The path of a Zaporizhzhia activist: from volunteering to documenting war crimes
Dmytro’s story is about how everyone can find their place in the fight against the enemy by actively participating in volunteering and civic activities. Ukraine is experiencing the conditions of full-scale war very painfully. Everyone tries to contribute to the fight and victory. Some take up arms and go to the front lines. Some help as volunteers in the rear. But there is another very important area of work – documenting the war crimes committed by Russian occupiers.
The hero of our story today is Dmytro Vakhnenko. His path of volunteering and civic activism cannot be called typical.
Before the full-scale invasion, he was educating people on financial literacy. He enjoyed this field, life was going on as usual, but everything changed dramatically on February 24, 2022.
The First Months
Almost immediately after the start of the Russian military invasion, Dmytro realized that people and the country needed help – he couldn’t stand aside, so he joined as a volunteer to one of the volunteer headquarters in Zaporizhzhia, where he was involved in unloading humanitarian aid and assisting at the warehouse.
Later, Dmytro became the head of the HR department of the organization “Community of Volunteers United by Idea” – he was responsible for coordinating a team of 50-70 people, searching for volunteers, and engaging them in assistance.
“Previously, I worked for a large enterprise in Zaporizhzhia, more precisely, even at a factory, as a leading specialist in the department of analytics and development of the target production model, and it was there that I developed managerial skills, I coordinated the work of departments, so it wasn’t a big problem for me.”
However, even with this experience, the work was very intense at that time because it was necessary to react promptly to changing needs in the conditions of war, – claims Dmytro.
Evidence for future tribunals and volunteering
In October 2022, when Zaporizhzhia was heavily shelled by the occupiers, Dmytro made the decision to temporarily relocate to another city.
“I left the volunteer headquarters around the time I left Zaporizhzhia. After my return, it was no longer operating in the same format as before. So, I began to look for where else I could be useful.”
Despite this, Dmytro understood that he wanted to continue making his contribution to the fight against the enemy in any case – he continued to engage in volunteering. Later, he had the opportunity to join the documentation of war crimes committed by Russians in the public organization “Association of Relatives of Kremlin Political Prisoners” – he took advantage of it.
Currently, his work involves documenting facts of Russian occupiers’ crimes against civilians – killings, torture, and kidnappings.
“The most important thing we do is document the facts of war crimes. If we don’t do this, in the future, we won’t be able to prove that the crimes actually occurred. This is the evidential base for Ukraine, for national and international courts, including the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court.”
Interviewing a shelling witness
Also significant here is the informational aspect because the world needs to know the truth about what the Russians are doing in Ukraine, Dmytro claims.
His work consists of two main directions: searching for information in open sources and interviewing witnesses and victims of war crimes.
Dmytro and his organization pass the collected facts and testimonies to analysts, law enforcement, and judicial authorities. Thus, an important evidential base is created for future tribunals against Russian war criminals.
Dmytro admits that he never thought he would be involved in civil or volunteer activities, but now he actively participates in various initiatives.
“For example, together with the community of civil organizations and local volunteers of Zaporizhzhia, we achieved that thanks to public hearings from the city budget, 100 million UAH were allocated to the Armed Forces of Ukraine.”
In addition to this, in 2023, Dmytro donated blood five times, participated in animal volunteering actions, and eco-activism – for his active position, he received thanks for volunteering from the Zaporizhzhia Regional State Administration.
Maintaining Emotional Balance
Working on documenting the horrors of war cannot but affect a person’s psychological state, says the documentarian.
Nevertheless, Dmytro believes that personally, this activity had an even more positive impact on him. After all, he got the opportunity to prevent impunity, convey the truth about the war, and also learn a lot about methods of collecting and analyzing information.
“I also continue to engage in volunteer and civic activities, so I constantly have to be resourceful – for this, of course, I try to take care of my condition so that in the future I can bring even more benefit.”
To maintain emotional balance, Dmytro advises finding time for relaxation and self-improvement, participating in trainings and events that help with recovery.
“In October, for example, I took part in an urgent support program and a 7-day psychosocial rehabilitation program from the Educational Human Rights House in Chernihiv – it helped me restore my emotional state to continue working in the future.”
Although Dmytro knew about the Human Rights House before, the program itself was told to him by the head of the organization he currently works for.
The overall atmosphere during the program played a big role: the program was closer to nature – there the pace of life, according to Dmytro, feels more peaceful, which helps to recover.
Dmytro also remembers the variety of new people from different regions of Ukraine, other participants in the support program. They were all part of an active civil society, so the rehabilitation program for Dmytro also became a place where he could find new connections and exchange experiences.
Dmytro in the Educational Human Rights House in Chernihiv together with other participants of the Psychosocial Rehabilitation Program under the ESU project (village Kolichivka)
But the most valuable thing for him was still the sessions with psychologists in individual and group formats.
“I liked the fact that psychologists devoted quite a lot of time to us – we had various psychological practices, I probably can’t name them all now.”
“The program was aimed at deeper understanding of one’s emotional state, restoring inner resources, and hearing oneself – all this together works very effectively.”
Place in the Struggle Dmytro Vakhnenko’s story inspires and makes one think – each of us has our own role and place in resisting the Kremlin’s expansionist policy. He showed an example that it is possible to combine different types of activities – from documenting war crimes to local volunteering.
It is important not to stop, to seek opportunities to contribute to victory, and not to be afraid to take on new directions of work, says Dmytro.
Only through consolidated efforts can we withstand.
The Protection Program operates with the support of the International Renaissance Foundation, Human Rights House Foundation, and the ESU project.
The ESU Project / Resilience Program is implemented by the Human Rights House Foundation in a consortium of civil society organizations led by ERIM, in partnership with the Eastern Europe Foundation, the Human Rights House in Tbilisi, the Belarusian Human Rights House named after Boris Zvozskov, and the Black Sea Regional Cooperation Fund with financial support from the European Union.