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In February 2025, Ukraine marks three years since Russia’s full-scale invasion and eleven years in total of armed Russian aggression against the country starting with the annexation of Crimea, sparking an “avalanche of atrocities” and human rights violations. In this interview with HRHF, Ukrainian human rights defender Tetiana Pechonchyk, discusses the potential escalation of the war, Ukrainian civil society’s current human rights focuses, the impact of disrupted US support for Ukraine, and how it could strengthen China’s influence in the region, among other pressing issues.

“We cannot rely on Trump’s United States to attempt to civilise human conflict. Now we must rely on American civil society and the EU” writes Human Rights House Foundation’s Chairperson Bernt Hagtvet in a recent op-ed for the Norwegian publication VG.

On 8 January 2025, Human Rights House Foundation delivered an intersession statement at the UN Human Rights Council urging states to ensure consistent monitoring and reporting of the human rights situation in Crimea, to advocate for the release of all political prisoners and for access for independent monitors of detention facilities, and to continue to support the work of international accountability mechanisms.

From June 2022 to November 2024, Human Rights House Foundation (HRHF) implemented a 30-month regional project that provided opportunities for emergency support for Ukrainian civil society and independent media in the wake of the full-scale Russian invasion. The project was funded by the European Union and implemented by ERIM-led coalition of partners, including including Barys Zvozskau Belarusian Human Rights House, Black Sea Trust, East Europe Foundation, Human Rights House Tbilisi and HRHF.

Hennadii Vypynashko is a Ukrainian human rights defender who coordinated the Protection Program of the Educational Human Rights House Chernihiv for over 2.5 years, supporting civil society representatives affected by Russia’s full-scale war in Ukraine. In this interview, he shares stories about supported human rights defenders and journalists, his motivation, and key takeaways from his experience.

From October 7-11, 2024, 15 human rights defenders from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Russia, Serbia, and Ukraine gathered for a week of advocacy as a part of the Network of Human Rights Houses’ 30th anniversary celebrations. Human Rights House Foundation (HRHF) and Network partners aimed to deepen engagement with Norwegian policymakers and raise awareness of critical human rights challenges across the region, emphasising the need for increased political and financial support from Norway for civil society.

At the 57th UN Human Rights Council, Human Rights House Foundation (HRHF) worked alongside civil society partners to highlight the situation for human rights in Eastern Europe, the Caucasus and the Balkans.

Valentyna Potapova is a human rights defender from Ukraine. She is the head of national advocacy direction at Centre of Civil Education “Almenda”, a member organisation of Human Rights House Crimea, which had to relocate from Crimea to Kyiv following Russia’s annexation of the Crimean peninsula in 2014. Since then, Potapova’s work is focused on protecting the right to education of children remaining under occupation.

On 8 October 2024, Human Rights House Foundation delivered a statement at the 57th session of the UN Human Rights Council urging states to ensure that violations committed within the context of the Russian occupation of Crimea remain a priority on the agenda of the Council.