The people’s trial of the president of russia took place in The Hague. During the trial process, which has no legal effect but is an important symbolic act, evidence of vladimir putin’s numerous war crimes committed in Ukraine was provided. The witnesses in the court included three Ukrainians who shared their stories with the Museum of Civilian Voices of the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation, describing what they came through during the war.

According to the court, “there are substantial grounds for confirming the indictment that should be issued against president vladimir putin for more than a thousand cases of the crime of aggression committed against the people and territory of Ukraine.” 

The court called on the UN, the European Union, all governments and peoples of the world “to take all necessary steps to ensure that a court with legal powers will issue an indictment against president vladimir putin and take appropriate measures to arrest the perpetrator as soon as possible and bring him to trial under an official tribunal in Ukraine.”

“The international community must come into its own. A sign of responsible leaders and peoples should be unambiguous assessment of the war and genocide of the civilian population in Ukraine. Leaders of different countries should unite the society of the Globe in order for putin and russia to leave the territory of Ukraine. This is the first and important step towards building a new world, mutual respect of peoples and justice,” this is a view on further steps of the world regarding the establishment of justice expressed by the witness Oleh Moskalenko, a hero of the Museum of Civilian Voices.

The people’s trial of putin is an initiative of the human rights group Cinema for Peace, the Ukrainian Centre for Civil Liberties and Ben Ferencz, a 102-year-old lawyer, the last prosecutor in the Nuremberg Trial of the top Nazi leaders after World War II, who survived to nowadays. 

The stories of the witnesses became part of the archive of the Museum of Civilian Voices of the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation — this is the world’s largest collection of stories from Ukrainian civilians who suffered from the war. The Museum’s archive now has more than 60,000 stories. Share your story on https://civilvoicesmuseum.org/ or by calling a toll-free hotline 0 (800) 509 001.