relatives of Kremlin Political Prisoners, points out, the law was adopted before the full-scale invasion and its current version fails to reflect the new realities. In particular, it contains discriminatory approaches, providing assistance only to certain categories of victims.

Ігор Котелянець, голова Об’єднання родичів політв’язнів Кремля. Фото: Ukraine crisis media center Ihor Kotelianets, Head of the Association of Relatives of Kremlin Political Prisoners. Photo: Ukraine Crisis Media Center

Ihor Kotelianets, Head of the Association of Relatives of Kremlin Political Prisoners. Photo: Ukraine Crisis Media Center

“We need to harmonize our law with the provisions of the Geneva Conventions and expand the scope of state support”, Kotelianets emphasizes. “Assistance should be provided to all civilians who have fallen victim to unlawful imprisonment — not just to those involved in civic or activist work”.

“We dream of becoming unnecessary. All human rights defenders dream of the day when their work is no longer needed”, says Oleksandra Romantsova, Executive Director of the Center for Civil Liberties.

During the event, the T4P initiative also presented a brochure summarizing the results of its work. The publication is available in both English and Ukrainian.

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