Week-ending 20 February 2026
“The accounts collected by RSF depict the extreme working conditions journalists face every day in Ukraine, where they are confronted with attacks that are just as intense as they were four years ago, when Russia’s full-scale invasion began. Since 2022, at least 175 reporters have fallen victim to Russian abuses. The voices of our Ukrainian colleagues must be heard at the international level, and those responsible for these crimes must be brought to justice.‘
– Pauline Maufrais, RSF Regional Officer for Ukraine
Source: ‘Video: Four years into Russia’s full-scale invasion, Ukrainian journalists from Sumy, Zaporizhzhia, Kharkiv and Crimea tell RSF about their fight to inform the public,’ RSF, 20 February 2026
Background from RSF: Despite bombardment, Kremlin propaganda and serious psychological strain, Ukrainian reporters remain committed to keeping the public informed. Four years after the launch of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has filmed first-hand accounts from four of these journalists, revealing their extreme working conditions in wartime.
“Two years have passed since Aleksei Navalny, a prisoner of conscience and one of the most fearless voices against corruption and state repression in Russia, died in a remote penal colony within the Arctic Circle. While the Russian authorities continue to evade accountability, the truth has not been buried. On the contrary, the latest revelations indicating that Navalny was killed by the highly toxic substance epibatidine show that attempts to conceal the circumstances of his death have failed. These findings were made possible not only by international cooperation, but also by the courage, determination and commitment of those inside Russia who ensured that critical evidence was preserved and made available for forensic examination. Against extraordinary risks, Aleksei Navalny’s friends and colleagues secured what was necessary to unveil the truth when Putin tried to bury it. That same determination explains why the Russian authorities continue their crackdown. They are attempting to destroy the movement Aleksei Navalny created by criminalizing his Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK), prosecuting his supporters and punishing even the slightest expressions of remembrance and solidarity. In the past year, Aleksei Navalny’s lawyers – Aleksei Liptser, Vadim Kobzev and Igor Sergunin – as well as four associates, the media professionals Antonina Favorskaya, Sergei Karelin, Konstantin Gabov and Artyom Kriger, have all been handed long prison sentences solely for peacefully exercising their human rights. They must be immediately and unconditionally released, and their unjust convictions quashed. These prosecutions form part of a far broader wave of repression. Russian authorities have opened more than 100 criminal cases over alleged donations to FBK, which has been arbitrarily designated as an ‘extremist’ and more recently a ‘terrorist’ organization. This widespread and systematic persecution of Navalny’s sympathizers is growing in scale and ferocity every year. Under the new ‘terrorist’ designation, supporters could face even harsher sanctions, including up to life imprisonment. The Russian authorities must immediately and unconditionally release all those who have been locked up solely for their association with Aleksei Navalny or his work and quash their unjust convictions. Russia must stop abusing ‘extremism’ and ‘terrorism’ legislation to pursue peaceful critics of the authorities. We also call on states and international organizations to publicly raise individual cases, support international monitoring and accountability efforts, and provide international protection, including asylum, for Navalny’s supporters who face the risk of politically motivated criminal prosecution in Russia.”
– Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International’s Secretary General, commemorating the second anniversary of the death in custody of Russian opposition politician and prisoner of conscience Aleksei Navalny
Source: ‘Russia: Two years after Navalny’s death, authorities evade justice, continue to hound his supporters,’ Amnesty International, 16 February 2026
Background from Amnesty International: On 14 February 2026, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden and the UK made a joint announcement based on a multi-intelligence inquiry stating that Aleksei Navalny had been killed with epibatidine – a highly toxic substance reportedly detected in biological samples taken prior to burial – and that only “[t]he Russian state had the means, motive and opportunity to deploy” it. The UK said it would refer the matter to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, noting that the production and use of such toxins are prohibited under the Chemical Weapons Convention and the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention, both binding on Russia.
“Russian authorities are jeopardizing women’s rights, health, and even lives, as part of their harmful ‘traditional values’ crusade and effort to boost population growth. Although abortions in Russia are not banned outright, accessing this essential health service is becoming increasingly difficult.”
– Holly Cartner, deputy program director at Human Rights Watch.
Source: Russia: Attacks on Abortion Undermine Women’s Rights,’ Human Rights Watch, 19 February 2026
Background from Human Rights Watch: Russian authorities are restricting access to safe abortion care and limiting the ability of women and girls to get accurate information about their reproductive choices. Russian authorities are jeopardizing women’s rights, health, and even lives, as part of their harmful “traditional values” crusade and effort to boost population growth. These policies reduce access to quality medical care and violate the right to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health. Russian authorities should bring their policies and regulations in line with international law and reproductive care standards.
‘Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, its media has experienced an unprecedented crackdown. Hundreds of journalists have been forced into exile, where they continue to face transnational legal persecution, and their families have been harassed back home. Meanwhile, reporting from inside Russia has become increasingly difficult, with journalists and media outlets often silenced by laws criminalizing independent coverage.’
– Committee to Protect Journalists
Source: ‘Russia’s repression record,’ CPJ, 17 February 2026
Background from CPJ: Since February 24, 2022, CPJ has documented: 27 journalists imprisoned on criminal charges: 15 Russian, 10 Ukrainian, and 2 American. Of these, 4 released, 2 exiled, and 1 killed. (To see CPJ’s 2022-2024 prison data by most recent, click twice on Date column. For 2025, see Ekaterina Barabash, Sasha Aleksandrova, and Svetlana Khustik.) Charges against those jailed: 9 for “fake” news; 14 for terrorism, extremism, and other anti-state crimes; 4 were undisclosed. 27 exiled journalists sentenced to jail in absentia. 355 journalists and media outlets branded “foreign agents.” 27 media outlets banned as “undesirable.” 14 journalists added to Russian financial intelligence agency Rosfinmonitoring’s “terrorists and extremists” list. More than 25,000 websites blocked in connection with war reporting. Source: CPJ, OVD-Info, Roskomsvoboda
‘The Observatory believes that the criminal prosecution of Daria Egereva is a part of the widespread practice of persecution of indigenous peoples and the general crackdown on human rights in Russia, which has clearly intensified after the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Moreover, Russian authorities regularly abuse anti-extremist and anti-terrorist laws, driven by the vagueness of legislation and total impunity, to silence peaceful dissenting voices and human rights defenders. The Observatory condemns the continued arbitrary detention and judicial harassment of Daria Egereva, which appears to be solely aimed at silencing human rights activist defending the rights of indigenous peoples in Russia and calls on the Russian authorities to immediately and unconditionally release her, and to stop all acts of harassment, against her and all human rights defenders in Russia.’
– Fédération internationale pour les droits humains
Source: ‘Russia: Continued arbitrary detention and judicial harassment of Ms Daria Egereva, indigenous peoples’ rights defender,’ FIDH, 18 February 2026
Background from FIDH: The Observatory has been informed about the latest judicial developments regarding the arbitrary arrest and detention of Ms Daria Egereva, a human rights activist defending the rights of indigenous peoples in Russia. Daria Egereva is a representative of the Selkup, one of the smallest indigenous peoples in Russia with a total population of 3500 people, and has, over a sustained period, undertaken professional responsibilities addressing the participation of indigenous peoples in multilateral processes. Her work has focused on global climate cooperation and on facilitating structured dialogue between indigenous peoples and States within official United Nations frameworks, including those in which the Russian Federation participates.
