Last year, the Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group (KHPG) approached the Ukraine War Archive team with a request to help analyse court decisions on collaborationism cases. The goal was to optimise the review process and provide structured data for the preparation of an analytical report. Here are the joint achievements of our organisations.
Start of Cooperation
At the time of the request, the register of court decisions was already open for access. The Archive team was eager to assist with optimisation and analysis, using AI for automated data collection and processing. This enabled the creation of a detailed spreadsheet that included, among other things, the following parameters:
The court that issued the decision
The case number
The date of the final judgment
The legal qualification (article number and part)
The grounds for initiating proceedings (the specific offence for which the person was convicted)
The position of the convicted person at the time of sentencing, as well as any previous positions—this was important due to the nature of the cases
The sentence imposed
Further Joint Work
After compiling the spreadsheet in the summer of 2024, KHPG conducted additional checks and analyses to prepare its report. In the autumn of the same year, human rights advocates requested an update to include proceedings initiated since the last exchange between the KHPG and Archive teams. We provided the updated information, allowing KHPG to gather data for a more comprehensive picture and finalise the analytical report.
Key Conclusions of the KHPG Report
The report by the Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group highlights the current state of court decisions in cases of collaborationism under each part of Article 111-1. It examines how courts issue sentences, for what actions people are prosecuted and under what circumstances, and the severity of the penalties imposed. The report also notes that some sentences may be controversial, raising questions about the fairness and proportionality of the punishments.
“This report is not intended to showcase exemplary justice in Ukraine. It is quite controversial, but it reflects actual judicial practice,” says Valentyna Humenna, archivist of the Ukraine War Archive team.
This project was made possible through the coordinated efforts of analysts, lawyers, and the technical team. One of the two KHPG analysts working on the report joined the Armed Forces of Ukraine before its completion. We are grateful to each and every person who contributed to this important research.
Illustration by Kharkiv Human Rights Group based on a photo from RIA-Pivden © Maria Krykunenko
