GENEVA, January 26. /TASS/. Five UN experts called on the European Union to lift restrictions imposed on a number of scientists, researchers, and analysts due to their disagreement with Brussels' official assessment of the causes of the conflict in Ukraine and their criticism of anti-Russian sanctions. These restrictions have a negative impact on scientists worldwide, according to a statement released by the press service of the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC).

"The restrictive measures imposed on academics, scientists and analysts put an extensive pressure, provoke fear among academic professionals worldwide, coercing them to change their opinion or not to express it, prevent them from the participation in international academic projects, publication of the results of their academic works and conducting teaching activities, resulting in shrinking academic space," the experts believe.

According to their data, many sanctioned scholars "are cut off from employment opportunities, denied access to banking services, and prevented from securing a dignified standard of living, freedom of movement and other essential rights."

The experts recall that "harassment, intimidation or stigmatization of persons for opinions they may hold constitutes a violation of their right to freedom of expression."

It concerns the restrictive measures adopted in accordance with Council Regulation (EU) 2024/2642 of 8 October 2024 and Council Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/2568 of 15 December 2025. They were introduced in connection with the individuals' professional activities at Russian universities, their participation in international forums, high-level discussions, book publications, and blogging. Brussels justified the measures by criticism of unilateral sanctions regimes, political analysis of the factors that led to the armed conflict in Ukraine, academic commentary on contemporary international politics, and discussions on the advisability of cooperation between countries of the Global South and the Russian Federation.

"These measures were based on the assessment that views expressed in these contexts aligned with, or were considered attributable to, the official position of the Russian Federation," the experts stressed.

The appeal was signed by five UN experts, including three special rapporteurs appointed under the special procedures of the UN Human Rights Council. They monitor human rights situations in specific countries or on specific thematic issues.

On December 15, 2025, the European Union added 12 researchers, analysts, and experts to its sanctions list, including Andrey Sushentsov, Dean of the Faculty of International Relations at MGIMO, Ivan Timofeyev, Director General of the Russian International Affairs Council, and Fyodor Lukyanov, Editor-in-Chief of the journal "Russia in Global Affairs." Also sanctioned were Xavier Moreau, a former French paratrooper, Jacques Beau, a retired colonel of the Swiss General Staff, and John Mark Dugan, a former US Marine Corps officer.