Country report: Russia August 2026
- Genocide Watch
- 8 minutes ago
- 3 min read
By Alexander Smith
Russia has a long history of documented persecution of ethnic minorities and societal dissidents. Imperial Russia organized anti-Jewish pogroms. According to the Holodomor Research and Education Consortium, the Soviet Union committed a genocide against Ukrainians during the Holodomor and starved one-third of Kazakhs during the Asharshylyk. The Soviet Union committed war crimes against Polish officials in the Katyn Massacre during World War II and purged, imprisoned, and murdered millions of domestic political opponents throughout the Soviet era. During the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, Soviet forces killed one million civilians. Russia has a habit of invading nearby countries with policies, governments, and groups it dislikes, as demonstrated in Georgia, Chechnya, and Ukraine. On February 24, 2022, following its illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014, Russia began a full-scale invasionof Ukraine. Russia is now committing genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity in Ukraine.
Russia claims it is ‘denazifying’ Ukraine while mobilizing networks of neo-Nazi militias to achieve its goals, a practice scholars call “genocidal mirroring.” Russian forces in Ukraine have been documented killing over 16,000 Ukrainian civilians, internally displacing more than five million Ukrainians, and committing over 3,000 attacks on healthcare infrastructure in Ukraine. Russian authorities have been found to systematically use torture and rape as weapons of war and to stop Ukrainian women from reproducing. Russia is accused by the Ukrainian government of abducting over 20,000 Ukrainian children since the start of the war and by the Yale Humanitarian Research Lab of utilizing a network of over 200 facilities for re-education, military training, and other cultural indoctrination, a direct violation of Article 2e of the Genocide Convention. Russian government officials employ dehumanizing propaganda against Ukrainians and glorify war criminals on record. Russian forces have replaced the state-funded Wagner Group in Africa, where they have been shown to commit mass executions, tortures, and rape and to exploit natural resources while claiming to fight terrorists.
The European Union has sanctioned over 130 Russian people and “entities” for helping abduct Ukrainian children. The International Criminal Court (ICC) has charged Vladimir Putin and top Russian officials with war crimes. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) is considering whether Russia unlawfully justified its 2022 invasion on claims that Ukraine was committing a genocide in Luhansk and Donetsk. Authorities are arresting and trying Wagner Group leaders and affiliates.
Domestically, Russian President Vladimir Putin continues to crack down on political opponents and dissidents, notably killing opposition leader Alexei Navalny in jail. Russian authorities subject LGBTQ people to systemic discrimination, oppression, and extremist labeling. Since the Crocus City Hall attacks in 2024, Human Rights Watch noted that Central Asian migrants face increased harassment and hateful state rhetoric. Reports of far-right extremist attacks on Telegram rose dramatically to historic highslast year, and neo-Nazi figureheads have exploded in popularity. Russian authorities weaponize legislation to suppress protests, associations, and dissent.
Due to Russia’s oppression of minority groups and the rise of neo-Nazi groups, Genocide Watch considers Russia to be at Stage 6: Polarization. Because Russia is committing genocide in occupied Ukraine, Russia is at Stage 9: Extermination. By resisting charges from the ICC and engaging in genocidal mirroring, Russia is at Stage 10: Denial.
Genocide Watch recommends:
The International Court of Justice must recognize that Russia has violated the Genocide Convention.
Russia should dismantle its network of neo-Nazi paramilitary groups and charge their leaders with war crimes.
The United States, European Union, and NATO must supply the Ukrainian government with arms, including tanks, Patriot missiles, artillery, ammunition, cruise missiles, and jets that Ukraine needs to defeat Russia.
Russia should repeal laws that restrict civil society and protect freedom of expression for oppressed groups.
