Hundreds of young Russians gathered in a square in the center of St. Petersburg on the night of Oct. 14 to defy censorship by performing a banned song that calls (in barely veiled terms) for the overthrow of Vladimir Putin. The crowd converged on the city's iconic Palace Square to sing "Swan Lake Cooperative" by exiled rapper Noize MC, which was outlawed in May when judicial authorities labeled it "extremist." The song title refers to the practice in Soviet times of suspending all regular TV and radio broadcasts to play Tchaikovsky's ballet "Swan Lake" continuously whenever the old leader died or was deposed and the transition to a new one was underway. The lyrics go: "The old man still clings to his throne... When the czar dies, we'll dance again, 'Swan Lake' on every screen... I want to watch the ballet... Let the old man shake in fear..."

NATO launched a new exercise dubbed Eastern Sentry on Sept. 12 in response to the ongoing joint Russia-Belarus military exercise dubbed Zapad (West), which involves thousands of troops, naval maneuvers in the Baltic Sea, and simulated nuclear strikes. Yet two US military observers were invited to Belarus to observe the Zapad exercise, standing on a viewing platform to review forces from the same Russian army that is fighting in Ukraine. This comes shortly after the United States lifted sanctions on Belarusian state-owned airline Belavia, while the regime of Alexander Lukashenko released 52 political prisoners, including an employee of the EU delegation in Minsk. (Ukrainska Pravda, Air & Space Forces, National Security Journal, NYT, DW)

London's Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) reported that 466 people were arrested on Aug. 9 for displaying support for activist group Palestine Action at a protest in Westminster. The MPS added that an additional eight arrests were conducted, including five for assault on police officers. Police said they invoked Section 60AA of the Criminal Justice & Public Order Act of 1994, which grants police officers the authority to demand the removal of any signs or clothing "expressing support" for a "proscribed group."

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) on July 9 found that Russia has committed grave violations of international humanitarian law (IHL) in Ukraine. Judges at the ECHR rendered a series of decisions related to consolidated complaints brought by Ukraine and the Netherlands since the Ukraine conflict began in 2014. Among the named violations of IHL are the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 (MH17), multiple violations of the Geneva Conventions and other human rights treaties, application of "extremism laws" against religious communities, and interference with freedom of speech and the press.

Europe's top human rights official on July 4 raised concerns that Serbian authorities are using violence and arbitrary arrests to break up protests against President Aleksandar Vučić's populist government. The Council of Europe's Commissioner for Human Rights Michael O'Flaherty especially decried "the arrest of children, as well as the number of students being charged for criminal offenses or hospitalized for the treatment of injuries."

UN Secretary-General António Guterres on July 5 strongly condemned Russia's largest yet wave of drone and missile attacks in Ukraine, especially noting strikes that disrupted the power supply to the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP), endangering nuclear safety. A statement issued by Guterres' office said:

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Secretary General of the Council of Europe Alain Berset on June 25 agreed to establish a Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine. The agreement, supported by all 46 Council of Europe member states, will establish a tribunal to address crimes of aggression in response to Russia's ongoing invasion. The crime of aggression refers to the decision by a state leader to wage a war that may violate Article 2(4) of the UN Charter, which prohibits the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state. The tribunal's jurisdiction may also extend to Russian allies participating in the conflict.

In a June 1 covert operation dubbed "Spiderweb," the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) destroyed or damaged 41 Russian warplanes at four air-bases across the Russian Federation—Belaya (Irkutsk oblast, Siberia), Olenya (Murmansk oblast, in the Arctic), Dyagilevo (Ryazan oblast, near Moscow) and Ivanovo (in the eponymous oblast, also near Moscow). Kyiv claims it has disabled 34% of Russia's strategic bomber fleet in the operation, carried out with over 100 drones launched from trucks hidden across Russian territory. While the Kremlin's top officials, including President Vladimir Putin, have not commented on the Ukrainian operation at all, Russian pro-war propagandists are calling it "Russia's Pearl Harbor," and demanding vengeance. Prominent state TV personality Vladimir Solovyov said on his program that the Ukrainian operation is "grounds for a nuclear attack," and called for retaliatory strikes on the Ukrainian president's office in Kyiv and airfields in NATO members Poland and Romania allegedly used by Ukrainian aircraft. (Kyiv Independent)