THE HUMAN FACE OF UNLAWFUL DEPRIVATION OF LIBERTY Review of the Documentation of War Crimes of the Russian Federation against Civilians in 2025

This report examines the systematic unlawful deprivation of liberty of civilians in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine in 2025 and their subsequent transfer to the Russian Federation. Based on 219 interviews conducted by the Association of Relatives of Political Prisoners of the Kremlin, the report documents patterns of arbitrary detention, incommunicado detention, torture, ill-treatment, forced transfers, and unfair trials.

It shows how civilians are moved through a network of unofficial detention sites, transit points, pre-trial detention centres and penal institutions, while Russian judicial and penitentiary systems are used to formalise and conceal unlawful persecution. The findings indicate serious violations of international humanitarian and criminal law, which may amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity.

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April 30, 2025

Analytical review of the activities of the NGO “Association of Relatives of Political Prisoners of the Kremlin” on documenting Russian war crimes against civilians in Ukraine in April 2025

Since 2022, the Association's documenters have identified and interviewed 489 witnesses to enforced disappearances, arbitrary detentions, and other international crimes against civilians, including shelling of civilian infrastructure, appropriation of private property by the occupiers, and illegal deprivation of liberty. As of April 30, 2025, information on 335 civilians who were illegally deprived of their personal liberty as a result of Russian aggression was identified and documented, including 13 people identified during the documentation of testimonies in April 2025.

February 28, 2025

Analytical review of the activities of the NGO “Association of Relatives of Kremlin Political Prisoners” regarding the documentation of war crimes committed by the Russian Federation against the civilian population in Ukraine in February 2025

Since 2022, we have interviewed 462 witnesses of enforced disappearances, arbitrary detentions, and crimes against the civilian population, including shelling of civilian infrastructure, appropriation of private property by the occupiers, and unlawful deprivation of liberty. As of the end of February 2025, information has been found on 310 civilians who were arbitrarily detained by representatives of the Russian Federation or groups controlled by the aggressor country, 22 of whom were identified during the processing of testimonies in February 2025.