Yelena Milashina, who works for the independent investigative news service Novaya Gazeta, was travelling with Alexander Nemov when they were attacked on Monday morning on their way to covering the trial of Zarema Musaeva, the mother of exiled opposition activists who challenged the leader of the Chechen Republic, Ramzan Kadyrov.

The experts urged Russia to fully investigate the incident and bring the perpetrators to justice. According to news reports, Russian authorities have opened a criminal case into the attack.

Blatant disregard for safety

The UN Human Rights Council-appointed Special Rapporteurs described the brutal assault by a group of masked assailants as “another example of the blatant disregard for the safety of journalists and human rights defenders in the Russian Federation”.

The pair were assaulted and badly beaten shortly after arriving in the Russian Republic of Chechnya on Tuesday.

President Kadyrov stated on social media in January 2022 that the family of Ms. Musaeva “was waiting for a place either in prison or in the ground”.

Mr. Nemov is part of the team of lawyers defending her. Due to the attack, he was unable to attend court for the hearing.

Ms. Milashina is a journalist who has reported for years on Chechnya, investigating human rights abuses in the region, said the experts in a press release issued by the UN Human Rights Office, OHCHR.

‘Terrorist’ accusation

Because of death threats from the Chechen leader, she had to temporarily flee Russia in February 2022 after Mr. Kadyrov publicly called her “a terrorist”, saying “we have always eliminated terrorists and their accomplices”.

The experts pointed out that Ms. Milashina’s investigative reporting followed in the footsteps of two other women journalists, Novaya Gazeta colleague Anna Politkovskaya and Chechen campaigner Natalia Estemirova, both murdered to silence their investigative work in Chechnya.

According to reports, the assailants beat them with clubs and kicked them, took their phones, smashed their equipment, and destroyed documents. They repeatedly shouted: “You were warned. Get out of here and do not write anything.”

Dangers and risks

“This incident highlights the dangers and risks faced by journalists and human rights defenders in their efforts to protect human rights and seek justice for victims in the Russian Federation, and particularly the Chechen Republic,” the experts said.

Both of the victims were admitted to hospital in the capital city of Grozny with serious injuries. Ms. Milashina is suffering from a head injury and periodically lost consciousness in the hospital.

Fingers on both her hands were broken, her body was covered in bruises, and her head was shaved by the attackers and doused with brilliant green dye, which is a severe form of humiliation against women in the North Caucasus, OHCHR said.

Due to further concerns about their safety, they were transferred to a medical facility in the city of Beslan in the Russian Republic of North Ossetia.

“We are relieved that Yelena Milashina and Alexander Nemov escaped alive from the attack and appreciate efforts to bring them to safety,” the experts said. “However, we are gravely concerned about continuing threats to their lives and well-being.”

Close watch on the case

“We will be closely monitoring this case, which is another attempt to silence independent voices advocating for justice for the victims of human rights violations in Russia,” they said.

They called on Russia to end the current “climate of impunity and demonstrate its willingness to create an enabling and safe environment for all journalists and human rights defenders, free from intimidation and threats to their lives, in line with its international obligations and commitments”.

Experts’ mandate

Independent human rights experts are all appointed under the Human Rights Council’s Special Procedures.

They are mandated to monitor and report on specific thematic issues or country situations. They are not UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work.

The war began on 24 February 2022, and the UN’s Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (HRMMU) has confirmed that more than 9,000 civilians, including over 500 children, have been killed since then, though the real number could be much higher.

“Today we mark another grim milestone in the war that continues to exact a horrific toll on Ukraine’s civilians,” said Noel Calhoun, deputy head of the Mission.  

Recent deadly attacks

The HRMMU reported that overall monthly casualties decreased earlier this year when compared to 2022, but the average number rose again in May and June, with the last two weeks among some of the deadliest since fighting began.

Recent attacks include the missile strike on a busy shopping area in the eastern city of Kramatorsk on the evening of 27 June, which killed 13 people. 

Among the victims was award-winning writer and human rights defender Viktoriia Amelina, who succumbed to her injuries earlier this week.

Just days after the attack, 10 civilians were killed in another missile strike in Lviv, located in western Ukraine.

Thousands of casualties

The information about civilian deaths is contained in the latest report on civilian casualties in Ukraine, published by the UN Human Rights Office, OHCHR, which covers the period from the start of the war through 30 June 2023.

Overall, 25,170 civilian casualties were recorded, with 9,177 killed and 15,993 injured.

Of this number, and whose sex was known, 61 per cent were men and 39 per cent were women. Boys comprised more than 57 per cent of casualties among children whose sex was known, and girls 42.8 per cent. 

OHCHR also received information regarding 22 civilian casualties in Russian-occupied Crimea and the city of Sevastopol. They included five men and one woman who were killed, and 16 people who were injured – two children and 14 adults, whose sex is yet unknown.

Nuclear power plant update

Meanwhile, experts deployed by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) at the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) in southern Ukraine have not observed any visible indications of mines or explosives there, Director-General Rafael Mariano Grossi said on Wednesday.

Europe’s largest nuclear plant has been in Russian hands since the early days of the war, and both sides have accused the other of shelling the facility.

The IAEA had previously indicated that it was aware of reports that mines and other explosives have been placed in and around the plant, which is located on the frontline of the conflict.

“Following our requests, our experts have gained some additional access at the site. So far, they have not seen any mines or explosives, but they still need more access, including to the rooftops of reactor units 3 and 4 and parts of the turbine halls,” Mr. Grossi said, expressing hope that access will be granted soon.

The experts have inspected parts of the plant in recent days and weeks, and continued to conduct regular walkdowns across the site. 

On Wednesday, they were “also able to check a wider section of the perimeter of the ZNPP’s large cooling pond than previously”, the IAEA said. 

Repeated, horrific violations have been recorded by the UN human rights office, including mass killings, extra-judicial executions and beheadings, Mr. Türk said, while the military has continued to carry out atrocities in Rakhine state where the Rohingya minority are denied citizenship.

In an address to the Council he called for an end to impunity by the ruling junta who overthrew the democratically elected Government in February 2021.

“I encourage States to consider a referral of the situation in Myanmar to the International Criminal Court (ICC). We also need to ensure accountability for possible crimes committed by different armed groups.”

‘Deadly freefall’

The High Commissioner said the country was continuing a “deadly freefall into even deeper violence and heartbreak.”

Where once there had been optimism and hopes of a more peaceful and prosperous future, civilians were now living “at the whim of a reckless military authority that relies on systematic control tactics, fear and terror.”

He said the economy was spiralling with the generals exploiting natural resources there “at dangerous rates, causing irreversible environmental harm.”

Voices of civil society and journalists have been strangled, which arbitrary arrests, enforced disappearances and torture continue.

He said credible sources indicate that 3,747 people have died at the hands of the regime since taking power with close to 24,000 arrested.

Barriers to life-saving aid

Mr. Türk’s report focuses on the systematic denial of life-saving aid for civilians and he accused the military of putting in place “a raft of legal, financial and bureaucratic barriers”.

With a third of the population in need, he said the obstruction constituted a deliberate, targeted and calculated denial of fundamental human rights.

He repeated is call for an immediate end to the “senseless violence” and for the release of over 19,000 political prisoners detained, including the State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Mynt. 

The Special Rapporteur on Myanmar, Thomas Andrews, also advocated before the Council for less rhetoric and more action by UN Member States to support the “heroic” people of Myanmar, asking them to “deny the junta the three things that it needs to sustain its brutality and oppression – weapons, money, and legitimacy”.