Week-ending 27 February 2026
For us, Amnesty International is a gateway to the world, a way to speak about what we experience, even when global attention shifts elsewhere. We are not a passing story. We are people. We have rights. Amnesty gives us a platform, support, institutional weight, and the trust it carries in its name. It allows our testimonies to travel beyond our borders, to reach decision-makers, journalists, and ordinary people who might otherwise never hear them. Amnesty gives us a hope, that sooner or later all the suffering of innocent people who were killed in this war of aggression will be honoured with justice. But I hope it’s sooner, as we all want to witness it.
– Lera Burlakova: Media and Campaigns Coordinator at Amnesty International Ukraine, reflects on living, working, and raising a child during wartime — and on the human rights work that cannot be outsourced to safer places – to mark the anniversary of the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion
Source: ‘Lera Burlakova: “Solidarity is not a slogan here in Ukraine. It is infrastructure”,’ Amnesty International, 23 February 2026
“The people of Ukraine have now endured another year of full-scale aggression, the most devastating so far in terms of its humanitarian consequences, and deadliest in terms of civilian casualties since 2022. Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin and his senior officials indicted by the International Criminal Court remain fugitives from international justice. Despite the ongoing aggression, international resolve to oppose Russia’s crimes under international law and support its victims has come under increasing strain in recent months, particularly since the beginning of Donald Trump’s presidency. Commitments to justice and human rights are weakening as powerful actors grow emboldened to disregard international law and further erode the rules-based order. We see this in rhetoric minimizing Russia’s responsibility for serious violations, and in proposals suggesting that impunity for aggression and other crimes is an acceptable price to pay to end the fighting. We also see it in the reckless, unchecked attacks on the International Criminal Court, and in recent limitations in assistance to Ukrainian refugees, with some states suggesting that parts of the country are now safe for return. Injustice must be addressed, not normalized. Impunity must be challenged, not embedded in peace proposals.”
– Erika Guevara-Rosas, Amnesty International’s Senior Director for Research, Advocacy, Policy and Campaigns, ahead of the fourth anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine
Source: ‘Ukraine: Four years on from Russia’s full-scale invasion, unwavering global commitment to justice is paramount, Amnesty International, 24 February 2026
Background from Erika Guevara-Rosas of Amnesty International: “Ukrainian civilians continue to endure daily indiscriminate attacks. Critical infrastructure indispensable for survival has been relentlessly destroyed, placing millions of lives at risk. Russian forces continue to torture prisoners of war, and terrorize and deport civilians in the territories they occupy, subject teachers to forcible labour, and indoctrinate children and deny them their identity. All the while, Moscow demands control over more Ukrainian territory as part of ‘peace negotiations’. The world must not forget that since Russia’s occupation and illegal annexation of Crimea 12 years ago, it has brought devastation and immense suffering to the people of Ukraine, both in the occupied territory and beyond. Millions have been displaced, countless families have been left homeless, and far too many lives lost. Russia’s aggression — a crime under international law — has tested not only the courage and resilience of Ukrainians, but also the resolve of the international community to uphold human rights and ensure justice. Any pressure on Ukraine to compromise on accountability for war-related crimes or to accept Russia’s territorial and other demands is as morally repugnant as it is unlawful. There must be no impunity for crimes under international law, and such crimes carry no statute of limitation. This is a critical moment for humanity. The resolve of the international community must not falter. It is paramount that the people of Ukraine receive truth, justice and reparations for the devastating impact this war has inflicted over the past twelve years — and continues to inflict on the country, its people, its land, and its future.”
“The Kremlin targets the journalists and media infrastructure involved in covering its war of aggression. These attacks are neither isolated nor accidental. Their widespread and systematic nature reveals a state policy and amounts to the crime against humanity of persecuting journalists due to their work. This complaint — the eleventh filed by RSF concerning the full-scale war in Ukraine — demonstrates this for the first time. We urge the International Criminal Court and the Prosecutor General of Ukraine to respond to this complaint with the same decisiveness as they have shown in previous cases, all the more so given the extreme gravity of the alleged crime.
– Antoine Bernard, RSF Director of Advocacy and Assistance
Source: ‘Kremlin persecution of journalists in Ukraine: RSF files landmark complaint with the ICC for crimes against humanity,’ RSF, 23 February 2026
Background from RSF: The Kremlin has been deliberately targeting media professionals in Ukraine since the war in Donbas and the annexation of Crimea in 2014, and this has severely ramped up since the start of the full-scale invasion. Russian strikes have bombed hotels where journalists live and work and reporters have been murdered, killed in drone attacks, arrested, deported and jailed. According to RSF data as of 10 February 2026, over 175 news professionals, Ukrainian and foreign reporters alike, have fallen victim to Russian abuses since 24 February 2022.
‘Throughout the war, Russian forces have repeatedly shown disregard for international humanitarian law and civilian life. From Kharkiv, Izium, and Mariupol to Kyiv, Chernihiv, and Kherson, they have struck hospitals, schools, and apartment blocks, devastating entire neighborhoods, often the result of indiscriminate attacks using explosive weapons in populated areas. In areas that fell under Russian occupation, including Bucha, Izium, and Kherson, Russian forces have carried out summary executions, enforced disappearances, sexual violence, and torture. Civilians were held in basements and makeshift detention sites, beaten, and subjected to electric shocks and mock executions. Ukrainian prisoners of war and civilian detainees still in Russian custody face daily physical and psychological abuse. Thousands of Ukrainian children have been deported or forcibly transferred to Russia or Russian occupied areas. […] Four years on, the scale of documented atrocities demands concrete accountability across Russia’s entire chain of command, from those on the ground to Russia’s highest political and military leadership. The International Criminal Court’s (ICC) arrest warrants for senior Russian officials are an important milestone toward redress for victims. Ukraine’s allies, including the European Union and its member states, should fully support justice for all grave crimes throughdomestic and ICC investigations, act to enforce arrest warrants, encourage the expansion of universal jurisdiction prosecutions, and back Ukraine’s strong and resilient civil society groups documenting violations and assisting survivors.’
– Yulia Gorbunova, Associate Director, HRW, Ukraine
Source: Yulia Gorbunova, ‘Russia’s War on Ukraine Four Years On. Accountability for Grave Crimes Remains Essential,’ HRW, 24 February 2026
Background from Yulia Gorbunova of Human Rights Watch: On February 24, 2022, Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The war—defined by a relentless series of apparent war crimes and crimes against humanity—has resulted in tens of thousands of civilian casualties and triggered Europe’s largest displacement crisis since World War II. […] Russian authorities continue to commit routine abuses in occupied territories, imposing Russian laws, unlawfully seizing property, and coercing Ukrainians into adopting Russian citizenship and performing military service. Occupying authorities have imposed Russian language and Russian curriculum in schools as part of a systematic campaign to suppress Ukrainian identity, language, and culture. Since 2022, Russian forces have also repeatedly targeted Ukraine’s energy grid, infrastructure indispensable to civilian survival. The latest wave of strikes has left over one million Ukrainians with severely interrupted heat, water, and electricity during winter months. As United States-led peace negotiations continue, Ukrainians joke grimly after each brutal night that these missiles are the Kremlin’s true “peace offerings”.
‘Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine is now entering its fifth year. Since 2022, emergency alarms, drone attacks, and constant wartime conditions have shaped the lives of millions of Ukrainians. Yet the flame of resistance continues to burn brightly. Since the beginning of the war, Civil Rights Defenders has supported the brave human rights defenders who keep this struggle alive, and we will continue to do so.’
– Civil Rights Defenders
Source: ‘Four years since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine,’ Civil Rights Defenders, 24 February 2026
Background from Civil Rights Defenders: Across the country, from Lviv to Luhansk, journalists, lawyers, and activists are fighting for justice. Many risk their lives to document war crimes, ensuring that the truth is not lost, and that accountability remains possible. With recurring power outages, their work has become both more demanding and more dangerous.
“This war cannot simply be reduced to lines on a map and numbers negotiated behind closed doors. It is also defined by Russia’s war crimes and crimes against humanity, which can only be addressed through public trials, victims’ testimonies, and documentation, to uncover the truth. Our current global justice system is insufficient, because prosecuting the crime of aggression committed by Vladimir Putin and other Russian high officials is outside the International Criminal Court (ICC)’s jurisdiction, and Russia has the right to veto at the United Nations. Only a strong Special Tribunal, backed by determined diplomatic support, could undertake such a necessary task,”
– Alexis Deswaef, FIDH President.
Source: Justice for Ukrainians must be non-negotiable in any resolution of the war in Ukraine,’ FIDH, 24 February 2026
Background from FIDH: 24 February 2026. When Vladimir Putin launched his full-scale invasion of Ukraine four years ago today, he stated that his attack did “not contradict the high values of human rights and freedoms in the reality that emerged over the post-war decades“. Yet since the first hours of invasion until today, his war has rested on abhorrent human rights abuses, and international crimes committed on a massive scale against unarmed civilians and prisoners of war (POWs). From the Bucha massacre to the daily bombing of civilians, and the continued operation of torture sites in the occupied Ukraine regions as in the Russian territory: the dehumanisation of Ukrainians is integral to Russia’s tactics. Russia also systematically violates its obligations under international humanitarian law by targeting Ukraine’s civilian energy infrastructure, to condemn Ukrainians to face the bitter cold of the winter and daily life without electricity.
‘On the fourth anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, ARTICLE 19 honours journalists, human rights defenders, and civilians whose lives have been taken in Russia’s war of aggression. We reaffirm our steadfast support for Ukraine and its fight for sovereignty, independence, and fundamental freedoms in the face of continued aggression. Russia must be held accountable for the grave and harrowing crimes it continues to commit. Any credible path toward sustainable peace must include redress for victims and reparations.
– Article 19
Source: ‘Ukraine: Four years on, Ukrainians resist – and we must support their cause,’ Article 19, 24 February 2026
Background from Article 19: Since the launch of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022, Russian forces have continued to carry out deadly airstrikes against civilians, journalists covering the war, and critical infrastructure, as well as Ukrainian cities, including sites of historical and cultural heritage. A report published in October 2025 by the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine concluded that intensified drone attacks have killed civilians, displaced residents from their homes, and caused widespread destruction. The Commission found that these patterns of attacks amount to crimes against humanity and war crimes, among them murder and forcible transfer of population. The escalation of drone warfare has devastating humanitarian consequences. Energy infrastructure remains one of the primary targets of Russia’s ongoing attacks, leaving millions of Ukrainians without electricity, heating, and water supply. Families endure freezing apartments and prolonged blackouts while Russia’s relentless strikes continue.
