UHHRU Human Rights Abuse Documentation Center presents chronicles of the events of hybrid armed conflict in Ukraine using the example of several Donbas cities. A series of brief analytical reports starts with events in Severodonetsk.

Severodonetsk, situated close to the cities of Donetsk and Luhansk, used to be at the epicenter of so-called Russian Spring. During presidential elections, on November 28, 2004, it was Severodonetsk that hosted the First All-Ukrainian Congress of People’s Deputies and Local Council Members organized by the Party of Regions. It was then that the delegates voiced the idea to form a separate state formation out of Ukraine’s eastern and southern regions in response to the Orange Revolution. In 2014, these regions were to form so-called “Novorosia”.

In course of its monitoring visits, UHHRU Documentation Center collected eyewitnesses’ stories and studied open information sources and statistical data regarding serious violations of human rights, including the right to life.

After experiencing firsthand the “benefits” of the “Russian World” (murder, robberies and looting) and serving as the epicenter of the Russian Spring, liberated Severodonetsk has become not just a city where the Luhansk Civil-Military Administration has been located since September 2014, but also a place of reconciliation and understanding for the entire Ukrainian land of Luhansk.

The report in Ukrainian is available here.

Executive Summary of the Report in English can be found here.

This publication is made possible by the generous support of the American people through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in the framework of the Human Rights in Action Program implemented by the Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union. Opinions, conclusions and recommendations presented in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of the USAID or the United States Government. The contents are the responsibility of the authors and UHHRU.

The American people, through the USAID, have provided economic and humanitarian assistance worldwide for 55 years. In Ukraine, USAID’s assistance focuses on three areas: Health and Social Transition, Economic Growth and Democracy and Governance. USAID has provided 1.8 bln. technical and humanitarian assistance to Ukraine since 1992. For additional information about USAID programs in Ukraine, please visit our website: http://ukraine.usaid.gov or our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/USAIDUkraine.