Russia paid $50,000 (£36,800) to the author of a United Nations report which found the country to be the “victim” of sanctions imposed on it by the US and the EU, it has been revealed.

An investigator from the UN human rights council said the sanctions, imposed in response to the Russian annexation of Crimea from Ukraine, amounted to “unilateral coercive measures”.

A Geneva-based watchdog group has now challenged the report’s author, former Algerian ambassador Idriss Jazairy, over the ethics of his receiving $50,000 from Russia last year.

The UN report “makes the astounding claim that the Russian government of Vladimir Putin is a victim of human rights violations, and that the perpetrators are the EU and the US”, said Hillel Neuer, executive director of UN Watch, a non-governmental human rights group.

Russian military activity in Crimea Show all 11 1 /11 Russian military activity in Crimea Russian military activity in Crimea Ukraine-russian13-ap.jpg Russian, right, and Ukrainian navy sailors are deployed outside a Ukrainian Coast Guard base in Balaklava near Sevastopol, Crimea (AP) AP Russian military activity in Crimea Ukraine-russian9-ap.jpg An unidentified armed man patrols a square in front of the airport in Simferopol, Ukraine (AP) AP Russian military activity in Crimea Ukraine-russian12-ap.jpg A soldier rests atop a Russian armored personnel carriers with a road sign reading "Sevastopol - 32 kilometers, Yalta - 70 kilometers", near the town of Bakhchisarai, Ukraine (AP) AP Russian military activity in Crimea Ukraine-russian11-rtp.jpg Armed Russian navy servicemen surround a Ukrainian border guard base in Balaclava, in the Crimea region (Reuters) Reuters Russian military activity in Crimea Ukraine-russian10-afpgt.jpg Unidentified soldiers block a road to Ukrainian military airport Belbek not far from Sevastopol (AFP/Getty Images) AFP/Getty Images Russian military activity in Crimea Ukraine-russian7-rt.jpg Sea gulls perch onboard a Russian military vessel anchored at a navy base in the Ukrainian Black Sea port of Sevastopol (Reuters) Reuters Russian military activity in Crimea Ukraine-russian6-afpgt.jpg Activists of the Russian Bloc party guard the road to Ukrainian military airport Belbek not far from Sevastopol (AFP/Getty Images) AFP/Getty Images Russian military activity in Crimea Ukraine-russian8-rt.jpg Ukrainian police walk near the Crimean parliament building in Simferopol. Ukraine said on Thursday it would regard any movements by Russian military in Crimea outside the Russian Black Sea fleet's base in Sevastopol as an act of aggression. (Reuters) Reuters Russian military activity in Crimea Ukraine-russian-navy1-rt.jpg Armed Russian navy servicemen surround a Ukrainian border guard base in Balaclava, in Crimea region (Reuters) Reuters Russian military activity in Crimea Ukraine-russian4-ap.jpg An unidentified gunman holds his assault rifle ready while he and others block the road toward the military airport at the Black Sea port of Sevastopol in Crimea (AP) AP Russian military activity in Crimea Ukraine-russian3-ap.jpg A local resident smiles preventing people from going too close to unidentified gunmen blocking the road toward the military airport at the Black Sea port of Sevastopol in Crimea (AP) AP

Russia immediately seized upon the UN report, saying that Moscow “categorically rejected unilateral coercive measures” which it said amounted to “collective punishment” and “violated the standards of international law and fundamental human rights".

In June this year, the UN voted to extend sanctions that prohibit EU businesses from investing in Crimea as well as targeting tourism and imports of products from the country.

Russia’s delegate said “the sole authority to introduce sanctions should be the UN Security Council".

Sanctions had been imposed “following the legitimate right of the citizens of Crimea to exercise their right to self-determination”.

Other nations including Venezuela, Cuba and China are members of the 47-nation council, and have been able to influence the appointment of experts sympathetic towards their regimes.

UN Watch expressed concern over a “fixed” panel discussion set to take place discussing Western sanctions against regimes considered to be human rights abusers and chaired by the Egyptian ambassador.

The panel includes Mr Jazairy and two other experts installed by Cuba, along with the Venezuelan ambassador and a pro-Russian Belarus academic.

Mr Putin said this week that Russia will ask the UN to send its peacekeepers to Donbass in eastern Ukraine to secure a ceasefire, which German Chancellor Angela Merkel welcomed, saying it could be the first step towards removing the sanctions.