WHERE
ARE OUR
PEOPLE?
Campaign results
2023
Project description
To draw the attention of decision-makers and influencers to the issue of forcible deportation of Ukrainian citizens, including children, aiming to garner and sustain global support for imposing sanctions and taking further measures against Russia until the affected individuals are repatriated.
With our campaign Where are our people? we aim to prove that the forcible deportation of Ukrainians to Russia is not a random cruelty of war, but Russia’s continuous policy that cannot be overlooked.
We document the testimonies of witnesses and victims of deportations to demonstrate the scale of Russia's crimes to international organizations and media, governments and human rights agencies.
The Where are our people? campaign also deals with the historical background of Russia’s continuous deportation policy. In our encyclopedic articles, we explain how Russia evicted Ukrainians and other ethnic groups living in Ukraine in the 20th century.
The world must heed the lessons of history and stop forcible deportations of Ukrainians from happening again in today's Europe.
Commander’s intent
Advocacy & Partnerships
>20
Partner organizations and individuals briefed on the topic and collaborated with
6
Main geographies we focused advocacy efforts on: USA, UK, France, Germany, Ukraine and the Baltic states
2
Offline round tables convened in Kyiv, hosting Ukraine’s govt authorities and human rights activists
EU Transparency Register
PR Army got the validation in the Register to participate in public consultations organized by the European Commission
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>40
Partner organizations, decision makers and influencers briefed on the topic and collaborated with
6
Main geographies we focused advocacy efforts on: USA, UK, France, Germany, Ukraine and the Baltic states
3
Webinars and press events for wider audience and international journalists were held
EU Transparency Register
PR Army got the validation in the Register to participate in public consultations organized by the European Commission
2
Public petitions by Pour l`Ukraine and Frank Peter Wilde supported
Main partners
Cooperation with Ukraine’s government officials
We exchange information with government officials, brief them on the research we conduct as well as offer them as speakers to the international media and organization. It is the way, we unite the communication efforts regarding the deportations.
Europe
Ukraine
USA
Highlight events: round tables
Forced Russian Citizenship: How Does Russia Compel Ukrainians to Accept Russian Passports Through Coercion?
Organized 12 October 2023 in partnership with the Ombudsman of Ukraine and Coalition Ukraine 5AM.
The event triggered 58 media publications, with potential reach of 451K [acc.to LOOQME]
"Temporary accommodation centers" for the deported Ukrainians in Russia and Belarus. Help centers or new detention camps?
PR Army’s event held at Ukrinform News Agency on 30 October 2023. it resulted in 39 publications in Ukraine, with potential reach of 174K [acc.to LOOQME]
WATCH
Highlight events: press conferences
November 15, 2022
Deportation. Russification. Adoption
Co-organized a press event with our partners in France, Liberté Pour l'Ukraine and Union des Ukrainians de France for French journalists and organizations.
Media publications resulted in reaching about 1M of audience in 10 countries. [acc.to LOOQME]
February 28, 2023
Voices of Freedom
We organized the press event on the media standards where we presented "Where are our people?" project and discussed the disinformation around the topic as well as journalistic standards. The event was attended by over 50 journalists from different countries.
WATCH
WATCH
Highlight events: webinar
July 12, 2023
The Forcible Transfer and Deportation of Ukrainian Children by Russia: Search for Solutions
WATCH
This event was sponsored by Georgetown University’s Collaborative on Global Children’s Issues in cooperation with Where are our people?
During this webinar, participants examined the current situation, provided historical context, and discussed the response. Ukrainian organizations engaged in the frontline response shared their perspectives, and participants considered how the international community can support family tracing and reunification.
Number of attendees: | 135 |
Attendees from media: | 8 journalists |
Audience’s geo: | Ukraine, US, UK, Canada, Germany, France, Switzerland, Portugal, Spain, Greece, Belgium, Netherlands, Austria, Hungary, Romania, Poland, Lithuania, Kazakhstan, Georgia, Argentina, Mexico, Brazil, Kenya, Lebanon, Nigeria, Morocco, South Africa, Uganda, Cambodia, India |
Advocacy actions and briefings
Meetings at the Capitol
We held 8 meetings with representatives of the Senate and the House of Representatives, shared the latest information about the deportation of Ukrainian children, told how the deportation process is happening, what happens to children in Russia, and what needs to be done to stop it. ��We shared the stories of our witnesses and agreed on cooperation in the future.
Providing information to the ICC
Our partners Pour L'Ukraine started the cooperation with VIGO, a French law firm. We passed on relevant information regarding the deportation of children at the early stages of the investigation to Emmanuel Daoud, a partner at VIGO and a consultant at the ICC. We continue working with them as experts and speakers.
Participation in the UN panel
Our representative Katya Pavlevych participated in the panel about the rights of children at the high-level event “Gross human rights violations due to the aggression against Ukraine” at the UN headquarters in New York.
Listen to her speech (1:37)
Building Global Awareness
358
Total number of media publications we have facilitated in Jan-Nov, 2023
34
Countries covered
~17M
Total audience reach
5
Media campaigns held
15
Bi-weekly digests showcasing the latest updates on deportations and relevant publications were sent to partners and subscribers
1
20 min video explainer A Century of Deportations, based on our research materials, was created and posted on YouTube
Media publications facilitated by us (Jan-Nov, 2023)
Media publications facilitated by us (Jan-Nov, 2023)
CLICK EACH TO READ
Social media content examples
A 20 min video explainer created in collaboration with Ukraїner
3 videos created in collaboration with War_Against_War
Our content shared by influencers
Instagram of Frank Peter Wilde, a blogger, designer from Germany 153K followers
Instagram of Diana Dalban, a blogger from Germany, 5.9K followers
Instagram of Federica Antonacci, a blogger from Italy, �5.9K followers
Guidelines for journalists
The guide for journalists to properly interview minor victims of deportations was developed under cooperation with the lawyers of Coalition Ukraine. 5AM and published on our website.
READ MORE
Documenting & Research
37
Locations added on the interactive map of deportations
35
Accounts of the witnesses collected on the website
1
Research report on historic and contemporary deportations was issued
17
Articles were written and published in the website’s Encyclopedia
Interactive map
Our researchers, collaborating with OSINT partners, discover 'temporary accommodation centers' within TOT, Russia, and Belarus. We showcase these locations on our website, identify the individuals responsible for these actions, and propose them for targeted individual sanctions to ensure accountability.
As of now, the map contains 37 locations where the Ukrainian deportees are being kept.
Witnesses’ stories
We collected 35 accounts of victims of deportations that we publish on our website. These are the stories of both children and adults that were deported and managed to get back in Ukraine.
We pitch these stories to media and invite the victims as witnesses at relevant events and hearings.
READ MATERIAL
Encyclopedia of deportations
Delving into the historical context of deportations and unveiling the pattern of these policies on a broader historical spectrum stands as one of our key objectives. We meticulously investigate each of the 110 deportations orchestrated by Soviet Russia, alongside contemporary instances, to comprehensively understand this complex history.
READ HERE
Research report
The PR Army researcher Vladyslav Havrylov authored a report dedicated to the issue of mass deportations as a war crime, which is being carried out against Ukrainians through the forced transfer of people to the territory of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus.
The study presents deportation processes in historical context, and their demographic consequences and negative impact on the psychological, economic, and ecological aspects of the populations of the lands from which those people were forcibly deported.
Side findings
While examining contemporary Ukrainian deportations, we explored the Russian Orthodox Church's engagement within the Russian army, specifically its promotion of the war as a struggle for "authentic Orthodoxy.“
Consequently, Archpriest Andrei Tkachev, one of the main Orthodox ideologists of the “Russian world”, was included in our sanctions list.
“
Andrei Tkachev’s most aggressive and direct support for the Russian army, including calls for the killing of Ukrainians, emerged with the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022. In the video, he justified the actions of Russian troops, labeling it an “apocalyptic war” and “purification.”
READ HERE
Sanctions Enforcement
30 people
from our list of those involved in deportation processes were sanctioned by either EU, or UK, or US
Campaign’s Awards
2023
Best Not-for-Profit Campaign: “Where Are Our People?” by PR Army
2023
Excellence in Communications Response to Russia’s Invasion. Project “Where Are Our People?”, Bronze