The major event Cafe Kyiv took place in Berlin on February 19th.

The program included numerous Ukrainian and international non-governmental organizations, interesting workshops, serious discussions, exhibitions, installations, Ukrainian cuisine and the screening of the recently released documentary film by Ukrainian director Mstyslav Chernov “20 Days in Mariupol”. Around 5,000 visitors came that day. The crowds were so great that many had to wait in line for up to an hour to be admitted.

In addition, Cafe Kyiv was visited by prominent personalities such as Berlin Mayor Kai Wagner, Ukrainian Ambassador to Germany Oleksiy Makeev, boxer Volodymyr Klitschko, German fashion stylist Frank Peter Wilde and others. Another unexpected surprise for the guests of the event was the visit of the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen. In her speech she emphatically emphasized: “Ukraine is fighting for us. We must never forget that. …. Putin must never win this war.”

The International Society for Human Rights (IGHR) was also represented in Cafe Kyiv. Together with other Ukrainian and international organizations, we informed guests about our activities in Ukraine, made contacts with colleagues and exchanged experiences.

The ISHR’s activities in Ukraine are very diverse. Already in the first days of the war, our ISHR Information Analysis Center (IAC ISHR), headed by lawyer Anton Alekseev, began providing humanitarian assistance to the victims. The donations from the German section have enabled our Ukrainian section to provide emergency humanitarian aid to the victims in Ukraine. Since March 2022, the IAC ISHR has been distributing food and other relief supplies (such as medicines, diapers and other hygiene items) to internally displaced people and people living in war-affected areas in various regions of Ukraine (Kyiv, Poltava, Zhytomyr, Ivano-Frankivsk, Rivne). , Sumy, Lviv, Kharkiv, Zaporizhia, Vinnytsia, Dnipropetrovsk, Cherkasy). Our main focus is pregnant women, young children and their families, the elderly and people with disabilities. The IAC ISHR also provides targeted assistance to those in need and/or specialized institutions (orphanages, maternity homes, etc.). In March 2022 alone, the IAC ISHR provided various types of humanitarian assistance to 774 people. Since June 1, 2022, the ISHR has been registered as a partner with the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). From June 2022 to May 2023, the ISHR led two major OCHA humanitarian projects together with the IAC ISHR. The projects were carried out in 5 regions of Ukraine – Kharkiv, Zaporizhia, Sumy, Kyiv and Poltava. Through these projects we have helped thousands of Ukrainians.

The ISHR is also involved in translating and distributing the “Voices of War” project materials into German and English so that as many people as possible outside of Ukraine know what atrocities the Russian army has committed and continues to commit in Ukraine.

The ISHR also addresses the issue of Ukrainian civilian prisoners abducted or held by the Russian military in Ukraine. The Ukrainian civilian prisoner Kostyantyn Litvinov was the first civilian prisoner we reported on on our website and on social media and for whom we found a political sponsor in Martina Feldmeier. Together we wrote letters to the Russian authorities demanding his immediate release. Following Kostyantyn’s release from Russian captivity, the ISHR was contacted by relatives of other Ukrainian civilian prisoners who are currently either in Russian military custody or missing.

The wife of a Ukrainian civilian prisoner visited our stand at Cafe Kyiv and kindly agreed to give us an interview. Lusiena told us about her husband, Kostiantyn Zinovkin, who was kidnapped on the street by the Russian military in the occupied city of Melitopol (Zaporizhia region). On the morning of May 12, 2023, Kostiantyn left the house and never returned. Instead of him, three strangers wearing balaclavas came and opened the apartment door with Kostiantyn’s key. His mother was at home at the time. The strangers told her that Kostiantyn had been arrested for “violating the curfew” and taken to the military headquarters. They conducted an unauthorized search of the home and took all the money they could find. On August 14, 2023, the Melitopol Prosecutor’s Office informed Lusienna that a criminal case had been opened against her husband. On October 29, 2023, Kostiantyn was featured on the news on Russian television on the Russia 1 channel. In the video clip, the journalist calls Kostiantyn a terrorist and a sick person because he claims that Ukraine is independent and Russia is a terrorist country. On January 25, 2024, Kostiantyn was taken to Melitopol for a hearing, but his family knows nothing about the outcome. Now the fate and whereabouts of Kostiantyn are unknown.

Nevertheless, Lusiena is confident: she will definitely see her husband again. “I want to believe and trust that he will be released in the end. I will do everything to free him. I said to myself: I will definitely see him again this year.”

Lusiena told her story with tears in her eyes. She was very brave, but you could tell how much it hurt her to experience this again and again.

The story of Lusiena and Kostiantyn is one of millions. The Ukrainians have been experiencing this not just since 2022, but since 2014. Ten years of war crimes. Our most important task is not to let the world forget this.

Cafe Kyiv has once again proven that no matter how much Putin and his supporters want to destroy Ukraine, they will not succeed. It is impossible to destroy those who fight for their freedom. And that is why we will never forget the words of the great Ukrainian poet Taras Shevchenko:

“Wrestle, fight, God will help

you through the dark night,

Have willpower: the dawn of truth is awakening.”