Map shows where Vladimir Putin is destroying democracy | World News

‘Unless democracies act urgently and consistently to uphold their own interests and values, more territory will be lost to dictatorship and repression.’

Russia

In the last 20 years of Freedom House publishing the report, the yearly democracy score of Russia has – unsurprisingly – plummeted, reaching the lowest possible.

Both Russia and Azerbaijan were singled out for their ‘wars of aggression’, and the report called them the two ‘most glaring examples of the disdain that autocrats in this age hold for fundamental human rights and pluralist societies.’

The report said: ‘These regimes cynically demand respect for their own states and sovereignty even as they violently reject their neighbours’ domestic political autonomy, unique histories, and right to exist.’

Despite calls from activists and human rights activists on democracies to address Russia’s impunity by closing financial loopholes that the kleptocratic regime in the region so often exploit, Putin maintains a tight grip over any political opposition and dissent.

This is illustrated by the killing of his most prominent foe, Navalny, in an Arctic jail, and the harsh treatment of critics like Vladimir Kara-Murza and US journalists like Evan Gershkovich.

Russia plays a unique role in Eurasia’s reordering process.

The report said: ‘Its war to destroy and annex Ukraine is a direct challenge to the norms of sovereignty and self-determination that have served as the bedrock of international relations since the end of World War II.’ 

Belarus

Evidence of this was its assault on Nagorno Karabakh, a breakaway republic that lies in the mountainous South Caucasus region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea.

Azerbaijan and Armenia fought a bloody war over the territory in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and it has been the trigger for further violence in the years since.

The regime’s military conquest and ethnic cleansing of Nagorno-Karabakh proved the consequences of autocracy’s expansion.

More than 120,000 ethnic Armenians living there were forced to flee their homes and run west, and are now settled in Armenia.

The report said: ‘Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev had long been explicit about his intent to erase the ethnic Armenian enclave’s de facto independence, having already seized some territory in a 2020 war that ended with a Russian-brokered cease-fire.

‘Still, Russia’s attack on Ukraine opened the door to the conquest, as the Kremlin’s attention and resources were diverted from peacekeeping duties in the Caucasus, and the democratic world was similarly absorbed with its efforts to support Kyiv.

‘Baku set the stage for its September offensive with a months-long blockade that deprived Nagorno-Karabakh’s people of essential goods.

‘When the military assault finally came, local defense forces quickly agreed to lay down arms, and the local government was abruptly dissolved. Peacekeepers made no effort to intervene.’

Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan

Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, which previously scored on the less repressive end of the authoritarian range, have now caught up to neighbouring nations.

The two regimes worked to extinguish local autonomy and civil society activity, continuing a broader reduction in opportunities for public dissent.