Russia has intensified repression of critics overseas, UN expert says

By Olivia Le Poidevin

GENEVA, Sept ‌21 (Reuters) - Russia has ​intensified surveillance, ​intimidation and reprisals against critics overseas since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, a UN expert said on Monday.

The Special Rapporteur on human rights ‌in Russia told the Human Rights Council in Geneva that Russia had become ⁠one of the most prolific perpetrators of "transnational repression", through attempted assassinations, assaults and poisonings.

“It is the continuation, beyond ‌Russia’s borders, of the same structural, ‌state-sponsored system of repression I have documented at home,” Mariana Katzarova said in a statement, citing her new report based on 400 documented cases.

“Leaving Russia does not mean leaving ​Russian repression behind,” she added. Some 650,000-900,000 people have left Russia since 2022, her report said.

Russia's diplomatic mission in Geneva did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for ⁠comment, though Moscow has in the past denied allegations of hostile actions on foreign soil and alleged a Western smear ​campaign.

Incidents of "transnational repression" tripled from 29 during 2014-2021 to 89 between 2022-2024, the report found, citing civil society data.

While Russia has a long history ​of assassinations and intimidation beyond borders - including the murder ‌of former KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko in London in 2006 - the method and scale of targeting has changed from overt violence towards covert, ⁠administrative and digital tools, Katzarova found.

"Repression now travels through arrest warrants, databases, banks, digital systems and proxies - cheaper, scalable, and built to evade attribution," Katzarova said.

BLOCKED BANK ACCOUNTS

The report explained how Russia places individuals ⁠on the Federal Financial Monitoring Service (Rosfinmonitoring) list of “terrorists and extremists”, sparking red flags and blocked accounts in European ​and American banking institutions.

Russian authorities have also restricted services and travel documents to citizens abroad, the report said. It cited the case of Elena Pushkareva whom the Russian Embassy in Canada refused consular services ‌to, citing a “security threat”, after she protested for the release of Alexei Navalny and other political prisoners.

Russia is the most frequent user of Interpol arrest ‌requests, though roughly half of Russia-related cases reviewed by Interpol's oversight body in 2024 were non-compliant, Katzarova said.

Targets ⁠include anti-war emigrants, journalists and non-governmental ‌organizations. While targeting occurs mainly ​in South Caucasus and Central Asian States, documented incidents have dramatically increased in Europe and beyond, the report said.

(Reporting by Olivia Le Poidevin; Editing by ‌Andrew Cawthorne)

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