Liz Cookman

It'a just over 5 years since I started freelancing & went straight to cover a
44-day war in Nagorno-Karabakh.

After a ceasefire, Russian soldiers were sent in as peacekeepers(!). I wonder how many went on to die, or kill, in Ukraine. It's mind blowing how much has happened.

Europeans rush to foil Ukraine deal favouring Kremlin | The Observer

[Featured] #UkraineWar: Europeans rush to foil #Ukraine deal favouring Kremlin, by @lizcookman.bsky.social | The Observer

observer.co.uk/news/interna...

I am a finalist for a British Journalism Award! I am so honoured!

For feature journalism from Ukraine, Syria and Somalia for the @theguardian.com and the @telegraphnews.bsky.social.

So many brilliant journalists here 👉 pressgazette.co.uk/press-gazett...

There is a fundraiser to help George Ivanchenko, the Ukrainian photographer who was badly injured in a drone strike last week in Donbas - the same one that killed Antoni Lallican.

Please help if you can: send.monobank.ua/jar/6qRivvU8...

Love in a time of war: the new sex therapy for Ukraine’s ... As thousands of young veterans return home with life-changing injuries, many are wondering if physical intimacy is something they’ll ever know again

10s of 1,000s of Ukrainian veterans have suffered heavy injury resulting in disability. Many are young men, who have to relearn how to live with new bodies, facing a taboo subject in a religious country - how to reclaim their sex lives. For @theobserveruk.bsky.social

observer.co.uk/news/interna...

How Russia is grooming Ukraine’s children to fight for it: ‘I understood it wasn’t just play’ Abducted children and those from occupied territories are turning up in Russia’s military-style training camps, with fears that some are already on the frontline

“I understood it wasn’t just play.”

@lizcookman.bsky.social for @theguardian.com reveals how 200+ Russian “camps” groom Ukrainian children for war, erasing their identity.

📰 Read & share: www.theguardian.com/world/2025/s...
#SaveUkraine

I’ve been longlisted for Freelance Journalist of the Year at this year’s @rorypecktrust.bsky.social Awards, alongside some incredible journalists with work I really admire. 🎉🎉😎😎

Freelancers are 💪🏽💪🏽

rorypecktrust.org/awards/2025-...

I’ve been longlisted for Freelance Journalist of the Year at this year’s @rorypecktrust.bsky.social Awards, alongside some incredible journalists with work I really admire. 🎉🎉😎😎

Freelancers are 💪🏽💪🏽

rorypecktrust.org/awards/2025-...

Russia is running a network of at least 210 camps to re-educate, Russify and militarise Ukrainian children, a Yale report has found.

It follows my report last week that outlined how stolen children are being “trained to fight for Russia”. For @theguardian.com

www.theguardian.com/global-devel...

Russia is running a network of at least 210 camps to re-educate, Russify and militarise Ukrainian children, a Yale report has found.

It follows my report last week that outlined how stolen children are being “trained to fight for Russia”. For @theguardian.com

www.theguardian.com/global-devel...

How Russia is grooming Ukraine’s children to fight for it: ‘I understood it wasn’t just play’ Abducted children and those from occupied territories are turning up in Russia’s military-style training camps, with fears that some are already on the frontline

Children from occupied Ukraine are being forcibly taken to miltary camps in Russia, where they train to rig booby traps and load guns.

Many fear they are being prepared for the Russian army. Some may already be on the frontline.

My story @theguardian.com.

www.theguardian.com/world/2025/s...

How Russia is grooming Ukraine’s children to fight for it: ‘I understood it wasn’t just play’ Abducted children and those from occupied territories are turning up in Russia’s military-style training camps, with fears that some are already on the frontline

Children from occupied Ukraine are being forcibly taken to miltary camps in Russia, where they train to rig booby traps and load guns.

Many fear they are being prepared for the Russian army. Some may already be on the frontline.

My story @theguardian.com.

www.theguardian.com/world/2025/s...

As Russian drones rain down on Ukraine, this unit has one... Citizens fall asleep every night to the constant hum of killing machines that turn buildings to dust and snuff out lives. In a sunflower field near Kyiv,...

This summer, Ukraine was hit with record nos of Russian drones - the deadliest run for civilians in over 3 years. The drones are getting faster, better, with attacks set to grow in autumn. But air defences are evolving quickly to catch up. For @observeruk.bsky.social
observer.co.uk/news/interna...

In Kyiv, the Cabinet of Ministers building caught fire, likely after drone debris fell on it. PM Svyrydenko wrote: “For the first time, a government building — its roof and upper floors — has been damaged by an enemy attack. Firefighters are battling the blaze. Thank you for your work.”

As Russian drones rain down on Ukraine, this unit has one... Citizens fall asleep every night to the constant hum of killing machines that turn buildings to dust and snuff out lives. In a sunflower field near Kyiv,...

This summer, Ukraine was hit with record nos of Russian drones - the deadliest run for civilians in over 3 years. The drones are getting faster, better, with attacks set to grow in autumn. But air defences are evolving quickly to catch up. For @observeruk.bsky.social
observer.co.uk/news/interna...

A woman has been arrested by Russia’s FSB for attempting to attack its HQ in Sevastapol, Crimea, with a religious icon rigged with explosives on behalf of Ukraine’s SBU. Me for @thetimes

www.thetimes.com/world/russia...

We want peace – but not on Putin’s terms, Ukrainians say Weary of Russia’s war, the citizens of Ukraine are nevertheless wary of a settlement that might give away too much or that doesn’t carry a security guara...

An interview with former Ukrainian president Poroshenko, and the view from Kyiv, amid the push for peace for @observeruk.bsky.social.

“We don't need anything from Russia. Stop the war, stop the killing, stop grabbing territory, stop blackmailing us and get out.”

observer.co.uk/news/interna...

We want peace – but not on Putin’s terms, Ukrainians say Weary of Russia’s war, the citizens of Ukraine are nevertheless wary of a settlement that might give away too much or that doesn’t carry a security guara...

An interview with former Ukrainian president Poroshenko, and the view from Kyiv, amid the push for peace for @observeruk.bsky.social.

“We don't need anything from Russia. Stop the war, stop the killing, stop grabbing territory, stop blackmailing us and get out.”

observer.co.uk/news/interna...

‘Russia is targeting us deliberately’: how attacks on maternity hospitals fuelled a birth-rate crisis in Ukraine The Guardian has visited three frontline hospitals to hear from women who say they have been left fearful of childbirth after more than 80 attacks on maternity units since Russia’s full-scale invasion

Powerful reporting and incredible stories here from @lizcookman.bsky.social , edited by @tomlevitt.bsky.social for our new in-depth reporting series on the war in Ukraine

www.theguardian.com/world/2025/a...

‘Russia is targeting us deliberately’: how attacks on maternity hospitals fuelled a birth-rate crisis in Ukraine Women have been left fearful of childbirth after more than 80 attacks on maternity units since the invasion, leading to the world’s lowest birth rate and the highest mortality rate

"In the three years since then, maternity care in Ukraine has remained under constant attack, with more than 2,000 strikes on medical facilities, including 81 affecting maternal care and delivery rooms." By @lizcookman.bsky.social from Kharkiv, Kherson, Sloviansk www.theguardian.com/world/2025/a...

‘Russia is targeting us deliberately’: how attacks on maternity hospitals fuelled a birth-rate crisis in Ukraine The Guardian has visited three frontline hospitals to hear from women who say they have been left fearful of childbirth after more than 80 attacks on maternity units since Russia’s full-scale invasion

I travelled to three frontline cities to show what new mothers face in Ukraine - attacks on maternity hospitals, circling drones, power cuts and constant air raid sirens.

Ukraine had the lowest birth rate in the world last year - and highest death rate.

www.theguardian.com/world/2025/a...

Trump-Putin Alaska meeting: Russia ‘wants a piece’ of US wealth — live Trump-Putin Alaska meeting: time, schedule and latest news on summit

From Lavrov’s jumper choices to whether Putin will be given the red carpet treatment, follow our live updates from today’s “HIGH STAKES” Trump-Putin summit in Alaska. @thetimes.com

www.thetimes.com/us/american-...

How Europe can hit Russia where it hurts — and why it probably won’t The Continent is home to €260bn of frozen Kremlin assets. Ukraine wants it all seized like a sanctioned oligarch’s yacht

How Europe can hit Russia where it hurts — and why it probably won’t.

The Continent is home to €260bn of frozen Kremlin assets. Ukraine wants it all seized like a sanctioned oligarch’s yacht.

Me for @thetimes.com

www.thetimes.com/world/russia...

How Russia targets Ukrainians’ hearts and minds through their phones Pro-Kremlin fake accounts have flooded Telegram with thousands of targeted messages to create a ‘digital occupation’ and sow dissent

Russia is attempting a “digital occupation” of Ukraine using a vast network of pro-Kremlin bots that flood people’s mobile phones in the occupied east with subtle and locally-targeted disinformation.

My story for @thetimes.com

www.thetimes.com/world/russia...

Sickness and starvation stalk Somalia’s children in the ‘City of Death’ Baidoa is the epicentre of a humanitarian crisis. Vital lifelines keeping infants alive may soon be forced to close, thanks to aid cuts

Over 120 health facilities across Somalia are at risk due of closing due to cuts in international aid, with children paying the heaviest price.

Our CEO Moazzam Malik visited Baidoa, the epicentre of the crisis, with @lizcookman.bsky.social.

This is what they saw 👇

Pregnant, panicking… then the bomb struck | The Observer Her name was Diana Koshyk and she was 23 years old. She liked to write poetry and paint, and she was the “love of my life”, says her husband Oleksandr Ko...

Her name was Diana Koshyk and she was 23.

She liked to write poetry and paint, and was seven months pregnant with a son she named Damir. She was killed in a Russian missile strike last week.

My first story for @observeruk.bsky.social

observer.co.uk/news/interna...

Thousand are on the streets in Kyiv for a second night, incl. wounded veterans, to protest Zelenskyy’s signing of a controversial bill on the independence of Ukraine’s anti-corruption institutions.

Some compared him to Yanukovych, who was ousted during the Maidan Revolution.

On the ground with the crew battling Turkey’s blazing wildfires Residents in Izmir whose homes and land have been destroyed spoke of birds catching alight, wild horses ‘screaming’, devastation and loss

I went out with firefighting teams on the frontline of Turkey’s battle with devastating wildfires at their epicentre - Izmir province. Blazes are tearing through homes and farms. They have killed at least three, including one firefighter. @thetimes.com

www.thetimes.com/world/europe...

On the ground with the crew battling Turkey’s blazing wildfires Residents in Izmir whose homes and land have been destroyed spoke of birds catching alight, wild horses ‘screaming’, devastation and loss

I went out with firefighting teams on the frontline of Turkey’s battle with devastating wildfires at their epicentre - Izmir province. Blazes are tearing through homes and farms. They have killed at least three, including one firefighter. @thetimes.com

www.thetimes.com/world/europe...

Netanyahu says only 20 hostages alive as hundreds storm Gaza aid warehouse

Four people died and several more were injured on Wednesday after hundreds of Palestinians stormed a United Nations food warehouse in Gaza