Russia Cracks Down on Nobel Prize-Winning Human Rights Group with Raids and Arrests

Nine leaders of Memorial, one of Russia's oldest human rights groups, have been targeted in raids on their homes, 15 months after their organisation was shut down by the courts. Among them was Memorial's co-chair, Oleg Orlov, who is facing a criminal case for "discrediting" the military. Memorial has come under political pressure for years and that intensified in 2014 when Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine and Russian proxy forces seized areas of eastern Ukraine. It won the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize jointly with Ukraine's Centre for Civil Liberties and Belarusian civil rights activist Ales Bialiatski.