Russia using ‘rule of fear’ to silence anti-war dissent, says UN independent human rights expert

This article is published in association with United Nations.

Russia’s abuse of national security and public safety laws to silence opposition to the war in Ukraine has reached “alarming levels”, the UN independent expert who monitors human rights in Russia has warned.

Mariana Katzarova said in a new report to the UN General Assembly that over the past three years “thousands have been imprisoned on politically motivated charges, including treason, espionage, extremism and terrorism, often on fabricated evidence and in closed trials, with detainees ranging from children to the elderly.”

The UN Human Rights Council-appointed Special Rapporteur said her report “reveals a sustained pattern in which national security and public safety laws are weaponised to criminalise dissent and suppress civic space.”

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Treason prosecutions soar

Since 2022 when Russia began its full-scale invasion, treason prosecutions have soared from double-digits then, to some 760 verdicts issued by mid-2025.

Espionage has evolved from a narrowly applied provision into a broad instrument, she said, with expanded definitions and diminished standards of criminal evidence – particularly in the context of the Ukraine war.

Espionage cases went from just five before the full-scale invasion to 159 cases involving 182 people by mid-2025. They were often combined with alleged terrorism offences to secure harsher sentences, Ms. Katzarova said.

Russian courts deliver more than five terrorism-related sentences a day during 2025 – a record high.

Meanwhile, a national “List of Terrorists and Extremists” has surged from 1,600 names in 2022 to more than 18,000 in 2025, including over 150 children and hundreds of organisations.

Repression spreads

Earlier this month the Federal Security Service announced it was opening a terrorism case against 22 members of the exiled Russian Anti-war Committee.

“This illustrates the determination of Russian authorities to extend repression beyond national borders,” Ms. Katzarova warned.

Those targeted include prominent opposition politicians, business people, journalists, lawyers, artists and academics who oppose Russia’s war against Ukraine, she said.

On 22 October, the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office demanded the Supreme Court declare the late opposition leader Alexey Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation a “terrorist organisation”, she noted.

“Extremism” provisions with no basis in international law have been used to prosecute anti-war expression, independent reporting, and those linked to Navalny, the expert’s report stipulates.

The “extremist” label has also been extended to religious and ethnic minorities, Indigenous Peoples, and LGBT persons. Hundreds of convictions for alleged “extremism” have been handed down, including more than 100 in cases targeting LGBT activity.

Torture of Ukrainian prisoners

The report documents the widespread and systematic torture and ill-treatment of Ukrainian prisoners of war and civilians detained under Russian control.

The majority of Ukrainian detainees facing trials are accused of espionage and terrorism, leading to lengthy prison sentences.

“Ukrainian detainees were starved, denied medical care, and tortured, including through rape and electric shocks,” Ms. Katzarova said, noting that she had collected credible evidence of the participation of medical professionals in torture.

“Thousands of Ukrainian civilians deported to Russia remain disappeared, with no information about their fate and whereabouts,” the expert said.

Ms. Katzarova called for the immediate release of all those detained on politically motivated grounds in Russia, as well as the immediate release of civilian Ukrainian detainees, including children.

‘Perpetrators enjoy total impunity’

She demanded accountability for acts of torture and deaths in custody, and for an end to Russia’s abuse of national security and public safety legislation to silence dissent and anti-war expression.

“Justice inside Russia is unattainable; perpetrators enjoy total impunity. Where domestic justice is denied, the international community must act, including through the framework of universal jurisdiction, to ensure accountability and protect those at risk,” the expert said.

Special Rapporteurs and other human rights experts appointed under the special procedures mandate of the Human Rights Council are not UN staff and are independent of any government or organization. They receive no salary for their work.