Russians have stopped concealing war crimes, says Nobel Peace Prize laureate Matviichuk

The Russians have ceased hiding their war crimes and are now openly perpetrating acts of violence and terror, both in occupied territories and on Ukrainian-controlled lands.

This was stated by Oleksandra Matviichuk, a Ukrainian human rights defender, head of the Center for Civil Liberties, which became one of the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize laureates, in an interview with Ukrainska Pravda.

“Previously they would at least try to cover things up. For instance, they made Ihor Kozlovskyi [a prisoner of the Kremlin regime, captured in 2016, tortured, and later released in 2017 – ed.] hold a grenade to get his fingerprints. But now, no one even bothers with that,” said Matviichuk.

She explained that persecution and repression have become widespread under Russian occupation. 

“There’s a Stalin-era phrase: ‘Show me the man, and I’ll show you the case against him.’ And that reflects where we are now,” she said.

Matviichuk said the terror unleashed by the Russians in the occupied territories is so unpredictable that people are left uncertain about how to act in order to avoid violence.

“One of the questions we ask in our surveys is, ‘Why were you sent to the basement [i.e. the torture chamber]?’ And people say: ‘We don’t know. Maybe we just crossed the road in the wrong place at the wrong time,’” she said.

The Russians, however, are convinced they will face no repercussions for their actions.

“This stems from their imperial culture, which is built on a long tradition of impunity: they believe they can kill people and erase their identity because “Why should there be punishment? It’s our right!” said Matviichuk.

Read the full interview at the link.