Human rights in Russia have ‘significantly’ worsened since Ukraine war began, UN-backed expert says

GENEVA (AP) — The rights situation in Russia has "significantly deteriorated" since President Vladimir Putin launched his war against Ukraine in February last year, an expert commissioned by the U.N.'s top human rights body said in her first report on the country on Monday. Mariana Katzarova, the special rapporteur on Russia's rights situation mandated by the Human Rights Council, chronicled the domestic crackdown that has largely targeted critics of Putin's war as well as other opposition voices in Russia. Her report, made public on Monday, is separate from another probe by U.N.-backed investigators that has accused Russia of war crimes…