UN Expert Warns of Russia’s ‘Rule of Fear’ Repression

Mariana Katzarova, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Russian Federation, addresses the Human Rights Council in Geneva.

Russia’s misuse of national security and public safety laws to silence opposition to the war in Ukraine has reached “alarming levels,” the UN independent expert monitoring 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.”

Treason Prosecutions Soar

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

Espionage, once narrowly defined, has evolved into a broad legal instrument, she said, with expanded definitions and lower standards of criminal evidence, particularly in the context of the war in Ukraine.

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

Russian courts have delivered more than five terrorism-related sentences a day in 2025—a record high.

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

Repression Spreads Beyond Borders

Earlier this month, the Federal Security Service (FSB) 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 opposition politicians, business leaders, journalists, lawyers, artists, and academics who oppose Russia’s war against Ukraine, she said.

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

“Extremism” provisions lacking any basis in international law have been used to prosecute anti-war expression, independent reporting, and individuals linked to Navalny, the expert’s report stated.

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 issued, including more than 100 targeting LGBT activity.

Torture of Ukrainian Prisoners

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

Most Ukrainian detainees facing trial are accused of espionage or terrorism, often leading to lengthy prison sentences.

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

“Thousands of Ukrainian civilians deported to Russia remain disappeared, with no information about their fate or whereabouts,” she added.

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

‘Perpetrators Enjoy Total Impunity’

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

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

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