Right of association
In a speech on 8/4 President Putin called on the FSB to ensure Russia does not follow what he said was Ukraine's example by letting the West use local civil rights groups to foment unrest. (The Moscow Times, 8/4)

On 8/4 Russia’s Constitutional Court struck down a legal challenge to a law requiring civil society groups to register as “foreign agents” if they receive funding from abroad, but reduced the minimum fines imposed under the law. (RIA Novosti, 8/4)

On 8/4 St. Petersburg City Court upheld a lower court ruling that recognized the Memorial Anti-Discrimination Center as a foreign agent, rejecting the group's appeal. (The Moscow Times, 9/4)

Freedom of expression
On 8/4 Human Rights Ombudsman Ella Pamfilova called for the full rehabilitation of those convicted in the Pussy Riot case, saying the women’s punk prayer did not constitute a crime. (HRO.org, 8/4)

On 9/4 the State Duma’s Culture Committee discussed a draft of a new project on cultural policy i.a. on the Internet that declared Russia's need to preserve its unique “state-civilization” and moral foundation in the face of globalization. (Global Voices, 10/4)

On 11/4 the Kremlin's human rights council denounced as illegal the dismissal of a Andrei Zubov, a professor at MGIMO, for writing an article criticizing Russia's actions in Ukraine and likening it to Germany in 1938. (The Moscow Times, 11/4)

Right of assembly
On 6/4, six protesters on Manezhnaya Square supporting the prisoners in the Bolotnaya Square case by holding their hands in the air as if holding up placards were detained. (HRO.org, 7/4)

Chechnya
On 8/4 Human Rights Watch called on the Russian authorities to immediately release Ruslan Kutaev, arrested in Chechnya on 20/2 on politically motivated drug charges, and investigate allegations of police torture. (Human Rights Watch, 8/4)

Ukraine
On 7/4 protesters seized the regional government building in Donetsk and reportedly declared a "people's republic," calling for a referendum on secession from Ukraine by 11/5. (BBC, 7/4)

On 7/4 reports said protestors in Luhansk raided the arsenal in the security building. (BBC, 7/4)

On 10/4 the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) passed a resolution to deprive the Russian delegation of voting rights in the body. (RFE/RL, 10/4)