Russia

Russian abuses of ant-terrorism and anti-extremism legislation have escalated dramatically since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine nearly two years ago, according to Amnesty International. A new eight-page briefing titled “Terrorising the dissent” shows how the Russian authorities have

Russia's top court has banned the "international LGBT movement" as an "extremist organisation" at the behest of the Russian government in a move widely condemned by human rights and LGBT+ organisations. Judge Oleg Nefedov approved the Russian justice ministry's request after a four-hour hearing yest

More than 21,000 people in Russia have been the target of repressive laws and practices by the Russian authorities to suppress the country’s anti-war movement, said Amnesty International today. Russian authorities are using a wide range of repressive tactics to crack down on anti-war activists

Russia is to prohibit all forms of gender transition, with allies of President Putin arguing the move is necessary to safeguard the nation against "western anti-family ideology". A bill approved in its initial reading by lawmakers in the Duma will forbid “medical interventions aimed at changin

Russia has been censured by the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) for failing to provide legal recognition and protection for same-sex couples. In a Grand Chamber judgment handed down yesterday, the court held by a 14–3 majority that Russia had violated Article 8 of the European Conv

Russia and Belarus have been removed from the list of countries whose nationals can avail of the short-stay visa waiver programme to travel to Ireland. The programme allows nationals of certain countries who have entered the UK on foot of certain UK short-stay visas to travel to Ireland without need

Russia is to make LGBT advocacy a criminal offence in an effort to fight western "decadence". There will be heavy fines for anyone spreading LGBT "propaganda", including “non-traditional relationships”.

Russia has officially ceased to be a party to the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). In a statement, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) said Russia formally ceased to be a party to the ECHR on Friday 16 September 2022 following its expulsion from the Council of Europe in March.

A Moscow court has sentenced an opposition councillor and lawyer to seven years' imprisonment for criticising Russia's invasion of Ukraine, in what is the first sentence to be given for such offences. Alexei Gorinov, a deputy at Moscow’s Krasnoselsky district council, was arrested in April and

The Russian state likely assassinated rogue spy Alexander Litvinenko in London in 2006, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has ruled. In the case of Carter v Russia, the court held that there had been: unanimously, a failure by the Russian government to comply with their obligations under Ar

Adoptions from Russia accounted for the largest proportion of all intercountry adoptions into Ireland between 1991 and 2019, a new report on the practice shows. The Board of the Adoption Authority of Ireland and the authority’s research advisory committee has published the second in a series o

New counter-espionage legislation to boost MI5 powers and create a new register of foreign agents is reportedly set to be introduced in the UK following the Russia report. The report from the Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament (ISC), published yesterday, suggested that the intelligenc

British lawyers are among professionals who have functioned as "enablers" for the extension of Russian influence in the UK, according to a long-awaited report from the Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament (ISC). The committee drew up the report on Russia last year under the chairmanship

Three people have been arrested in Russia's autonomous region of Chechnya on suspicion of "practising sorcery", according to local media reports. In a broadcast on Grozny TV, a local station run by Chechen authorities, two women and one man are accused of "selling their souls to the Devil" by Adam E