The Ukrainian organization of the Nobel Peace Prize: "We have recorded more than 20,000 Russian war crimes"

• Prize 2022 The Nobel Peace Prize rewards human rights activists in Ukraine, Russia and Belarus

When the project manager of the Center for Civil Liberties (CLC), Anna Popova, went to the offices of that NGO in kyiv - shortly after noon - she suddenly found herself with a whole mob of journalists who congratulated her.

The astonished face of the activist showed that she was unaware of the news.

She only believed her when she checked her phone and brought her hand to her mouth.

The CLC had just received the Nobel Peace Prize shortly before, together with the Russian organization Memorial and the Belarusian lawyer Ales Bialiatski.

"

," she said.

The small facilities of the group located in the center of the Ukrainian capital became in a few moments a human agglomeration, dominated by informants, while the activists' phones did not stop ringing.

The NGO's spokeswoman, Anna Trushova, explained that the award "is a valuable recognition" of the work carried out by this conglomerate of human rights defenders in 2007.

"Right now our efforts are aimed at achieving peace in Ukraine and promoting a court to put Putin on trial. We are documenting war crimes throughout the country. Our team started working on this already in the first days of the invasion in the Kiev region. We have recorded more than 20,000 war crimes

," Trushova said.

The CLC is compiling data on the multiple acts committed by the Russian army and especially on the "disappearance" of civilians from the towns it occupied, which the group estimates to be at least 7,000.

"There is some progress and some civilian prisoners are coming back but many others end up locked up in Russian institutions. This is one of our most important jobs,

," added the activist.

The CLC has designed an interactive map that indicates each locality where these alleged kidnappings have been registered and describes what happened, as Popova pointed out in a recent appearance before the press.

"50 percent of the activists were kidnapped at home, in the morning. It was a surprise for them. They have also kidnapped people in the middle of the street, regardless of whether they were in uniform or not. They check their phones and take them to the They may be held captive for a few days but others are still being held," Popova said on that day.

The group had already been significant in the past collecting information on human rights violations in neighboring

or in charge of the security forces that protected President

during the 2013 and 2014 protests, which ended with his flight from the country. .

When Russia illegally annexed Crimea and promoted the revolt of separatist forces in Donbas in 2014, the CLC sent several representatives to investigate the abuses that were taking place in those two Ukrainian regions.

The CLC is led by Oleksandra Matviychuk, one of the best-known figures among Ukrainian human rights defenders, who just a few days ago was also awarded the so-called

by the Swedish foundation Right Livelihood.

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