Imprisoned for the anti-war drawing of his daughter, Alexei Moskalev struggles for the survival of his family
Born in kyiv in 1983, very involved in the “Dignity Revolution” started on Maidan Square at the end of 2013, the Ukrainian activist aged 41 years old and his collaborators of the Civil Liberties Center for civil Liberties were made to document the war crimes committed by Moscow as annex to the Crimea and the destabilization of the Donbass in 2014. War crimes later, the conflict continues, its mission too.
What is the humanitarian situation in the Ukrainian territories occupied by Moscow?
Occupying a territory is one thing, controlling it is another. To ensure this control, the Russians imposed a regime of terror against civilians from the first days of their occupation. they have physically exterminated citizens, politicians, journalists, children, writers, priests, teachers … They also conscientiously ensure the identity of local populations. The Ukrainian language and culture have been banned. All places under the cultural heritage have been looted or destroyed. As you know, thousands of Ukrainian children have been deported to Russia and sent to rehabilitation camps where they are taught that they are not Ukrainian but Russian, that their families no longer want, and that they will be adopted in Russia.What hides the hypothetical meeting between Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky?
On a territorial level, Russia pursues a colonization policy. The Kremlin has imposed a whole series of federal programs to relocate in the occupied territories of Russian citizens most often from disinherited areas, and relocate them at low prices in the properties seized with Ukrainians. What has already been done is irreversible, that means that the more the years pass, the more the population of the occupied territories will have been artificially transformed.
A pregnant woman evacuated from Marioupol hospital in March 2022. © The Associated Press
Part of the population of these oblasts, Donetsk and Louhansk in particular, was pro-Russian
What to do to counter Moscow today?
Let me start with a concrete example: according to international law, the aggressive country pays compensation in the country attacked for the losses and destruction caused. You can easily imagine that russia, even condemned, will not pay anything at all since it has to do democratic values. But there is another path…. The 300 billion euros in frozen Russian assets worldwide (including 210 billion in Europe, editor’s note). It would be logical to promptly confiscate this sum and place it in a background intended for reconstruction, defense, and compensation due to Ukraine. And yet, the European Union still thinks of having time to debate the question, while it is obvious that if this astronomical amount is not confiscated, it will directly and considerably fuel the Russian war effort.
You also plead for the establishment of a special court for Ukraine. The best solution to remedy the current lack of recognition of decisions of the International Criminal Court (ICC)?
The problem does not come so much from the lack of efficiency of the CPI decisions as it is indeed not competent to judge the crime of Russian aggression in Ukraine. So the creation of a special court. All the atrocities committed as 2014, and documented by our team (from the NGO Center for Civil Liberties, editor’s note), are the fruit of a strategy defined by Putin, those around him and the high military command. One day, they will have to be accountable. And the peace process will not change anything, because a peace agreement in no way hinders a court decision. This is precisely the reason why it is essential to collect a maximum of evidence.
The unfeasible Choice: Staying in a war Zone or facing an Uncertain Future After “Deportation”
For Ukrainians living in the heart of the conflict, the options are dwindling and increasingly agonizing. While the world focuses on the horrors of active fighting, a quieter, yet equally devastating, crisis unfolds for those trapped in occupied territories or facing the prospect of forced relocation to Russia.Many find themselves in a heartbreaking bind: remain in a war zone with their homes and lives under constant threat,or risk everything on a journey that may led to an uncertain future,and potential separation from their homeland.
The reality is stark. For hundreds of thousands, leaving isn’t a viable option. They have built their lives, their communities, and their futures in these territories. Nothing awaits them elsewhere, and it is simply impossible to move such a quantity of people in a country under reconstruction. For hundreds of reasons, this is not an option.
The alternative – often presented as “evacuation” but frequently amounting to forced deportation – carries its own set of traumas.Families are torn apart, individuals are stripped of their agency, and the very fabric of Ukrainian identity is threatened. Denys Zaporojtchenko, a Ukrainian father, exemplifies this anguish, desperately seeking facts about his children allegedly taken to Russia or occupied Ukrainian territories.
The situation highlights a cruel paradox: staying means facing the daily dangers of war, while leaving can mean losing everything that makes life worth living.It’s a choice no one should have to make, yet it’s the agonizing reality for countless Ukrainians caught in the crossfire of this conflict.
“We are stuck between two different logics: war and democracy”
Volodymyr Zelensky is not popular.In the spring of 2025, he still benefited from a confidence of 67 %, boosted by the adversity of Donald Trump and his tenacity in negotiations with the allies and the enemies of Kyiv. But in ukraine, many voices criticize his internal management of the country.
You regularly talk about “Two major challenges” to address for Ukrainians, what are you referring to?
We have two challenges to carry out in parallel. The first,obvious,is to defend our country,our people and our democracy against Russia.The second consists in validating this democratic choice by building enduring and reliable political institutions. The whole problem comes from the fact that these two issues are not aligned. Setting up democratic reforms in peacetime is a complex task.In wartime, it is practically impossible, but we do not have the luxury of postponing this objective because we do not know if we are at the beginning, in the middle or at the end of the war.
For Ukrainians, negotiating peace “is only a trap set by the Russians”
Wich explains why President Zelensky is criticized for the war effort and blamed for the failures of the anti-corruption fight?
The dynamics at work are more complex. War follows its own logic which imposes a form of centralization of power and the decision-making process. Democracy, in contrast, is based on more decentralization. A conflict…