Ukraine War Archive: with EU support, NGO collects video evidence of war-related events 

The Docudays NGO, with financial support from the European Union, is launching the website of the Ukraine War Archive initiative, aiming to collect video and audio evidence of war. 

The new website will help upload materials in a more convenient way and share information about the project. The project team will then collect, verify, categorise and systemarise large volumes of video footage so that evidence of crimes is not lost in information streams and is available to be used in the media, cultural, and legal fields. Access to the archive itself will be available later upon request.

“We find this project of crucial importance,” said Tetyana Shulha, Sector Manager for Culture, Youth, Sports and Gender at the EU Delegation to Ukraine said: “The European Union countries know a lot about the significance of keeping  the evidence of lives taken, families separated, heritage turned into ashes. Not a single crime shall go unreported, undocumented in the most precise manner, and eventually unpaid.  This is Ukraine’s history in making, a story the world needs to hear”. 

The Ukraine War Archive (UWA) is a united database of video and audio materials that document the Russian invasion of Ukraine. 

Anybody can become a contributor to the Ukraine War Archive: you just need to upload your files and specify additional information (name, date, location, etc.). 

The initiative collects materials covering life and routine during the war, civilian resistance against the aggressor, evacuation or the experience of staying in bomb shelters, destruction, violence and other crimes committed by the Russian army in the Ukrainian territory, as well as other footage filmed during the war which seems important to people. Among other things, users are urged to report on gender-based violence and the situation of women during the war. The initiative guarantees full confidentiality to the authors of the submitted materials.

The archive is constructed according to the international standards of using materials as evidence in the International Criminal Court. The database has security certification against unsanctioned access as well as several reserve copies located outside Ukraine.

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Press release