In September 2026, the Russian Ministry of Justice added OSINT FOR UKRAINE to its register of foreign and international organisations whose activities are deemed “undesirable” on Russian territory. We find it difficult to understand how a network of around fifty open-source researchers and students, volunteering their time pro bono, could be seen as a threat to the constitutional order and security of the world’s largest country.
OSINT FOR UKRAINE is an independent civic initiative dedicated to documenting Russia’s war against Ukraine through open-source intelligence. Our work has been made possible by individuals, many of them students, including several of those who helped establish the foundation, who have contributed their time, expertise, and curiosity alongside their studies and professional commitments. What unites them is a conviction that publicly available information, carefully verified and analysed, can contribute to accountability.
We are no strangers to attempts to discredit our work; this designation follows earlier efforts to discredit us. We understand the measure as part of a broader pattern directed at independent researchers, journalists, and civil society organisations whose work scrutinises authoritarian regimes. Such designations are intended to discourage people from accessing, sharing or citing our findings, and to warn others away from independent investigation.
But they do not change the evidence itself, nor do they diminish the importance of documenting events and preserving information that may one day contribute to accountability. If anything, this designation is a reminder of how much even a small, volunteer-driven initiative can achieve.
We want to recognise everyone who has contributed to OSINT FOR UKRAINE over the years. Their work, undertaken without compensation and often alongside demanding commitments, has made the foundation what it is today.
We remain committed to our core mission that has remained the same from the start: Truth, Memory and Justice. We pursue our mission through adherence to our guiding principles: methodological rigor, responsible investigation and the public interest. This designation changes none of them. We will continue to document the crimes committed in Ukraine, to make evidence accessible and conduct public interest investigations.
Every investigation we publish depends on independent funding. You can support us through this link: https://osintforukraine.com/donate
