Early morning and late night raids on the homes and offices of opposition political figures creates chilling echoes of Stalinist repression of the 30s, with families targeted to maximise pressure.
Dmitry Gudkov, Evgenij Razumnyj / Vedomosti / TASS
In a clear sign that the Kremlin intends to silence all independent political voices ahead of the September Duma elections, searches have been stepped up, targeting the homes and offices of leading opposition politicians.
Day by Day, the Crackdown Intensifies
On June 1 the crackdown expanded to include the former parliamentarian and opposition politician Dmitry Gudkov, as well as members of his family. Russian authorities raided apartments, offices and a summer house connected to the vocal anti-Kremlin politician and his relatives.
COVID is history, this year’s most used word is “обыск” (meaning ‘search’ or ‘rummage’ in Russian)
As well as the dacha of opposition politician Dmitry Gudkov, security services also searched the apartments of his former assistant, Alexander Solovyov and his chief of staff, Vitaly Venidiktov. On his Telegram channel Gudkov said: “I don’t know the formal reason (for the search), But the real reason is clear.”
Gudkov’s father, Gennady is a former politician and KGB officer, but is also an outspoken critic of Vladimir Putin, and frequently appears on non-state media expressing strong dissent against Kremlin policies and it’s allegedly repressive, illegal acts against protesters, opponents and journalists.
A New Cycle of Repression that Shows no Sign of Abating
The intensification of political repression follows the imprisonment of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, and subsequent campaign to liquidate his sophisticated regional campaign network. The crackdown encompasses opposition parties and politicians, as well as media organisations and their supporters. These hard-line acts are thought to be an effort to ‘cleanse the field’ ahead of parliamentary elections scheduled this autumn.
Today’s threatening actions follow on from Monday’s detention of Open Russia’s Andrei Pivovarov, an opposition movement he led and which was founded by exiled Kremlin critic Mikhail Khodorkovsky. In taking such bold and visible action, Russia is clearly not embarrassed by it’s increasing international isolation, or image abroad as a corrupt and tyrannical oligarchy.
Fears of the ‘Knock at the Door’
Belarus is clearly several steps ahead of Russia in terms of the blatant repression of it’s populace. Stories are now emerging of the rape, torture and murder of opponents held in it’s vile jails. Open protest is now hardly possible, and virtual protest increasingly difficult, in the face of detention and brutalisation. Terror and intimidation is also being applied to associates and extended family members; and in this Russia seems to be on the same track, albeit a few paces behind Belarus.
But protests in Russia are also being met with an increasingly brutal response, including the recent use of batons and electro-shockers in St Petersburg. It’s also alleged that the Belarus lie machine, that perverts and distorts reality, is actually now being led by Russian propogandists, parachuted in to add ‘backbone’ to Lukashenko’s tyrannical response to his people’s demand for fair elections.
But where is this all leading to? How much worse can it get?
Politicians like Gudkov think it will get much worse before it gets better. The only positive spin on the situation, Genady Gennady states with some sarcasm, is that “at least it’s not as bad as the 30s, yet.” Russia is still far from the stage of shooting people and dumping them in mass graves in the outskirts of Moscow. But perhaps if you one of the hundreds of people who get that knock at the door in the early hours for an ‘обыск’, and your elderly relatives and children stand by terrified, while your house or dacha is ransacked, then the 1930s perhaps feel a lot closer to the present day. For these crimes against civil society, and in a just world, retribution must eventually come, and it will judge Putin and his gang of thugs harshly for their amorality, lust for power and tyranny.
Protests are met with increasing brutality in cities like St Petersburg