Since Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022, Amnesty — which says it campaigns for human rights worldwide — has documented Russian war crimes and called for the perpetrators to be held to account.
But the group has also been critical of Ukraine at times, with the head of its Kyiv arm quitting in 2022 after the publication of a controversial report accusing Ukraine’s military of violating international law and endangering civilians with its wartime tactics. The report earned the organization a rebuke from President Volodymyr Zelenskyy; Amnesty later apologized for the “distress” it caused but stood by its findings.
The group’s Moscow office was already shuttered by Russian authorities in the early days of the all-out invasion against Ukraine. Other advocacy groups and NGOs, such as Human Rights Watch and Hollywood actor George Clooney’s nonprofit foundation, have also been banned from operating in Russia.
Moscow has branded dozens of foreign charities, think tanks and civil society groups “undesirable” since 2015, when it passed a law allowing the government to target groups that are critical of President Vladimir Putin’s regime, and has ramped up domestic suppression as its international belligerence intensifies.
