This overview was updated on 30 May 2022. Russia began an all-out invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022, carrying out extensive military operations marked by war crimes and other violations of international humanitarian law. Using indiscriminate weapons such as cluster munitions in populated...

Responding to news that the US is to transfer cluster munitions to Ukraine, Patrick Wilcken, Amnesty International’s Researcher on Military, Security and Policing issues said: “Amnesty International has long stressed that cluster munitions are inherently indiscriminate weapons which have caused...

As the consequences of the Kakhovka dam destruction continue to unfold, the occupying Russian forces have been endangering lives in flood-afflicted areas following the destruction of the dam, while upstream water shortages and an upheaval  of livelihoods point to an impending ecological and...

In response to the destruction of the dam at Kakhovka hydroelectric power station in a part of southern Ukraine occupied by Russia, Marie Struthers, Regional Director, Eastern Europe and Central Asia, said: “While towns and villages in downstream Dnipro river are going under water, the human and...

In response to Russian missile attacks that reportedly killed seven people, including a mother and her child, and injured many more, Denis Krivosheev, Deputy Regional Director, Eastern Europe and Central Asia, said: “As Ukraine and other countries in the region mark International Children’s Day, it...

The horrific misuse of tear gas by security forces during brutal crackdowns on protests in Iran, Peru and Sri Lanka last year are among many new incidents detailed in Amnesty International’s updated Tear Gas: An Investigation. The interactive website now includes details of 30 new incidents in 13...

Responding to the latest attacks by Russian forces in Ukraine, including reports of a missile attack on an apartment building which is reported to have killed at least 17 civilians, including two children, Marie Struthers, Regional Director, Eastern Europe and Central Asia said: “Russian missiles...

Responding to the International Criminal Court (ICC) issuing arrest warrants against Vladimir Putin, President of the Russian Federation, and Maria Lvova-Belova, Commissioner for Children’s Rights in the Office of the President of the Russian Federation, Agnès Callamard, Secretary General of...

In response to the Investigative Committee of Russia’s announcement that three Ukrainian prisoners of war, including human rights defender Maksym Butkevych, have been “convicted” of war crimes by “supreme courts” in Russia-occupied Luhansk and Donetsk and given long prison sentences, Denis...

As Russia’s full-scale invasion against Ukraine enters its second year, women in the country face grave risks, an increased burden of caring responsibilities and immense stress and hardships when living in war zones, Amnesty International said today, as the world marks International Women’s Day....

Reacting to the sentencing of student and blogger Dmitry Ivanov to 8.5-years’ imprisonment for his vocal opposition to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Natalia Zviagina, Amnesty International’s Russia Director, said: “Dmitry Ivanov’s case is another demonstration of the brutal repression of anti-war...

The international community must develop a robust plan to secure justice for victims of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, Amnesty International said today, marking one year since the invasion.  On 24 February 2022, Russian military forces launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, a move...

Reacting to the sentencing of Maria Ponomarenko, a journalist from Barnaul in Western Siberia, to six years in a penal colony for posting on social media about an attack by Russian forces on a theatre in Mariupol in which civilians were killed, Marie Struthers, Amnesty International’s Director for...