Dinara Khalilova

Some names have been changed to protect the identities of those featured in the story.After over two years of full-time reporting on the war in my country, I spent several months with the Reckoning Project, recording testimonies of alleged war crimes.I focused on forced displacement, deportation, and daily life under occupation, speaking with people who lived under Russian rule — from Crimea's annexation in 2014 to the occupation of parts of Kherson and Kharkiv oblasts in 2022.Many lost lo

Some names have been changed to protect the identities of those featured in the storyAs a war crimes researcher at the Reckoning Project, my job was to listen to Ukrainians who had fled the occupation. What they had to say reshaped how I understand life in Russian-occupied territories.Simplistic outside judgments about people living under occupation often feel deeply unfair to Ukrainians who escaped it. From a safe distance, it is easy to say, "Why didn't they stay and resist?" or "Why didn'

Evidence and stories from people living under Russian occupation in Ukraine tell of fear, intimidation, and silence.