UN human rights expert says Russia is jailing and torturing war critics

A United Nations human rights expert said Monday that repression in Russia is escalating, targeting civilians, journalists and even Ukrainian prisoners of war in an attempt to silence dissent against the war in Ukraine.

Mariana Katzarova, the UN special rapporteur on human rights in Russia, presented her latest report in Geneva, telling journalists that the repression was ‘escalating and becoming massive’. She said Russian authorities were using ‘criminal prosecution, long-term imprisonment, torture and ill-treatment’ to suppress opposition to the war ordered by President Vladimir Putin.

Her report said that between mid-2024 and mid-2025 at least 3,905 people were convicted on administrative or criminal charges for peaceful dissent.

Katzarova noted that more than 150 children aged 14 to 17 had been added to the federal list of ‘extremists’ and ‘terrorists’ through July, with some accused of treason and subjected to torture to obtain confessions.

She also reported that by July 1,040 individuals and organisations — nearly one quarter of them journalists — had been designated as ‘foreign agents’, including 133 since the start of 2025.

According to the report, ‘torture and ill-treatment in the Russian Federation 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 were documented in 2024 and 2025.

Katzarova described one case in which a Ukrainian man captured by Russian troops was tortured with electric shocks. After surgery in Moscow, he discovered the words ‘Victory! Glory to Russia’ burned onto his stomach by the doctor who treated him.

Russia’s diplomatic mission in Geneva declined to comment, referring instead to a Foreign Ministry statement earlier this month that rejected Katzarova’s mandate as illegitimate and ruled out any cooperation.

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