Repression in Russia: Putin’s Effort to Suppress Opposition to War | Topic

Repression in Russia is nothing new, but it is escalating. The analysis was conducted by Vicente Ferraro, Master of Political Science from the Moscow Higher School of Economics in an interview with Renata Le Bret. He remembers the Chechen war in the 2000s to refer to the Kremlin’s other attempts to control copies of facts about the conflicts related to Russia.

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“The history of state pressure on independent media and journalists is not new. But the fact is that this conflict is escalating. We see a new law that states that disinformation about the Russian military can take place in prison for up to 15 years. The name of the war and the attack on Ukraine is practically prohibited in Russia,” he says.

Vicente pairs the crackdown on dissidents, journalists and academics with the gradual expansion of Russia’s anti-extremism law, which has been undergoing amendments since the 2000s. In addition, agreeing to a penalty for those who refer to the war in Ukraine as an invasion is an indication that Putin is “raising the costs of social mobilization” within Russia.

“This conflict has generated a kind of polarization in Russian society and this resentment can give impetus to social protests against the government.”