7. Perpetrators named, shamed and sanctioned – Documentation and Accountability Hub (DAH)
Russia’s aggression against Ukraine continued with full force throughout 2025, killing and wounding people and destroying infrastructure and property. Nevertheless, the resilience and commitment of our Ukrainian partners and the DAH team ensured that crimes were documented and analysed, and perpetrators identified. A record 10 perpetrators from the region were sanctioned in 2025 due to NHC submissions.
Perpetrators sanctioned
In 2025, 7 Russians and 3 Belarusians were added to sanctions lists across various jurisdictions, thanks to submissions from the DAH team. These individuals were responsible, inter alia, for politically motivated sentences in Belarus, repression in Chechnya, and widespread and systematic human rights violations in Crimean detention centres.
Documentation: War crimes in Ukraine and Chechnya
The NHC continued capacity-building for the analytical team and Coalition 5am (a coalition of 30 human rights initiatives and NGOs), in line with our methodology. Three experienced analysts joined the Ukraine team, while the DAH held at least 12 training/coordination meetings for the team's supervisors. Increased capacity resulted in a larger number of registered materials in the I-DOC investigation system, improved analysis quality, and one draft case brief on the situation in Mariupol and one draft investigation/case file on international crimes committed in Bucha.
With contributions from Norwegian donors and Itera’s Ukrainian developers, the I-DOC creator, Case Matrix Network, upgraded several key functions and facilitated access to selected materials for Ukrainian Prosecutors.
The documentation work depends on the trust of partners who conduct documentation and of institutions and individuals who possess historic material. In 2025, the Switzerland-based Chechen Archive donated its entire archive to us.
Identifying abducted persons
The Ukrainian partner Association of Relatives of Political Prisoners of the Kremlin interviewed a relative of an abducted person and obtained a list of 40 women reportedly detained by occupation forces in Russia and occupied Ukraine. Using OSINT techniques, the team identified 31 of these individuals and compiled analytical reports detailing their possible locations, connections, and other relevant information.
Outreach: New series of publications on Ukraine and Chechnya
Building on analysis from the database and OSINT (Open Source Intelligence), the DAH team, interns, and partners produced a thorough analytical report of the situation under Russian occupation in Balakliia and 5 two-page fact sheets on Ukraine and Chechnya. They were published online and at well-attended events featuring Oleksandra Matveichuk, the head of the Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Centre for Civil Liberties, in Oslo, and our partner, the Ukrainian human rights organisation Truth Hounds, in Arendal.
Several more publications are in the pipeline – highlighting core crimes, perpetrators, and trends, as well as similarities between the conflicts in the North Caucasus and Ukraine identified in our analytical work.
A selection of cases is also available on the updated website for the Natalia Estemirova Documentation Center, where one can hear directly from witnesses or victims, see photos and study maps and statistics.
Other investigations are of a much more confidential nature and are submitted directly to the relevant institutions – the Ukrainian prosecutors, the UN, states’ sanction mechanisms, or the ICC.
We have presented our work to a range of interested stakeholders and responded to numerous requests from academia, international institutions and the media.
We are grateful to the Norwegian Judges’ Association for their initiative to establish a crowdfunding campaign to support our work, and for several invitations from the media and others to hear our analysis.
Accountability and justice
Analysis used for reparations verification, Universal Jurisdiction and sanction designations. This year, a record 10 people were added to sanction lists, partly based on our submissions. We submitted 14 new submissions on 46 suspected perpetrators to various sanction mechanisms in Europe, the US and Canada. In one country, a universal jurisdiction case that our partners and the NHC have been working on since 2017 reached a breakthrough, and investigative steps were initiated. At the international level, we are proud that a formal decision was taken within the Council of Europe framework to create a Special Tribunal on the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine, a major advocacy point for the NHC. Likewise, numerous Ukrainian civilians have been located, returned and received assistance upon their return through our project partners in Ukraine. Under the auspices of the Council of Europe, the Register of Damage in Ukraine also relies on NHC partners and the I-DOC database to verify claims made to the Register for compensation for damage to property or persons.
Register of Damage
The Council of Europe’s Register of Damage is a landmark mechanism for compensating for damage and losses caused by Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Together with our partners, we are proud to help verify claims through the I-DOC database. By documenting damage to people, property, and infrastructure—including cases of torture and deportation—the Register is the essential first step towards securing justice and compensation for Ukrainians at home and abroad.