Ukraine is in the midst of a huge and escalated wave of Russian bombing. We republish here the 7 July 2025 appeal from five Ukrainian union federations — FPU, KVPU, FPTU, AATU ‘Yednist’ and AATU. Reproduced from the website of the Confederation of Free Trade Unions of Ukraine (KVPU). Please read and share / circulate widely.
Please see also our plan for An Alternative to Russian Occupation — demands on the UK and other government to help Ukraine defend itself and push back the invaders. In the coming weeks we will be relaunching campaigning around these demands.
(Image above: destroyed block of flats, Kyiv, 11 June 2025)
As a follow up to our statement of 6 June about the brutal Russian attacks on Ukraine, the FPU and KVPU once again appeal to the International Trade Union Confederation, global union federations, European Trade Union Confederation, Pan European Regional Council, their member organisations as the Russian Federation continues its campaign of terror — launching missiles and drones at Ukrainian cities and imposing its criminal regime in the temporarily occupied territories.
Russia launched a record 5,438 drones against Ukraine in June 2025, significantly intensifying its aerial strikes. Only two days in the past 18 months were free of attacks. In these conditions, Ukrainian workers continue to resist and fight for the liberation of all Ukrainian territories — to bring peace to our land.
During the massive shelling in June, Russia conducted 5,665 airstrikes (using various types of missiles and drones), averaging 189 attacks per day.
We call on the international trade union movement to respond to this brutal terror and the killing of civilians — including workers and trade union members in Ukraine.
For example, on 17 June 2025, the Russian military launched a massive missile strike on Ukrainian cities using cruise and ballistic missiles (Kinzhal, Kalibr, Kh-59/Kh-69, Kh-101, and Kh-31P), along with strike drones. A nighttime terrorist attack using more than 440 drones and 32 missiles in Kyiv killed 28 people and injured another 134. In Odesa, two people were killed.
• Russia continues to kill Ukrainian workers
According to operational data from the State Labour Service, as of 03.07.2025, as a result of rocket attacks, explosions and drone attacks, there were 114 cases of injuries to employees while performing their duties. These are mainly group incidents. 485 employees suffered serious injuries, 102 of which were fatal. These are not just statistics — they are daily human tragedies.
• The number of children killed and wounded by Russia has tripled this spring
According to data from the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission to Ukraine, the verified number of children killed or injured between 1 March and 31 May 2025 increased by more than 200% compared to the previous quarter. 222 children were killed or injured for this period, compared to 73 between 1 December 2024 and 28 February 2025. Since the beginning of the large scale war a total of 2,602 children have been affected, of whom 638 have been killed.
• Russia deliberately attacks schools and kindergartens
In just one massive attack on Kyiv on 17 June 2025, the educational infrastructure in five districts — Darnytskyi, Dniprovskyi, Svyatoshynskyi, Solomyanskyi, and Shevchenkivskyi — was damaged. Twenty-six educational institutions were hit, including schools and kindergartens.
On 23 June 2025, in Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi (Odesa region), three employees of Lyceum No. 1 — Aurika Melnyk, Oleh Herasymenko, and Vira Roshchyna — were killed at their workplaces as a result of a Russian attack. At least 12 people were injured, including two teenagers.
• Russia kills rescuers
As we previously informed, on 6 June 2025, among those killed in Kyiv were three brave workers of the State Emergency Service — Pavlo Yezhor, Danylo Skadin, and Andrii Remennyi — who gave their lives while rescuing others.
On 24 June 2025, in a targeted drone attack by Russian forces, Anton Zemlyanyi, commander of the operational platoon of the Tenth Paramilitary Mining Rescue Detachment and a member of the Independent Trade Union of Miners of Ukraine (KVPU affiliation), was killed. He had participated in the elimination of complex accidents in Donbas mines. On 30 April 2025, after a fire caused by UAVs hit administrative buildings, he risked his life to rescue mining equipment and unit property.
• Russia continues to destroy medical facilities
In June 2025, several attacks targeted medical institutions in Ukraine. On 6 June, three ambulances on duty were damaged in a hostile strike on Kyiv. On 17 June, Odesa’s infectious disease hospital was damaged. On 23 June, a missile strike on Kyiv damaged the Santer medical facility in the Shevchenkivskyi district and a private clinic in Bila Tserkva.
On 1 July, Russian invaders shelled a hospital in Kherson. As a result, eight people were injured — five patients and three nurses.
• Russia continues to destroy transport infrastructure
On the night of 17 June, a large-scale Russian strike damaged railway infrastructure, including the Intercity+ train at its base. On 24 June, Russian forces attacked Dnipro with ballistic missiles, damaging the Odesa-Zaporizhzhia train. Ten passengers were injured, including three children.
On 3 July, Russia attacked the port in Odesa with an Iskander cluster missile. Two people were killed — a docker and a truck driver. Among the injured were port employees, a driver, and two Syrian crew members of a civilian vessel. Infrastructure — including gantry cranes, equipment, and warehouses — was damaged.
• Russia continues its terror and genocide
Hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians are left without electricity, heat and water. At least 16,000 civilians, including trade union members and activists, remain in illegal Russian captivity, often subjected to relentless torture.
During Russia’s occupation of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP), at least 13 employees were illegally detained. Reports confirm over a thousand detainees have suffered torture or cruel treatment. Some, like diver, a member of FPU Andriy Honcharuk, died under torture.
Russia has forcibly deported between 20,000 and 300,000 children from Ukraine. Approximately 63,000 people are currently missing.
• Russia is violating international humanitarian law and core ILO conventions
Russia is violating not only international humanitarian law but also the core principles of the International Labour Organization.
The values affirmed at the ILO — freedom, dignity, safety, peace — are being trampled daily by the Russian Federation. Protocol I of the Geneva Conventions, which prohibits attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure, is being flagrantly disregarded. These actions are not only war crimes — they are barbaric acts in the 21st century.
Russia is also violating ILO Convention No. 87 on Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise. Under occupation, Russia has imposed illegitimate “representative offices” of its own trade union — the FNPR — in the temporarily occupied territories, attempting to legitimise illegal annexation. This is a clear mockery of trade union freedoms.
At a time when thousands of our members are resisting and fighting against the Russian occupiers in the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, working under fire and staying up all night because of attacks, we urge trade union movement and the international community to act.
We call on the ITUC, its member organisations, global union federations, all trade unionists, all defenders of human dignity and solidarity, to:
- Clearly and unequivocally condemn Russia’s bombing of Ukrainian cities and killing of civilians. Share information about Ukraine on your informational resources
- Demand stronger economic, humanitarian, and military support for Ukraine from your governments
- Push for intensified sanctions against the aggressor state
- Call for prosecution of all those responsible for war crimes
- Demand the release of all Ukrainian prisoners of war and civilian hostages, and the immediate return of all abducted Ukrainian children
Today, we fight not only for our country but for the values that unite the global trade union movement — decent work, the right to life, the right to safety, and the right to solidarity.
Stop Russian terror! Defend peace and justice!
This appeal was supported by all representative trade union confederations in Ukraine:
– Federation of Trade Unions of Ukraine (FPU)
– Confederation of Free Trade Unions of Ukraine (KVPU)
– Federation of Transport Workers’ Unions of Ukraine (FPTU)
– Association of All-Ukrainian Trade Unions and Trade Union Associations ‘Yednist’ (AATU ‘Yednist’)
– Association of All-Ukrainian Autonomous Trade Unions (AATU)
Ukraine Solidarity Campaign (Кампанія Солідарності з Україною) 