The Peace Deal’s Blind Spot: Human Rights Repression in Russia

With the new American administration in place, peace negotiations between Ukraine and Russia have returned to the agenda. These discussions primarily focus on territorial control, security guarantees for Ukraine, and the lifting of economic sanctions on Russia. However, they leave little room to address the increasingly repressive measures implemented by the Kremlin since February 2022. Amid the shifting priorities of the U.S. administration, critical issues such as human rights—freedom of the press, association, and dissent—have been mostly sidelined.

This policy memo examines the impact of the post-2022 amendments to the Foreign Agent Law, the new criminal code amendment introduced in March 2022 and 2023 to target anti-war support, and the increased use of anti-terrorist laws to target activists, which have collectively created an environment of severe repression in Russia. The new laws have cast a wider net than previous ones, targeting not only journalists and human rights workers but also ethnic and indigenous activists, well as anti-war protesters, resulting in a significant chilling effect on dissent and activism.  The changes made to the Foreign Agent Law after 2022, in connection with the new laws enacted in March 2022 and 2023 amending Russia’s Criminal Code, drastically extended the repressive power of the Kremlin and regional elites.