Published on: 2026-09-21
Source: United Nations
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September 21, 2026 Human Rights
The Russian Federation has created a state system of intimidation and punishment of its critics abroad, as well as pressure on their families in Russia. This was stated on Monday by the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Russian Federation, Mariana Katzarova.
She described the Russian “transnational repression” as a violation of international law that threatens the sovereignty of the host states.
“Transnational repressions are not a series of isolated incidents abroad. It is the ongoing use outside of Russia of the same structured, state-supported system of repression that I have documented inside the country,” Katsarova stated in her new report, which she presented to the Human Rights Council.
In the document “Nowhere to Hide: Exporting the ‘Supremacy of Fear’ Beyond the Country – Transnational Repressions of the Russian Federation,” based on data from nearly 400 documented cases of violations, the Special Rapporteur reports that such repressions are part of a systematic and institutionalized state strategy, inseparably linked to the strengthening of authoritarian rule within the country and the aggressive war against Ukraine.
“Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Russian Federation has become one of the most active entities in transnational repression. There is almost no accountability for such actions, investigations are not conducted, the Russian authorities deny their involvement, and in some cases, they encourage or reward the alleged perpetrators,” said Katsarova.
The most severe forms of transnational repression are targeted violence and threats to life: killings, assassination attempts, attacks, and poisonings. Russia ranks third in the number of direct physical attacks among a group of 10 countries, which account for more than 70 percent of such recorded incidents over the past decade.
According to Katsarova, the Russian Federation “has a long history of political assassinations, including the murder of Alexander Litvinenko in London in 2006 and Zelimkhan Khangoshvili in Berlin in 2019.”
The targets of the alleged poisonings also included independent journalists and human rights defenders in exile, including Novaya Gazeta journalist Elena Kostyuchenko in Munich, former Echo of Moscow journalist Irina Bablyoan in 2022 in Tbilisi, and the president of the Free Russia Foundation Natalia Arno during her trips to the Czech Republic and Germany in 2023, the Special Rapporteur reminded.
Since February 2022, between 650,000 and 900,000 people have left Russia – this is the largest wave of emigration from the Russian Federation since the beginning of the 20th century. As civil society in exile expanded, the average annual number of documented cases of transnational repression increased approximately eightfold: from 29 cases over eight years before 2022 to 89 cases over the following three years.
The number of recorded in absentia sentences increased from four in 2022 to 157 in 2025. At least nine units of the Federal Security Service, as well as military and foreign intelligence, prosecution authorities, and government ministries are involved in carrying out transnational reprisals.
The Katsarova report emphasizes that the main change after 2022 lies not so much in scale but in the methods used.
“Today, repression is carried out through arrest warrants, databases, banks and digital systems, strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPP), as well as trusted persons. The Russian Federation uses Interpol red notices more often than anyone else, and approximately half of the cases related to the Russian Federation and reviewed by Interpol’s supervisory body in 2024 were found to be non-compliant with the organization’s statute,” noted the Special Rapporteur.
The list of “terrorists and extremists” of Rosfinmonitoring includes 21,541 people, with at least 5,063 of them having been persecuted on politically motivated charges, Katsarova reported. This information is automatically disseminated through global databases used for compliance purposes, including LSEG World-Check and LexisNexis, without verification of the information’s accuracy, and banks block the victims’ accounts in the absence of any evidence.
In June 2026, the organization “OVD-Info,” whose monitoring data is widely used in the preparation of international materials on repression in Russia, was itself included in this list.
According to Katsarova, women who have fled forced marriages and domestic violence in Chechnya, LGBT activists, and indigenous rights defenders face an increased risk of transnational repression.
The federal law of August 4, 2026, establishes 14 categories of restrictions regarding citizens abroad, ranging from freezing funds to refusing passport renewals.
Abuse of mechanisms of international cooperation and legal assistance can have devastating consequences, the report says. Mansur Movlaev, who survived torture and fled Chechnya, twice attempted suicide after nearly 18 months in custody in Kazakhstan based on a Russian Federation extradition request. He was repeatedly denied asylum, and if returned, he faces torture or execution, Kacarska believes.
Nevertheless, host countries, including Kazakhstan, continue to adhere to legal assistance agreements with Russia, leaving victims without proper protection, noted the Special Rapporteur.
“There is nothing inevitable about transnational repression,” Katsarova stated.
“Where host countries fulfill their obligations – observe the principle of non-refoulement, carefully check Russian Interpol Red Notices and data in wanted persons lists, and also require banks to verify the grounds for including individuals in Russian lists – transnational repression does not work,” she added.
Noting the absence of a legally binding international document specifically dedicated to transnational repression, the Special Rapporteur called for the development of a UN convention to establish common definitions, host state obligations, as well as mechanisms for prevention of violations, accountability, and inter-state cooperation.
Special rapporteurs are independent experts appointed by the UN Human Rights Council to examine either situations in specific countries or thematic issues across all regions of the world. They are part of the Human Rights Council’s special procedures. Experts of the special procedures are not UN staff and are independent of any government or organization. They work in a personal capacity and do not receive payment for their work.
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