The UN Human Rights Council-appointed Special Rapporteur said her report “reveals a sustained pattern in which national security and public security laws are used as a weapon to criminalize dissent and suppress civic space.”
Treason prosecutions soar
Since 2022, when Russia began its full-scale invasion, treason prosecutions have skyrocketed from double digits then to some 760 verdicts issued by mid-2025.
Espionage has moved from a narrowly applied provision to a broad instrument, he said, with expanded definitions and reduced standards of criminal proof, particularly in the context of the Ukraine war.
Espionage cases rose from just five before the large-scale invasion to 159 cases involving 182 people by mid-2025. They were often combined with alleged terrorism crimes to ensure tougher sentences, Katzarova said.
Russian courts handed down more than five terrorism-related sentences per day during 2025, a record number.
Meanwhile, a national “Terrorist and Extremist List” has grown from 1,600 names in 2022 to more than 18,000 in 2025, including more than 150 children and hundreds of organizations.
Repression spreads
Earlier this month, the Federal Security Service announced that it would open a terrorism case against 22 members of the Russian Anti-War Committee in exile.
“This illustrates the determination of the Russian authorities to extend repression beyond national borders”Katzarova warned.
Targets include prominent opposition politicians, businessmen, journalists, lawyers, artists and academics who oppose Russia’s war against Ukraine, he said.
On October 22, Russia’s Prosecutor General’s Office demanded the Supreme Court declare late opposition leader Alexey Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation a “terrorist organization.”
Provisions on “extremism” without basis in international law have been used to persecute anti-war expressions, independent reports and those linked to Navalny, the expert’s report states.
The “extremist” label has also been extended to religious and ethnic minorities, indigenous peoples, and LGBT people. Hundreds of convictions have been handed down for alleged “extremism,” including more than 100 in cases involving LGBT activities.
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 of the Ukrainian detainees facing trial are accused of espionage and terrorism, leading to long prison sentences.
“Ukrainian detainees were starved, denied medical care, and tortured, including by rape and electric shocks.”Ms. Katzarova said, noting that she had collected credible evidence of the involvement of medical professionals in torture.
“Thousands of Ukrainian civilians deported to Russia remain missing, with no information about their fate and whereabouts,” the expert said.
Ms Katzarova called for the immediate release of all political detainees in Russia, as well as the immediate release of Ukrainian civilian detainees, including children.
“The perpetrators enjoy total impunity”
He demanded accountability for acts of torture and deaths in custody, and an end to Russia’s abuse of national and public security legislation to silence dissent and anti-war expression.
“Justice inside Russia is unattainable; perpetrators enjoy complete impunity. When domestic justice is denied, the international community must actincluding through the framework of universal jurisdiction, to guarantee accountability and protect those who are at risk,” said the expert.
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 do not receive a salary for their work.