Russia made 20,000 political arrests in 2022 amid war with Ukraine: Report

Russia has arbitrarily detained an estimated 20,467 people in 2022 amid the ongoing offensive in Ukraine for various political reasons, the end-of-year statistics published last week by OVD-Info, one of Russia’s leading independent human rights watchdogs, revealed.

As many as 19,478 of the total detainees were those who expressed an opinion against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February, the Watchdog stated. Among others were the ecological and workers’ rights protests and protests against the newly passed legislation that banned “LGBT propaganda.” Women made up to 45 percent of the arrests mostly for raising their anti-war voices. 

In the month of February, when Russia's President Vladimir Putin ordered military intervention in Ukraine, Kremlin passed a total of 22 new repressive laws and there were only 29 days in 2022, the watchdog OVD-Info noted. Russia's Federal Security Service also cracked down on dissent as it declared nearly 176 organizations and individuals as “foreign agents" slapping Soviet-era charges of espionage.

There were no instances of political persecution recorded, although at least 22 entities were labelled as “undesirable” implying that they risk persecution in the future if tried in a court of law. Russia also banned 210,000 sources of independent online information in 2022, the statistics published by OVD-Info revealed. 

Russia puts journalist on 'wanted' list 

Earlier yesterday, Russia put Netherlands-based investigative website Bellingcat's journalist, Christo Grozev, also known for leading coverage on Russia's President Vladimir Putin's political rival Alexei Navalny's poisoning, on its “wanted” list.  The country's Interior Ministry said in a press release that the Bulgarian journalist was ‘wanted under an article of the Criminal Code' over a case of disseminating “fake news” about the Russian armed forces amid the ongoing offensive in Ukraine. 

The move appears to be enacted in accordance with Moscow's restrictive legislation imposing a jail term of up to 15 years for spreading what the Russian State Duma deemed to be intentionally “fake” news about the military.

Russian law on criminalising fake news states that "anyone found guilty of knowingly disseminating information which distorts the purpose, role and tasks of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, as well as other formations during special military and other operations” could face criminal sanctions. Journalists whom Russia deems to have published or spread "disinformation" or "fake news" related to the Russian invasion of Ukraine could face criminal punishment including up to 15 years in prison.