ODIHR’s insights

For 2024, ODIHR received reports of 212 incidents that took place in the Russian Federation in the following bias motivation categories: racist and xenophobic, anti-Christian, anti-LGBTI, anti-Muslim, gender-based, anti-Roma, anti-Semitic, and disability. More than two-thirds of incidents were reported in the anti-LGBTI category, while a significant number involved both gender-based and anti-LGBTI bias motivations. A smaller number of incidents were reported in the racist and xenophobic, gender-based and anti-Christian categories, while a limited number of anti-Muslim and anti-Roma incidents were also reported. Several incidents involved multiple bias motivations, such as anti-Semitic and anti-Christian, disability and anti-LGBTI, racist and xenophobic and anti-LGBTI, racist and xenophobic and anti-Muslim, and racist and xenophobic and gender-based.

ODIHR observes that the largest number of reported incidents targeted LGBTI persons, particularly gay men, including numerous incidents involving police participation in abductions, raids, beatings, extortion, and “fake-date” blackmail, as well as several homicides. ODIHR notes repeated police raids on clubs and private gatherings where attendees were forced to the floor, physically assaulted, filmed and had their sexual orientation disclosed, including to the public. ODIHR further observes that gender-based and anti-LGBTI incidents disproportionately affected transgender and non-binary persons, many of whom faced family violence, forced marriage, or public humiliation, with several cases also involving police participation in physical assaults and raids. 

The majority of anti-Christian incidents reported targeted Jehovah’s Witnesses, who were repeatedly subjected to physical assaults by police officers, including at their homes and in detention. ODIHR also noted anti-Muslim cases involving a violent raid on worshippers during Friday prayers and the destruction of a prayer house. ODIHR also received reports of racist and xenophobic incidents targeted migrants and people of Central Asian or non-Slavic appearance, with cases of physical assaults, arson, looting, and attacks overlapping with an anti-Muslim bias. ODIHR observes that anti-Roma incidents included arson attacks and property damage during riots, which forced many Roma families to flee their homes. ODIHR further records a large-scale attack motivated by anti-Christian and anti-Semitic bias that killed and injured worshippers at churches and synagogues. Finally, ODIHR observes that gender-based incidents frequently involved family members targeting women and girls for not adhering to traditional gender norms.

It should be noted that ODIHR did not receive any reporting related to hate incidents targeting other religions or beliefs in the Russian Federation, and only single incidents of anti-Roma or disability hate crimes. This indicates potential gaps in the information reported here.

In addition, two reporting organizations submitted 188 statistical incidents for which descriptions are not available in the tables below. These incidents comprise 169 racist and xenophobic incidents, 7 anti-LGBTI incidents, 5 anti-Christian incidents, 4 anti-Muslim incidents, and 3 incidents motivated by both anti-LGBTI and gender-based bias.