The Russian government fined a 19-year old college student in the Crimean city of Sevastopol 99,000 rubles (USD $1,300) Monday for allegedly “discrediting armed forces” and promoting “LGTBQA+ propaganda” on Telegram chat posts. According to the city’s Interior Ministry, the student posted comments critical of the Russian military’s involvement in Ukraine and voiced support for [...]

The Investigative Committee of Yaroslavl Oblast initiated a criminal proceeding on Thursday against Russian LGBTQA+ activist Yaroslav Sirotkin on the charges of participation in an “extremist organization,” according to local media. According to the investigation, Sirotkin posted 14 social media posts and videos that included “propaganda of non-traditional sexual relationships” between December 2023 and January [...]

Saint Petersburg legislators approved a municipal bill Wednesday to introduce fines for “encouragement of abortions,” to purportedly help create a “safe … family and motherhood informational environment” in the region. The bill would establish an increasing fine scale for citizens, public persons, and people in legal professions for encouraging abortions. When asked why the male [...]

The Moscow Military Court on Wednesday sentenced prominent dissident Leonid Volkov in absentia. Volkov, an ally of Alexey Navalny and a former leader of the Anti-Corruption Foundation, received 18 years imprisonment and a fine of 2 million rubles (approximately $25,000). The charges against him included 18 counts of spreading military “fakes,” 16 counts of justifying [...]

A Moscow military court on Tuesday sentenced an ex-policeman to 14 years of imprisonment and a fine of 250,000 rubles (approximately $3,000) for alleged anti-war graffiti and communications with Freedom of Russia Legion (FRL). Konstantin Podoshvelev was arrested February 2024 under the charges of vandalism and damage of religious objects for allegedly writing “Polytech is [...]

Human Rights Watch (HRW) published a report Tuesday identifying Russian drone attacks on Ukrainian civilians as war crimes and crimes against humanity. Attacks are executed using modified commercial drones. The report compiles information from survivors, witnesses, and videos from Russian Telegram channels Belkis Wille, associate director for crisis, conflict and arms at Human Rights Watch, [...]

The Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine published a report Wednesday declaring Russian drone attacks on Ukrainian civilians in Kherson oblast to be war crimes and crimes against humanity. The commission claimed that roughly 150 Ukrainian civilians have been killed over the past year as a result of the systematic Russian drone attacks: Starting [...]

Human Rights Watch (HRW) released a statement highlighting concerning conditions of migrants in Bosnia and Herzegovina after the UK government proposed that the country serve as a “return hub.” Return hubs are locations where asylum seekers whose claims had been rejected in other countries would be held while waiting to be returned to their countries [...]

The UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Russian Federation, Mariana Katzarova, called on Thursday for the release of Grigory Melkonyants, a lawyer and one of the most famous experts on election legislation and process in Russia. The statement comes in response to the sentencing of Melkonyants to five years in [...]

The Tagansky District Court of Moscow fined Apple 10.5 million rubles (approximately $130,000) on Monday in three administrative charges of LGBTQA+ “propaganda,” and one charge of refusing to remove prohibited material. Under Article 6.21 of the Code of Administrative Offences of the Russian Federation, LGBTQA+ “propaganda” is defined as a promotion of “non-traditional sexual relations [...]