Even totalitarian states change over time and Brezhnev's times were characteristic by their bureaucracy. Hence the planting of evidence ahead. 20 years earlier

Even totalitarian states change over time and Brezhnev's times were characteristic by their bureaucracy. Hence the planting of evidence ahead. 20 years earlier, the intended victims would probably be just kidnapped and shot, but their deaths would be recorded as executions. Putin's era is characteristic by an inordinate amount of "accidents". Hey, change!