Hi, this is Olga, one of the editors of Ukraine Stories. Over the last week, we’ve received dozens of emotional stories from journalists across Ukraine and Russia. Some are devastating while others are inspiring.

We heard from our Ukrainian correspondent Tetiana Bezenar about how Odesa’s opera house is preparing for a defiant world premiere. Journalist Liudmyla Makei discovered the diary of an eight year-old from Mariupol through the eyes of a photgrapher who sheltered with him. And Russian journalists from Holod media gives a unique view into the thoughts and feelings of well educated Russian teenagers. Read on for more extraordinary stories.

31.05.2022

Latest news from our Ukrainian and Russian colleagues

Photo article

Ukrainian rescuer Yurii Lozynskyi. Kyiv Region, Ukraine. March 2022. (Credit: Yuriі Lozynskyі)

🚒 Yurii Lozynskyi is a Ukrainian rescuer who risks his life and health every day. Since the first days of the war, this young member of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine has been saving lives, pulling people out of the rubble of houses and evacuating residents and animals from dangerous places. He talks about the most dramatic moments of his war and the stories of people who suffered from the Russian invasion.

Geneva Solutions (EN)

Must reads

🏳️‍🌈 Ukrainian LGBTIQ+ community: ‘we’re also taking part in this war’. LGBTIQ+ representatives within the Ukrainian army are rarely portrayed. An association and its members aims to change that.
Geneva Solutions (EN)
❓ What do Russian children say when their motherland is an ogre? Russian children's author Yulia Yakovleva talks to children in Russia for two months about their experiences of the war.
Geneva Solutions (EN)
🔤 Teaching the humanitarian ABC to Ukraine war fighters. NGO Geneva Call has been working with non-state armed groups to make sure they know their international obligations.
Geneva Solutions (EN)
🎵 The show goes on at Odesa’s opera house. As Odesa comes under heavy attacks, actors and musicians at Odesa’s beloved opera and ballet theatre are pushing ahead with a new performance.
Geneva Solutions (EN)
🇺🇳 Human Rights Council at a 'crucial moment', after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine heightened the focus on its work – especially now with its independent investigation into alleged war crimes underway, its president said.
Geneva Solutions (EN)

Image of the day

Photo article

A page from the boy's diary. (Credit: Yevhen Sosnovsky)

📖 Diary of a schoolboy from Mariupol. Sunday, 3 May. “I slept well, woke up, smiled, got up, and read my book until the 25th page. My grandfather is dead, I have a wound in my back, my skin is gone, my sister has injuries to the head and mom no longer has flesh in the arm and a hole in the leg.” These lines were written by a school boy from Mariupol. He kept a diary for the entire two months he spent in a basement in Mariupol with his family. Local photographer Yevhen Sosnovsky took pictures of the boy and the diary after living with the family in a basement for several days. Journalist Ljudmila Makei spoke to Sosnovsky about the young diarist, his photos, and the devastation he witnessed in the war-torn city.

Geneva Solutions (EN)

On the agenda

📌 9 June | The Wagner Group: Option for justice. Since its creation around a decade ago, the Wagner Group has become notorious for its brutality. Its members have allegedly committed international crimes, particularly war crimes, in countries like Ukraine, Libya, and Mali. But what is the status of Wagner Group members? Could their conduct be attributable to Russia? These are some of the questions that will be debated during Geneva Academy’s next IHL Talks with speakers Dr Jelena Aparac from the United Nations Working Group on the Use of Mercenaries, Ibrahim al-Kasem, Syrian Lawyer and executive director of Caesar Files Group, and Chiara Gabriele, senior legal adviser at Trial International.

Geneva Academy (EN)

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