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Team
Our mission was born from bitter experience.
Our international team of journalists and lawyers have worked in Chechnya, Bosnia, Rwanda and Syria.
The Reckoning Project partners journalists with lawyers to document, verify, and codify legal evidence of war crimes cases while preserving truth and memory through our in-depth media content.
JANINE DI GIOVANNI
Executive Director, Co-Founder
Janine di Giovanni has worked for over 35 years as a human rights reporter and investigator in conflict zones in the Balkans, Africa, and the Middle East. She is a senior fellow at Yale University, the Jackson Institute for Global Affairs, and a Visiting Fellow at the SNF Agora Institute at Johns Hopkins University. She is a 2019 Guggenheim Fellow in Non-Fiction, and The American Academy of Arts and Letters awarded her their highest prize for non-fiction, the Blake Dodd, for her lifetime body of work. In 2016, she was awarded the Courage in Journalism Award for her distinguished work tracking war criminals most recently in Syria and Iraq, with a focus on ISIS. Di Giovanni is also the author of nine books, including The Morning They Came for Us: Dispatches from Syria which is a collection of war testimonies translated into 30 languages. She has made numerous documentaries and is a frequent analyst on CNN, MSNBC, NPR, and the BBC. Di Giovanni is the recipient of nearly a dozen journalistic awards, including two Amnesty International Awards, and the National Magazine Award, for her work in human rights and war reporting. She has worked for the United Nations on various initiatives, most recently directing Enabling Witnesses in Iraq, Syria, and Yemen in partnership with the United Nations Democracy Fund and the Soufan Group.
PETER POMERANTSEV
Executive Editor, Co-Founder
Peter Pomerantsev is a Senior Fellow at the SNF Agora Institute at Johns Hopkins University where he co-directs the Arena Initiative, a research project dedicated to overcoming the challenges of digital era disinformation and polarization. Over the past five years, Arena has worked with Ukrainian journalists and sociologists to create media content about the country. Peter is an award-winning author specializing in the relationship between propaganda, culture, and society, whose books include Nothing is True and Everything is Possible and This is Not Propaganda. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, presents documentaries on BBC Radio 4, and previously worked as a TV documentary director and producer for Discovery, the BBC, and others.
NATALIYA GUMENYUK
Founding Member, Lead Journalist
Nataliya Gumenyuk is a well-known Ukrainian journalist and author specializing in foreign affairs and conflict reporting. She is the founder and CEO of the Public Interest Journalism Lab. Nataliya is the author of several documentaries and books, including The Lost Island: Tales From The Occupied Crimea, and Maidan Tahrir. Nataliya regularly writes for The Guardian, The Washington Post, The Rolling Stone, Die Zeit, and The Atlantic. In addition to this, she recently had her first piece published in the New York Times. She also provides commentaries for CNN, MSNBC, Sky News, Monocle, etc. Gumenyuk was the co-founder and head of Independent Hromadske TV and Hromadske International for five years and is currently a Board member. Gumenyuk is a Member of the Council for Freedom for Speech Under the President of Ukraine, as well as the Independent Media Council.
IBRAHIM OLABI
Chief Legal Counsel
Ibrahim Olabi is a barrister with specialized international law knowledge and experience with a focus on the Middle East. He works both on international legal cases as well as lobbying and advocating on policy matters linked to the region. Ibrahim makes regular media appearances and has been interviewed by the BBC, CNN, The Guardian, The Financial Times, Aljazeera, and Al-Arabiya. Ibrahim has received personal invitations from Heads of States, delivered statements in international forums such as the United Nations Security Council, and regularly engages with policy makers in different capitals around the world on justice-related issues relevant to the Middle East.
RAJI ABDUL SALAM
Chief Legal Data Archivist
Raji Abdul Salam is a legal data archive analyst with experience in documenting war crimes, crimes against humanity, and attempted genocides in Syria and Iraq. His work in collecting, verifying, and analyzing hundreds of testimonies contributed to holding Syrian war criminals and perpetrators of crimes against humanity accountable under universal jurisdiction in Germany, Sweden, and Belgium, and under limited universal jurisdiction in the Netherlands. He has an extensive background in collecting, verifying, preserving, and performing multi-variable analyses sensitive to human rights violations, universal jurisdiction, and international litigation. Abdul Salam is an expert in investigating human rights violations, validating documented testimonies, and tracing the chain of custody of collected evidence.
MYRIEN MULHERN
Finance and Operations Director
Myriem has worked 35 years in the financial industry, starting with Andersen Consulting, followed by JPMorgan in London and Royal Bank of Canada in Paris. She is a specialist of transaction banking, payments, securities, trust and lending services to banks, insurance and asset managers. In her last role as deputy head of RBC investor’s services in Paris, she managed several multi million dollar business relationships involving over 150 team members with diverse functional profiles based around the globe. She brings her wealth finance managerial and operational expertise to the Reckoning Project, implementing a nimble and efficient scalable platform which allows the program to stay focused on its core activities and growth.
LYUBA KNOROZOK
Project Manager
Lyuba Knorozok is a film and media producer based in Kyiv. Her films have been screened at the International Film Festival Rotterdam, Berlinale, Kurzfilmtage Oberhausen, Sheffield Doc Fest, Docudays, and other festivals, and have received a number of awards. She worked as a production manager for the film Donbas by Sergei Loznitsa, and as a line producer for the film Frost by Sarunas Bartas. She is a member of the Documentary Association of Europe, the European Women’s Audiovisual Network, and a participant in Berlinale Talents 2022. She produced projects for BBC World News, European Cultural Foundation, The Kyiv Biennial, Biennale Warszawa, Goethe-Institut, The Hromadske TV network, Al Jazeera English, and Vice News, among many others.
OLIVIA MOZDZIERZ
Director of Outreach
Olivia Mozdzierz is an experienced human rights researcher who serves as Director of Outreach for the team. Having previously worked for the National Security Archive, an NGO and research center, and the Human Rights Campaign, Mozdzierz has a background in documenting war crimes, crimes against humanity, and cases of forced disappearances and impunity. Her regional specializations include the Balkans and Eastern Europe, and Mexico and Latin America. She has been published in the fall 2021 edition of the Yale Journal of International Affairs. Mozdzierz holds a B.A. in human rights and history from Bard College and an M.A. in history from Yale University, with a focus on modern diplomatic history, human rights law, and foreign policy.
Researchers
The Reckoning Project enlisted a team of experienced Ukrainian researchers and journalists that are based across various regions of Ukraine. They all received training in legal literacy and fact-gathering processes for adequate documentation that adheres to international legal standards. These researchers have also received sensitivity and trauma training to protect both themselves and the individuals from whom they will be collecting the testimonies. These testimonies are collected in accordance with the Berkeley Protocol, as well as the Do No Harm Principles.
Due to security concerns, the names of some researchers working in occupied areas have been removed.
Anna Tsyhyma
is the chief director of the Public Interest Journalism Lab. She has reported on the war in Ukraine since 2014 working in the Donbas, occupied Crimea, and Russia. Her films devoted to human rights and political prisoners have won numerous awards in Ukraine. She served as chief director for the independent Ukrainian media Hromadske TV, TVI; and has worked as a director for ICTV.
Vira Kuryko
is a writer and reporter, who is based in Chernihiv. She is currently working for Localna Istoriya and Ukrayinskiy Tyzhden, as a freelance writer and reporter. Her third book is currently in the process of publication by “Laboratoria” Publishing House.
Oleh Baturin
is an investigative reporter from Kakhovka, Kherson region, currently working in exile. He has worked with the Regional Press Development Institute, Internews Ukraine, Institute for War & Peace Reporting (Kyiv and Tbilisi offices), Open Media Hub, and SCOOP. His specialty is investigative journalism in the field of human rights violations on temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine and anti-corruption.
Natalia Kurdiukova
is a Kharkiv-based journalist, media manager, documentary filmmaker, and media trainer. She is a co-founder of the Nakipelo media group and the Kharkiv Media Hub, a network division of Ukraine Media Center.
Oleksiy Radynski
is a filmmaker and writer based in Kyiv. His films have been screened at International Film Festival Rotterdam, Kurzfilmtage Oberhausen, Docudays UA, among others, and have received a number of festival awards.
Iryna Lopatina
is a reporter focused on human rights from Irpin. Since 2018, she has been working as a journalist for Radio NV. Previously, she has worked as the editor and journalist for the Society Department of the RBK.
Andrii Mikhieiev
is a freelance videographer, based in the Sumy region. Since 1999, he has been writing articles for the Gorod A regional newspaper and has been an active correspondent for the local newspapers.
Olena Nizhelska
is a journalist and co-founder of Severodonetsk Crisis Media Centre, one of the leading NGOs in the Luhansk region. Olena is currently based in Dnipro. She has previously worked as a coordinator for the Sievierodonetsk Agency on Community Development.
Svitlana Oslavska
is a reporter, writer, and the co-author of the documentary Old Khata Project. She is currently working on a book of reportages about her home, the city of Severodonetsk. Her work has been featured in the following news outlets: Hromadske, The Ukrainians, Reporters, Zaborona, Opendemocracy, and New Eastern Europe. Svitlana is currently based in Ivano-Frankivsk.
Natalya Bimbirayte
is a Kherson human rights activist and journalist with 20 years of work experience. She is an organizer and participant of advocacy campaigns and social projects about the protection of human rights, and cultural events to strengthen interstate Ukrainian-Lithuanian relations. She is a producer of the series of documentaries devoted to legal and social problems of Ukrainians. She is a member of the board of the Ukrainian Helsinki Union for Human Rights.
Angelina Kariakina
is a journalist and media manager. In 2020 she co-founded the Public Interest Journalism Lab. She is currently the general producer of news at Suspilne – a Ukrainian public Broadcaster. In 2011, Angelina joined the Euronews Kyiv bureau, and she covered Ukrainian political and social affairs, Maidan protests, and Russian aggression and conflict in eastern Ukraine. Later she became a special correspondent and anchor at Hromadske TV, and covered trials against Ukrainian political prisoners in Russia, the refugee crisis in Hungary, co-authored investigations about events at Maidan, for which received a prize for investigative journalism. Then she worked as Hromadske editor-in-chief from 2017 until 2020.
Project Assistants
The Reckoning Project is grateful to the pro bono work of the following project assistants:
Senior Project Assistant
Willow Sylvester | Geneva Graduate Institute '23, Global Security
Team
McKenna Christmas | Geneva Graduate Institute '24, Peace, Conflict, & Security
Elena DeBre | Yale University '23, Cognitive Science
Sophia Hlavaty | Stanford University '25, Political Science & English
Daniel Oestericher | Yale University '23, Global Affairs
Alex Sundberg | Yale University '24, Political Science & Economics
Emma Vengosh Weinthal | Johns Hopkins University '25, International Studies
Ottocaro Weiss | Brown University '25, History, English, & Computer Science
Slaveya Zaharieva | Geneva Graduate Institute '23, International Affairs