Repression in Russia Becoming ‘Ever More Massive, Harsh and Unpredictable,’ Memorial Says

Paul Goble

            Staunton, May 23 – In its 191-page report on conditions in Putin’s Russia in 2024, the Memorial human rights organization says that repressions there are becoming “ever more massive, harsh and unpredictable” with no signs that this trend which made last year the worst in recent memory shows any sign of changing.

            Moreover, Sergey Davidis, one of the report’s compilers, says the report – available at memopzk.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/memorial2025rus.pdf – is incomplete and represents “only the tip of the iceberg” (echofm.online/opinions/repressii-v-rossii-stanovyatsya-vsyo-bolee-masshtabnymi-i-zhestokimi).

              Seventeen political prisoners in Russia died while incarcerated in 2024, up from four in 2022 and one in 2021. The causes of these deaths included beatings, torture, refusal of requests for medical help, and suicides which were the result of a growing sense of despair and a protest against the situation.

            At present, there are approximately 10,000 individuals incarcerated on politically motivated charges. Most of them – 7,000 – are people from Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine. But slightly more than 800 have all the characteristics Memorial has traditionally used for identifying political prisoners.

            Another 417 are currently behind bars for activities connected with religion, mostly members of the Hizb ut-Tahrir and the Jehovah’s Witnesses.