UN rights expert says Russia steps up repression to silence opposition to war in Ukraine
A U.N. special rapporteur warns that authorities are intensifying prosecutions, torture and the designation of foreign agents as part of a broader crackdown on dissent inside Russia, including on Ukrainian prisoners and journalists.
In Geneva on Monday, a United Nations human rights expert said repression in Russia is intensifying as authorities move to silence opposition to the war in Ukraine, targeting civilians, journalists and Ukrainian prisoners of war.
Mariana Katzarova, the U.N. special rapporteur focusing on human rights in Russia, presented her latest report to the U.N. Human Rights Council, noting that authorities have stepped up their use of "criminal prosecution, long-term imprisonment, torture and ill-treatment" to quell dissent. "The repression is escalating ... and becoming massive," she said, adding that "The masterminds of this repression are employing new elaborate tools against a total impunity for their actions: Torture is also part of this equation, as a tool," she said.
Her report covers the year starting in mid-2024, during which prosecutions rose, with at least 3,905 individuals convicted on administrative or criminal charges for peaceful dissent.
Through July, more than 150 children aged 14 to 17 were added to the federal lists of "extremists" and "terrorists," with some accused of treason and subjected to torture to extract confessions, Katzarova said.
Mid-July figures show 1,040 individuals and organizations designated as "foreign agents" — nearly a quarter of them journalists — with 133 added since January.
The report said torture and ill-treatment remain widespread and systematic, affecting not only Russian citizens but also Ukrainian prisoners of war and civilian detainees. "At least 258 cases of torture by law enforcement, prison staff, and inmates acting under orders of prison authorities were documented in 2024/25," the document states.
Katzarova recounted a case of a Ukrainian man captured by Russian troops who was interrogated and subjected to electric shocks, later operated on by a Moscow doctor. "The surgery was perfect, but when the guy woke up, he saw that there were extra bandages on his stomach. And this Russian doctor has burned, with the medical tool: 'Victory! Glory to Russia' on his stomach," she said.
The Russian diplomatic mission in Geneva declined to comment, pointing to a Russian Foreign Ministry statement earlier this month that Moscow "does not recognize the mandate of this illegitimate special procedure" — the post held by Katzarova — "and any form of interaction with it is unacceptable for the Russian Federation."
The U.N. expert stressed that the repression is being conducted with new tools and at a scale that allows impunity for those responsible, affecting not only Russian citizens but also Ukrainian detainees.
The report comes as Moscow's stance toward international scrutiny remains unchanged. The U.N. Human Rights Council continues its session as Katzarova’s findings add to ongoing concerns about rights protections in Russia since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.