Trapped in Uncertainty: Systemic Barriers for Victims of Unlawful Deprivation of Personal Liberty

The 2025 report of the legal service summarises systemic support provided to unlawfully detained persons, released individuals, and their families. The 562 consultations and cases of legal support reflect not only the scale of demand for legal assistance, but also the difficulties families face: uncertainty about the whereabouts of their relatives, the complexity of procedures, a lack of clear information, and the need for ongoing legal support.

This report was prepared with the support of the European Endowment for Democracy (EED). Its contents do not necessarily reflect the official position of the EED. The information and views set out in this report are the sole responsibility of the NGO "Association of Relatives of Political Prisoners of the Kremlin".

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June 2, 2026

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.

July 31, 2024

Digest of the activities of the NGO “Association of Relatives of Political Prisoners of the Kremlin” on documenting the war crimes of the Russian Federation against the civilian population in Ukraine in July 2024

Since 2022, we have interviewed 196 witnesses to enforced disappearances, arbitrary detentions and crimes against civilians. We have identified 203 civilians who were arbitrarily detained by representatives of the Russian Federation or groups controlled by the aggressor country, of whom 18 were identified during the processing of testimonies in July 2024.