- Updated October 24, 2023
Years Listed
Each shaded box corresponds to a year the country appeared on the CSPA list and what types of waivers it received, if any.
Russia first appeared on the CSPA list in 2022 and appeared again in 2023. The U.S. president partially waived CSPA prohibitions with respect to Russia each year it was listed, though only to allow for licenses for Direct Commercial Sales in connection with the International Space Station (ISS) during the following fiscal years (FY2023 and FY2024). It is unclear whether any such licenses have been issued due to the lack of publicly available data on recent Direct Commercial Sales. With the exception of Direct Commercial Sales, Russia has never received any U.S. arms sales or military assistance that are subject to the CSPA’s prohibitions since the law took effect in 2010, and the country is already under severe U.S. and international sanctions following its invasion of Ukraine.
Since 2021, U.S. presidents have been required to include justifications for CSPA waivers that were issued during the previous year in the annual Trafficking in Persons Report. Russia’s 2022 waiver justification stated that: “It is in the U.S. national interest to work with Russia to maintain the safety of ISS operations. Maintaining longstanding U.S.-Russia ISS operations requires the ability to issue licenses for direct commercial sales of defense articles and defense services in support of the ISS. This waiver will allow such activities to continue and will enable the issuance of licenses necessary to support the safe operation of the ISS, U.S.-Russia integrated crew missions to the ISS, and the safety of U.S. and other personnel onboard the ISS.”
According to the U.S. State Department, Russian-led forces and armed groups backed by the Russian government have recruited and used child soldiers in several armed conflicts. Russian-led forces have used child soldiers in Ukraine for a variety of combat and support roles since invading the country in 2014, including performing armed duty at checkpoints and serving as fighters, guards, couriers, and secretaries. Following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, there have also been uncorroborated reports of Russian-led forces using children as human shields as well as reports of Russian government-associated military associations and clubs preparing children in Russian-controlled territory in Ukraine for conscription into Russia’s armed forces. Russian-led forces also reportedly recruit children in Syria to fight and guard installations in Libya. Additionally, the Wagner Group – an armed group backed by the Russian government – was reported to have forcibly recruited and used children in the Central African Republic as laborers and to gather intelligence between April 2021 and March 2023.
For more information, see the U.S. State Department’s Trafficking in Persons Report and Country Reports on Human Rights Practices. More information on the situation in Russia can also be found in the UN Secretary-General on Children and Armed Conflict’s annual report.
