- Updated January 15, 2026
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 was listed again in 2023 and 2024. The U.S. president has partially waived CSPA prohibitions with respect to Russia each year it has been listed, though only to allow for licenses for Direct Commercial Sales in connection with the International Space Station (ISS). As a result, the president waived over $7.8 million in Direct Commercial Sales in FY2023. It is yet unclear whether any such licenses have been issued in FY2024 due to a current lack of publicly available data. With the exception of Direct Commercial Sales, Russia has not 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.
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.1Government of the United States, U.S. Department of State. “Russia – Prosecution,” in Trafficking in Persons Report 2024, https://www.state.gov/reports/2024-trafficking-in-persons-report/russia/. Following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, there have been unverified 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.2Government of the United States, U.S. Department of State. “Russia – Trafficking Profile,” in Trafficking in Persons Report 2022, pp. 468, https://www.state.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/20221020-2022-TIP-Report.pdf (https://www.state.gov/reports/2022-trafficking-in-persons-report/russia/). The UN Secretary-General on Children and Armed Conflict’s 2024 report identified the use of one Ukrainian boy by Russian armed forces and affiliated groups for intelligence gathering.3Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Children and Armed Conflict. “Annual Report 2024,” pp. 38, https://childrenandarmedconflict.un.org/document-type/annual-reports/. Russian-led forces also reportedly recruit children in Syria to fight and guard installations in Libya, and the Wagner Group – a Russian state-funded private military company – has been reported to have forcibly recruited and used children in the Central African Republic as laborers and to gather intelligence between April 2020 and March 2024.4Government of the United States, U.S. Department of State. “Russia – Trafficking Profile,” in Trafficking in Persons Report 2024, https://www.state.gov/reports/2024-trafficking-in-persons-report/russia/.
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 2023 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 DCS licenses for defense articles and defense services in support of the ISS until the planned termination of its operation, which the National Aeronautics and Space Administration estimates will be in 2030. 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.”5Government of the United States, U.S. Department of State. “Annual Report to Congress on the Use of Child Soldiers under Section 405(c) of the Child Soldiers Prevention Act of 2008,” in Trafficking in Persons Report 2024, https://www.state.gov/reports/2024-trafficking-in-persons-report/.
For more information, see the U.S. State Department’s 2024 Trafficking in Persons Report and 2023 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 2024 annual report.
Total Waived and Prohibited
Since the CSPA took effect.
Explore the Data
Country- and program-level data on the number and type of national interest waivers granted, as well as the amount of arms sales and military assistance waived.
