On 27 February 2026, four years after the start of the invasion of Ukraine, Human Rights Now is issuing a statement calling on the Russian Federation to immediately cease military action, withdraw, and ensure accountability for violations of international law.
Four years after the start of the invasion of Ukraine, we once again call on Russia to immediately cease military action, withdraw, and ensure accountability for violations of international law
27 February 2026
1. Four years have passed since the Russian Federation (Russia) launched a full-scale military invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022. As we have repeatedly emphasized, Russia’s invasion is an act of aggression that violates Ukraine’s sovereignty and is an illegal use of force in clear violation of the UN Charter, and it is completely unacceptable.
2. During its invasion of Ukraine, Russia has violated international humanitarian law and international human rights law, as well as committed numerous war crimes and crimes of aggression prohibited by the Treaty Establishing the International Criminal Court (Rome Statute). According to the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), at least 15,172 civilians have been killed and 41,378 injured since the start of the invasion. According to the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the estimated number of people displaced from Ukraine as of 19 February 2026 is 5,923,870. Furthermore, Russia has deported or forcibly transferred approximately 20,000 children, based on data currently available from Ukrainian government agencies. In particular, according to the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, civilian casualties in Ukraine increased by 31% in 2025 compared to 2024 and by 70% compared to 2023. Since June 2025, the Russian military’s use of long-range weapons has significantly increased, resulting in increased civilian casualties not only in frontline areas but also in urban areas across Ukraine. Long-range weapons accounted for 35% of Ukrainian civilian casualties in 2025, a 65% increase compared to 2024.
Attacks on energy infrastructure have intensified, resulting in repeated, prolonged power outages in several cities. These long-term outages have had a particularly severe impact on vulnerable populations. Furthermore, Russian forces have occupied the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, which supplies 20% of Ukraine’s electricity, since 4 March 2022, and it continues to do so to this day. They have repeatedly threatened the safety of the nuclear facility by power outages, nearby shelling, and attacks on personnel. These increased killings of civilians and attacks on infrastructure crucial to civilian life are clear violations of international humanitarian law, including the Geneva Conventions. However, these crimes have not been investigated or prosecuted, in part due to immunity granted by the Russian government, and human rights monitoring mechanisms, including OHCHR, continue to lack effective access to the occupied territories.
3. Meanwhile, in order to continue its military invasion, the Putin regime in Russia has strictly controlled domestic speech and brutally cracked down on anti-war movements. Since the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, “acts that discredit the Russian military” and “spreading disinformation about the military” have been severely punished. Any public statements that include criticism of the war, the military, or the president are subject to administrative or criminal penalties, with, as of March 2025, 171 cases having been filed for the former and 444 cases for the latter.
Furthermore, since the start of the invasion of Ukraine, the Russian government has abused laws on extremism and terrorism to intensify its crackdown on critics of the regime. The law allows individuals and organizations to be registered on terrorist and extremist lists without court rulings, and bank accounts can be frozen. As of 2025, more than 18,000 individuals were on the list. Furthermore, the law prescribes severe penalties, including life imprisonment, for offenses such as justifying terrorism and extremism. Opposition leader Alexei Navalny was sentenced to 19 years in prison for “founding an extremist organization” and died while incarcerated on 16 February 2024. On 14 February 2026, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, the Netherlands, and Sweden announced the results of an investigation concluding that he was likely poisoned. Furthermore, Memorial International, the international branch of the human rights organization Memorial, which was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in October 2022 after being ordered dissolved within Russia, was designated an “undesirable organization” by the Russian government in February 2026. Such measures discourage Russian nationals from engaging in activities abroad through the threat of criminal penalties.
Such widespread and arbitrary punishment of those who express anti-war and anti-establishment views, as well as abusive treatment in prison, are outrageous acts that trample on freedom of expression, freedom of the press, and personal freedom, and they are completely unacceptable.
4. Four years have passed since Russia began its invasion, ignoring the strong protests and condemnation from the international community. Further killings, human rights violations, and trampling on the international legal order cannot be tolerated. HRN once again strongly urges the Russian government to immediately cease all military action and withdraw from Ukraine, as well as to ensure accountability (including its responsibility for redress and compensation) for violations of international law. Furthermore, any solution that involves conducting peace negotiations between the United States and Russia over Ukraine, a sovereign state, and which forces Ukraine, which has been subjected to the unlawful use of force, to cede territory would violate Ukraine’s sovereignty, territorial integrity, and political independence and is incompatible with the principle of international law that any acquisition or annexation of territory resulting from the use of force shall not be recognized as legitimate (UN General Assembly Resolution 25/2625 (1970) “Declaration on Principles of Friendly Relations” and UN General Assembly Resolution 29/3314 (1974) “Resolution on the Definition of Aggression”).
HRN urges the international community to continue and intensify its efforts to pursue violations of international law. This naturally includes strengthening support and cooperation for the International Criminal Court (ICC), which issued an arrest warrant for President Putin, and uniting in resistance to unjust sanctions against the ICC. We also urge the international community to continue intensifying political and economic pressure against Russia to end its aggression and to work toward the realization of lasting peace in accordance with the UN Charter and international law.