Russia revokes rehabilitations of 4,000 Soviet-era victims of political repression, restoring their status as “traitors to the Motherland”

Over the past two years, the Russian General Prosecutor's Office has revoked the rehabilitations of more than 4,000 individuals previously exonerated as victims of Soviet-era political repression, as per a report by Kommersant. The news comes after Russia’s Prosecutor General, Igor Krasnov, earlier this month proposed introducing a “permanent process” to review and revoke rehabilitations, indicating that the reviews were already underway when the official announcement was made.

The individuals in question had previously been recognized as victims of political repression during the Soviet period, but a review by present-day Russian prosecutors claimed to have uncovered “SS soldiers, members of occupation administrations, executioners, and [Nazi] collaborators” among those exonerated.

Officials claimed that the reviews resulted in a small number of rehabilitation decisions being overturned, with the majority of such cases relating to the alleged crimes committed during World War II by those whose persecution was previously deemed to have been political in nature.

“A decision to revoke rehabilitation [decisions] is not made arbitrarily, but only after a thorough review of archived criminal cases — when necessary, additional information is requested. Less than a third of the reviewed cases are revoked, while the rest are considered lawful and justified,” Andrey Ivanov, an official representative of the General Prosecutor's Office, told Kommersant.

Rehabilitation, in the context of Soviet-era political repression, refers to the formal process of restoring the rights and clearing the names of individuals who were unjustly persecuted, imprisoned, executed, or otherwise repressed by the Soviet government — particularly during the rule of Joseph Stalin (1924-1953). Many of these individuals were accused of political crimes, including being “enemies of the state” or engaging in “anti-Soviet activities” — often based on fabricated charges or forced confessions.

According to the General Prosecutor's Office, “as part of the work to identify traitors to the Motherland and accomplices of Nazi Germany,” prosecutors have reviewed more than 14,000 rehabilitation decisions since the second half of 2022, of which over 4,000 were revoked. These cases concern individuals who “betrayed the Motherland” during World War II.

The General Prosecutor's Office also stressed that the legitimacy of rehabilitations relating to the 1920s–1940s and the 1950s “is not subject to review.”

According to an unnamed representative of the Memorial Human Rights Society cited by the independent Russian publication Agentstvo (lit. “The Agency”), the Russian government’s actions represent something new. While there have been isolated cases in the past of officials revoking the rehabilitation of repressed individuals, the number of overturned decisions has suddenly climbed into the thousands.

Verifying the conclusions made by the prosecutor's office is impossible, as access to the case files is closed once a rehabilitation decision is overturned, Agentstvo’s source said, adding:

“We don't trust the prosecutor’s decisions on contemporary political cases, so why should we trust them on this issue?”

The 4,000 individuals affected are indeed just a small fraction of the total number of those rehabilitated. According to Memorial, the organization’s lists include over 3 million rehabilitated persons, and the organization estimates that even more — at least 12 million — should be eligible for exoneration under Russia’s 1991 rehabilitation law. Instead, the Russian General Prosecutor’s office is reversing decisions on those who were previously exonerated.

The source also noted that reviewing 4,000 cases relating to events that took place decades ago requires significant financial resources: “The fact that they've examined so many cases makes me question whether our taxes are being spent appropriately.”

The Memorial Human Rights Society, commonly known as “Memorial,” is a prominent Russian non-governmental organization (NGO) that focuses on historical research, human rights advocacy, and preserving the memory of victims of political repression, particularly of those who suffered during the Soviet era. Founded in the late 1980s, Memorial was initially established to document and investigate the abuses committed during Joseph Stalin’s purges and other periods of Soviet repression. Over time, its mission expanded to include broader human rights work, including advocating for political prisoners, investigating contemporary human rights violations, and promoting democratic values.

In recent years, Memorial has faced increasing pressure from Russian authorities. It was labeled a “foreign agent” under Russian law in 2016 and was ordered by the Russian Supreme Court to be dissolved in 2021.

One of Memorial’s senior figures, veteran human rights activist Oleg Orlov, was sentenced to 2.5 years in prison in Feb. 2024 for allegedly “discrediting” the Russian army in an article denouncing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Orlov was released several months later as part of the biggest prisoner exchange between Russia and the West since the end of the Cold War.