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To an observer not closely following the extraordinary cycle of internal repressions taking place in Russia following its invasion of Ukraine - the news coming

To an observer not closely following the extraordinary cycle of internal repressions taking place in Russia following its invasion of Ukraine - the news coming out of there, such as this one - may appear sensationalized. Surely this level of judicial evil is overstated! It’s not. The show trials over alleged enemies of the state reminiscent of Stalin are becoming routine. Regular people receiving sentences of 7 years in colonies for anti-war posts or statements - are common. At the same time - convicted murderers are freed to volunteer to fight against Ukraine and are given state honors, with laws being written threatening severe punishment for reporting the details of their past.

andersentobias 4y ago
Sources?
- bazoom42 4y ago
  Is this question in good faith? Wagner recruiting from prisons have been widely reported.
- eitland 4y ago
  Do you read Russian?
  - WeylandYutani 4y ago
    You can read the Moscow Times, an English language newspaper. They relocated to Amsterdam iirc and is owned by Derk Sauer who was booted out of Russia. He also writes interesting opinion pieces in het Parool about the re Stalinisation of Russia. Fascinating stuff. Ofcourse I have no idea if the majority of Russians really care- Stalin was very popular.
- _visgean 4y ago
  > Regular people receiving sentences of 7 years in colonies for anti-war posts or statements well apart from the from the article on which you are commenitng, you can read this https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2023/03/russia-student-blogger-sentenced-to-long-imprisonment-in-brutal-repression-of-anti-war-dissent/ https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2023/03/russia-studen... > At the same time - convicted murderers are freed to volunteer to fight against Ukraine and are given state honors e.g. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/26/world/europe/wagner-fighters-burial-russia.html https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/26/world/europe/wagner-fight...
  - codedokode 4y ago
    Legally there is no penalty for being against the war or against the government. Actually it is the opposite - calling for war or helping to start it might be illegal. The law punishes for spreading falseful information or discrediting use of armed forces in interests of Russia. For example, for falsefully claiming that special military operation against West-supported neo-nazis preparing an attack against Russia is actually a war or that army allegedly attacks civilian buildings and infrastructure. For this you can get to jail. For the same reason, posting messages like 'no to war' online will get you in legal trouble (and replacing 'war' with asterisks won't help; there was someone who got a fine for holding a poster with asterisks only). Holding Ukranian flag obviously will get you in trouble too although I don't know how exactly this discredits armed forces. Recently I read that a protester with a poster "arrest me if you are agaisnt the war" was arrested. Better not joke with police. I assume many countries also have laws against spreading falseful information. And holding Russian flag in many countries might get you arrested as well. Can provide a link to relevant legislation if needed.
    - boeingUH60 4y ago
      > For example, for falsefully claiming that special military operation against West-supported neo-nazis preparing an attack against Russia is actually a war or that army allegedly attacks civilian buildings and infrastructure. Spotted: A true patriot repeating all the talking points from his lying government.
      - brohee 4y ago
        I read it as being tongue in cheek.
    - msm_ 4y ago
      > "Legally there is no penalty for being against the war or against the government" > "there was someone who got a fine for holding a poster with asterisks only" > "Holding Ukranian flag obviously will get you in trouble too" I can't imagine how you reconcile these facts in your mind without thinking "ok, maybe Russia is authoritarian". Unless that's sarcasm that went way over my head.
- VincentEvans 4y ago
  I don’t collect articles, but here’re some results of a google query for “russia sentences for opposing war”: https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-moscow-government-and-politics-235ad386cb40fe07357425fdfe6a80f2 https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-moscow-government-... https://www.cbsnews.com/news/russia-ilya-yashin-valdimir-putin-critic-prison-sentence-ukraine-war-criticism/ https://www.cbsnews.com/news/russia-ilya-yashin-valdimir-put... https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/odr/dmitry-ivanov-sergei-smirnov-russia-ukraine-jailed/ https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/odr/dmitry-ivanov-sergei-sm... Here’s one about Wagner: https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/1741299/Russia-Wagner-Group-Yevgeny-Prigozhin-prison-dissent-Duma https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/1741299/Russia-Wagner-G... Again, all these are just top results of a google search.
5e92cb50239222b 4y ago
I really wish this got more attention (but I guess Russian citizens receive zero sympathy these days, their political position notwithstanding). Maybe then we would see less of this tiresome bullshit from keyboard warriors from around the globe who blame ordinary citizens for being unwilling to throw themselves unarmed against a neo-Stalinist dictatorship that the West has supported for more than two decades. The EU only banned sales of riot control gear and weaponry in October 2022! and they're still buying tons and tons of oil, gas, diamonds, and other natural resources that directly finance the war (taxes on natural resources go to the army pretty much right away, unlike taxes on sales and salaries that finance local projects like roads and schools). In fact, Russia made record profits last year. I do not live in Russia, but I have enough experience living under a strongly authoritarian rule to know what it's like. Another favorite of the West in fact, that did terrible things to the people in January 2022, and no-one batted an eye.
- Bayart 4y ago
  >In fact, Russia made record profits last year. There was a lag between the jumps in prices and the move towards other sources than Russia. Russia is going to have massive budget issues from this year onwards. Saying that Europe is still a massive buyer of Russia gas and oil is simply false.
  - cryptoegorophy 4y ago
    Do you have a source? I found that after start of the war imports doubled from Russia for gas and news try to hide this elephant in the room. Same with swift, they said that Russia was disconnected but it was just a publicity stunt and I personally sent wire to Russia via swift in usd to test and it did work. Don’t know which sources to trust but seems like they all lie
    - deleted 4y ago
      [deleted]
    - bronson 4y ago
      A fairly clear graph over time is halfway down the page: https://www.bbc.com/news/58888451 https://www.bbc.com/news/58888451 Yes, gas imports increased after Russia invaded (but did not double) because countries were topping up storage before inevitable disruptions. And I remember them talking openly about it, not as an elephant in the room. (of course “LNG” is doing a lot of work in that graph since it probably contains some Russian gas but the trend is clear) Do you have a source for your “Russia disconnected from Swift” claim? I can find reports of individual banks being disconnected but don’t see any credible source for that.
goldfeld 4y ago
> At the same time - convicted murderers are freed to volunteer to fight against Ukraine and are given state honors, with laws being written threatening severe punishment for reporting the details of their past. I guess it's a return to the recent past centuries then, with how many "blue blood" noble families came into existence by the state giving land, honors and vote to the reckless cruel men who could more the easily kill (murder?) in the many wars, wars not often over morally sound motives themselves. I'm not criticizing your comment, just wondering out loud.

andersentobias 4y ago

Sources?

bazoom42 4y ago
Is this question in good faith? Wagner recruiting from prisons have been widely reported.
eitland 4y ago
Do you read Russian?
- WeylandYutani 4y ago
  You can read the Moscow Times, an English language newspaper. They relocated to Amsterdam iirc and is owned by Derk Sauer who was booted out of Russia. He also writes interesting opinion pieces in het Parool about the re Stalinisation of Russia. Fascinating stuff. Ofcourse I have no idea if the majority of Russians really care- Stalin was very popular.
_visgean 4y ago
> Regular people receiving sentences of 7 years in colonies for anti-war posts or statements well apart from the from the article on which you are commenitng, you can read this https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2023/03/russia-student-blogger-sentenced-to-long-imprisonment-in-brutal-repression-of-anti-war-dissent/ https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2023/03/russia-studen... > At the same time - convicted murderers are freed to volunteer to fight against Ukraine and are given state honors e.g. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/26/world/europe/wagner-fighters-burial-russia.html https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/26/world/europe/wagner-fight...
- codedokode 4y ago
  Legally there is no penalty for being against the war or against the government. Actually it is the opposite - calling for war or helping to start it might be illegal. The law punishes for spreading falseful information or discrediting use of armed forces in interests of Russia. For example, for falsefully claiming that special military operation against West-supported neo-nazis preparing an attack against Russia is actually a war or that army allegedly attacks civilian buildings and infrastructure. For this you can get to jail. For the same reason, posting messages like 'no to war' online will get you in legal trouble (and replacing 'war' with asterisks won't help; there was someone who got a fine for holding a poster with asterisks only). Holding Ukranian flag obviously will get you in trouble too although I don't know how exactly this discredits armed forces. Recently I read that a protester with a poster "arrest me if you are agaisnt the war" was arrested. Better not joke with police. I assume many countries also have laws against spreading falseful information. And holding Russian flag in many countries might get you arrested as well. Can provide a link to relevant legislation if needed.
  - boeingUH60 4y ago
    > For example, for falsefully claiming that special military operation against West-supported neo-nazis preparing an attack against Russia is actually a war or that army allegedly attacks civilian buildings and infrastructure. Spotted: A true patriot repeating all the talking points from his lying government.
    - brohee 4y ago
      I read it as being tongue in cheek.
  - msm_ 4y ago
    > "Legally there is no penalty for being against the war or against the government" > "there was someone who got a fine for holding a poster with asterisks only" > "Holding Ukranian flag obviously will get you in trouble too" I can't imagine how you reconcile these facts in your mind without thinking "ok, maybe Russia is authoritarian". Unless that's sarcasm that went way over my head.
VincentEvans 4y ago
I don’t collect articles, but here’re some results of a google query for “russia sentences for opposing war”: https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-moscow-government-and-politics-235ad386cb40fe07357425fdfe6a80f2 https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-moscow-government-... https://www.cbsnews.com/news/russia-ilya-yashin-valdimir-putin-critic-prison-sentence-ukraine-war-criticism/ https://www.cbsnews.com/news/russia-ilya-yashin-valdimir-put... https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/odr/dmitry-ivanov-sergei-smirnov-russia-ukraine-jailed/ https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/odr/dmitry-ivanov-sergei-sm... Here’s one about Wagner: https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/1741299/Russia-Wagner-Group-Yevgeny-Prigozhin-prison-dissent-Duma https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/1741299/Russia-Wagner-G... Again, all these are just top results of a google search.

5e92cb50239222b 4y ago

I really wish this got more attention (but I guess Russian citizens receive zero sympathy these days, their political position notwithstanding). Maybe then we would see less of this tiresome bullshit from keyboard warriors from around the globe who blame ordinary citizens for being unwilling to throw themselves unarmed against a neo-Stalinist dictatorship that the West has supported for more than two decades. The EU only banned sales of riot control gear and weaponry in October 2022! and they're still buying tons and tons of oil, gas, diamonds, and other natural resources that directly finance the war (taxes on natural resources go to the army pretty much right away, unlike taxes on sales and salaries that finance local projects like roads and schools). In fact, Russia made record profits last year. I do not live in Russia, but I have enough experience living under a strongly authoritarian rule to know what it's like. Another favorite of the West in fact, that did terrible things to the people in January 2022, and no-one batted an eye.

Bayart 4y ago
>In fact, Russia made record profits last year. There was a lag between the jumps in prices and the move towards other sources than Russia. Russia is going to have massive budget issues from this year onwards. Saying that Europe is still a massive buyer of Russia gas and oil is simply false.
- cryptoegorophy 4y ago
  Do you have a source? I found that after start of the war imports doubled from Russia for gas and news try to hide this elephant in the room. Same with swift, they said that Russia was disconnected but it was just a publicity stunt and I personally sent wire to Russia via swift in usd to test and it did work. Don’t know which sources to trust but seems like they all lie
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
  - bronson 4y ago
    A fairly clear graph over time is halfway down the page: https://www.bbc.com/news/58888451 https://www.bbc.com/news/58888451 Yes, gas imports increased after Russia invaded (but did not double) because countries were topping up storage before inevitable disruptions. And I remember them talking openly about it, not as an elephant in the room. (of course “LNG” is doing a lot of work in that graph since it probably contains some Russian gas but the trend is clear) Do you have a source for your “Russia disconnected from Swift” claim? I can find reports of individual banks being disconnected but don’t see any credible source for that.

goldfeld 4y ago

> At the same time - convicted murderers are freed to volunteer to fight against Ukraine and are given state honors, with laws being written threatening severe punishment for reporting the details of their past. I guess it's a return to the recent past centuries then, with how many "blue blood" noble families came into existence by the state giving land, honors and vote to the reckless cruel men who could more the easily kill (murder?) in the many wars, wars not often over morally sound motives themselves. I'm not criticizing your comment, just wondering out loud.