This overview was updated on 30 May 2022. Russia began an all-out invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022, carrying out extensive military operations marked by war crimes and other violations of international humanitarian law. Using indiscriminate weapons such as cluster munitions in populated...

Responding to the International Criminal Court (ICC) issuing arrest warrants against Vladimir Putin, President of the Russian Federation, and Maria Lvova-Belova, Commissioner for Children’s Rights in the Office of the President of the Russian Federation, Agnès Callamard, Secretary General of...

In response to the Investigative Committee of Russia’s announcement that three Ukrainian prisoners of war, including human rights defender Maksym Butkevych, have been “convicted” of war crimes by “supreme courts” in Russia-occupied Luhansk and Donetsk and given long prison sentences, Denis...

As Russia’s full-scale invasion against Ukraine enters its second year, women in the country face grave risks, an increased burden of caring responsibilities and immense stress and hardships when living in war zones, Amnesty International said today, as the world marks International Women’s Day....

Reacting to the sentencing of student and blogger Dmitry Ivanov to 8.5-years’ imprisonment for his vocal opposition to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Natalia Zviagina, Amnesty International’s Russia Director, said: “Dmitry Ivanov’s case is another demonstration of the brutal repression of anti-war...

The international community must develop a robust plan to secure justice for victims of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, Amnesty International said today, marking one year since the invasion.  On 24 February 2022, Russian military forces launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, a...

Reacting to the sentencing of Maria Ponomarenko, a journalist from Barnaul in Western Siberia, to six years in a penal colony for posting on social media about an attack by Russian forces on a theatre in Mariupol in which civilians were killed, Marie Struthers, Amnesty International’s Director for...

The Russian armed forces’ continued attacks against Ukraine’s critical energy infrastructure, are a blatant violation of international humanitarian law and are endangering the lives of civilians with freezing temperatures setting in, Amnesty International said today, as it calls for Russia to end...

Responding to the adoption in the first reading by the Russian State Duma of a bill that effectively removes criminal liability for crimes committed by Russian forces and their proxies in the occupied territories of Ukraine, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for Eastern Europe and Central...

The Covid-19 pandemic, Russia’s aggression against Ukraine and a pervasive focus on ‘traditional values’ have contributed to a deterioration in human rights and rising levels of domestic violence and other forms of gender-based violence in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, Amnesty International said...

Older people in Ukraine have been disproportionately impacted by death and injury during Russia’s invasion and are unable to access housing on an equal basis with others after being displaced, Amnesty International said in a new report today. The report, ‘I used to have a home’: Older people’s...

The Russian authorities have developed a sophisticated system of restrictions and severe reprisals to crush public protests, which extends to suppressing any reporting of them by journalists and independent monitors. Restrictions have increased since the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, and...

Responding to the latest military developments on the ground in Kherson Region, Denis Krivosheev, Regional Director, Eastern Europe and Central Asia said: “Following Russian troops’ withdrawal from Dnipro’s right bank in Kherson, it is important to prioritize preservation of evidence of...