Impacts in South and Southeast Asia from Russia’s Illegal War in Ukraine: Atrocities, Exploitation, and Accountability

Russia’s illegal full-scale invasion of Ukraine has triggered one of the gravest crises of our time. Since February 2022, Ukrainian authorities, international investigators, and civil society organizations have documented widespread and systematic atrocities against civilians, including summary executions, torture, enforced disappearances, forced deportations, the illegal transfer of Ukrainian children to Russia, and the deliberate targeting of civilian infrastructure. The war has destabilized global food supplies, strained energy markets, intensified geopolitical rivalries, and fueled disinformation campaigns worldwide.

The consequences of this war are not confined to Europe. Its ripple effects are being felt across Asia and Southeast Asia—including Myanmar, Bangladesh, and Thailand. Since the coup in Myanmar in February 2021 and Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine one year later, the Myanmar military junta and Russia have deepened ties, trading weapons used in war crimes, strengthening diplomatic protection at the U.N. level, and building increased economic ties. This has had significant, often-ignored impacts on South and Southeast Asian nations.

Moreover, brokers and agents have deceived and trafficked Bangladeshi men into the Russian military and onto the front lines of the deadly war in Ukraine.

In response to these widening impacts, Truth Hounds, a leading Ukrainian human rights organization documenting atrocity crimes in Ukraine, and Fortify Rights, an international human rights organization working throughout Asia and in Ukraine, will jointly convene a panel discussion.

The event will also include the launch of a new joint investigative report, “I Was Tricked into the War,” documenting how Bangladeshi civilians were deceived, recruited, and transported into Russia’s illegal war against Ukraine under false promises of employment— practices that may amount to human trafficking and other violations.

The panel will explore how the war in Ukraine is relevant to South and Southeast Asia and what regional governments should do, and not do, to address its harmful impacts.

Opening Remarks: Viktor Semenov, Ukraine chargé d'affaires to Thailand [TBC]

Speakers:

Oksana Pokalchuk, Co-Executive Director, Truth Hounds

Matthew Smith, Chief Executive Officer, Fortify Rights

Sriprapha Petcharamesree, Faculty of Law, Chulalongkorn University

Moderator: Phil Robertson, Member of the Leadership Council at Fortify Rights, and FCCT Board Member

Truth Hounds works to ensure justice for victims of international crimes committed in the context of armed conflicts and to prevent such violations in the future. Since 2014, the organization has been documenting and investigating international crimes and other serious human rights abuses in Ukraine and across Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, and Central Asia.

Fortify Rights is an award-winning team of human rights defenders working to ensure human rights for all. We investigate violations, engage people with power on solutions, and strengthen human rights defenders. We believe in the influence of evidence-based research, the power of strategic truth-telling, and the importance of working in close collaboration with individuals, communities, and movements pushing for change. Fortify Rights is an independent nonprofit organization registered in the United States and Switzerland.

The event is free and open to the public. It will also be live-streamed on the Facebook pages of the FCCT, Fortify Rights, and Truth Hounds.