GENEVA - Russia's abuse of national security and public safety legislation to silence opposition to its war against Ukraine has reached alarming levels, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Russian Federation, Mariana Katzarova, warned today.
"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," Katzarova said in a new report to the UN General Assembly.
"My report reveals a sustained pattern in which national security and public safety laws are weaponised to criminalise dissent and suppress civic space," the Special Rapporteur said.
She noted that, since 2022, treason prosecutions have soared from double-digits prior to 2022 to 760 verdicts issued by mid-2025. Espionage has evolved from a narrowly applied provision into a broad instrument, with expanded definitions and lowered evidentiary standards used particularly in the context of the war on Ukraine. Its application rose from just five cases before the full-scale invasion to 159 cases involving 182 people by mid-2025 - often combined with "terrorism" offences to secure harsher sentences. In 2025, Russian courts deliver more than five terrorism-related sentences a day - a record high. Meanwhile, the 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.
The Federal Security Service announced on 14 October that 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," Katzarova warned.
Targeted individuals 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.
The Special Rapporteur said that "extremism" provisions with no basis in international law have been used to prosecute anti-war expression, independent reporting, and those linked to Navalny. 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.
The report documents the widespread and systematic torture and ill-treatment of Ukrainian prisoners of war (POW) and civilians detained under Russian control as part of a government strategy of aggression, in breach of the absolute prohibition of torture. 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," Katzarova said, noting that she had collected credible evidence of the participation of medical personnel in torture. "Thousands of Ukrainian civilians deported to Russia remain disappeared, with no information about their fate and whereabouts," the expert said.
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, for 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 Special Rapporteur said.
