3.5. Human rights defenders
Russian authorities have continued exerting pressure on human rights defenders, 421 widening in 2024 the use of ‘foreign agent’, anti-extremism,422 and anti-terrorism legislation against them. 423 According to OVD-Info, in 2024, 22 human rights defenders faced politically motivated criminal prosecution.424 As of January 2025, 84 human rights groups and 107 individuals working on human rights were placed on the list of ‘foreign agents’. For lawyers, inclusion on the ‘foreign agents’ list usually results in disbarment. Additionally, 110 human rights organisations have been designated as ‘undesirable.’425
In November 2024, a former director of the Sakharov Center, closed down in 2023, was sentenced in absentia to eight years in prison for spreading ‘false’ information for five Facebook posts on war crimes in Ukraine.426 In June 2025, an 85-year-old human rights defender,427 who leads the Public Human Rights Center in the Sakhalin region,428 was found guilty429 on charges of ‘public calls for terrorism activities’ (Article 205.2 of the Criminal Code)430 and fined 500 000 rubles [5 125 euros].431 A criminal prosecution was initiated after he allegedly shared a draft article outlining scenarios for the development of Russia’s democratic institutions and the West’s supportive role with his team in January 2023.432
According to OVD-Info in January 2025, human rights defenders and lawyers have reported facing ‘physical violence or threats of violence,’ surveillance, and hacking of ‘their digital devices by secret service officers.’ In 2024, law enforcement increasingly employed tactics, such as ‘searches, interrogations and the seizure of equipment.’ Moreover, many human rights defenders felt an increase in hostility from law enforcement officers and ‘society as a whole,’ which they attributed to state propaganda efforts.433
- 421
PACE, Situation of human rights defenders and whistleblowers in Europe, 24 January 2025, url, para. 2; UN Human Rights Council, Situation of human rights in the Russian Federation, Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Russian Federation, Mariana Katzarova 15 September 2025, url, para. 50
- 422
PACE, Situation of human rights defenders and whistleblowers in Europe, 24 January 2025, url, para. 2
- 423
UN, Russia must immediately drop charges against 85-year-old human rights defender Mark Kuperman: UN experts, 13 February 2025, url
- 424
OVD-Info, Repression in Russia in 2024: OVD-Info Overview, 12 January 2025, url
- 425
OVD-Info, Repression in Russia in 2024: OVD-Info Overview, 12 January 2025, url
- 426
RFE/RL, Russia Jails Former Sakharov Center Director In Absentia For Anti-War Posts, 18 November 2025, url; OVD-Info, Экс-директора Сахаровского центра заочно приговорили к 8 годам колонии из-за антивоенных постов [Former director of Sakharov Centre sentenced in absentia to 8 years in prison for anti-war posts], 18 November 2025, url
- 427
UN Human Rights Council, Situation of human rights in the Russian Federation, Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Russian Federation, Mariana Katzarova,15 September 2025, url, para. 51
- 428
UN, Russia must immediately drop charges against 85-year-old human rights defender Mark Kuperman: UN experts, 13 February 2025, url
- 429
UN Human Rights Council, Situation of human rights in the Russian Federation, Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Russian Federation, Mariana Katzarova,15 September 2025, url, para. 51
- 430
UN, Russia must immediately drop charges against 85-year-old human rights defender Mark Kuperman: UN experts, 13 February 2025, url
- 431
UN Human Rights Council, Situation of human rights in the Russian Federation, Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Russian Federation, Mariana Katzarova,15 September 2025, url, para. 51
- 432
UN, Russia must immediately drop charges against 85-year-old human rights defender Mark Kuperman: UN experts, 13 February 2025, url
- 433
OVD-Info, Repression in Russia in 2024: OVD-Info Overview, 12 January 2025, url