Starvation & Humanitarian Crisis Hub

During 2024, the SMJT expanded its work under the three thematic pillars:

• the siege of Mariupol (assessing this primarily through the lens of humanitarian access violations);

• grain theft and a naval blockade of the Black Sea Ports in the context of starvation as a war crime;

• broader pattern of attacks against critical infrastructure and objects indispensable to civilian survival, in particular focussing on attacks on grain and port-related infrastructure utilised for export within Odesa Oblast.

• The SMJT has finalised the development of an Open Source Investigative Methodology

  This methodology was developed to ensure OSINT investigations are conducted in accordance with standard operating procedures and international and Ukrainian domestic best practices and in order to ensure that the collection, consolidation, analysis, and preservation, of information occurs in line with evidentiary standards, ensuring their future use in the prosecution of core international crimes.

• Delivered, with its OSINT experts, a series of bespoke starvation training modules

  Which provide the most up-to-date guidance on the international law of starvation as well as the specialised guidance on the investigation of man-made starvation through use of OSINT and other traditional investigative techniques.

• In collaboration with local and international partners, as well as OSINT experts developed investigative reports and legal analyses:

  • “The Hope Left Us”: Russia`s Siege, Starvation, and Capture of Mariupol City – Ukraine (SMJT) 2024

  • Agriculture Weaponised – the Illegal Seizure and Extraction of Ukrainian Grain by Russia (SMJT) 2023