Official position/function in relation to the conflict

The international historical, educational, human rights, and charitable society Memorial is the largest and most influential of the independent NGOs remaining in Russia. It has a wide network of regional offices in Russia, as well as offices in Italy, the Czech Republic, Germany, Belgium, France, Ukraine, and Kazakhstan. The Memorial Human Rights Center (HRC Memorial), a division of International Memorial, was created in 1991 to “organize and coordinate human rights work.”

In its statements, Memorial strongly condemns the actions of the Russian government to seize Crimea, condemned the so-called “referendum” on independence, and reported human rights violations in the war area.

Actions regarding the conflict region

Memorial Human Rights Center conducts broad and independent human rights work in hazardous areas and the hot spots, including in Chechnya, Dagestan, Ingushetia, Georgia, and South Ossetia (in 2008) and in Ukraine (since 2014). Memorial conducts human rights monitoring in the conflict areas, provides legal reception of citizens, legal support for complaints, and helps in organizing social assistance.

In May 2014, Memorial employee, human rights defender and journalist Andrei Mironov, and Italian journalist Andrea Rochelli went to Sloviansk area to monitor and report on the armed conflict, where they died as a result of mortar shelling.