A UN-backed expert will continue scrutinizing human rights in Russia for another year

GENEVA (AP) — The U.N.’s top human rights body has agreed to renew the work of an independent expert who has reported on deteriorating human rights conditions in Russia after President Vladimir Putin launched all-out war on Ukraine last year. The Human Rights Council on Thursday voted 18 to 7, with 22 abstentions, to extend for a year the mandate of the special rapporteur on the rights situation in Russia. Last month, the rapporteur, Mariana Katzarova, issued her first report and warned the rights situation in Russia has “significantly deteriorated” since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February last year.