No escape from the Russian terror playbook
In the early 1950s, a group of prominent, mostly Jewish doctors from Moscow was accused of plotting to assassinate Soviet leaders on orders from the West. The accused were fired from their jobs, arrested, and tortured. But after Joseph Stalin died in 1953, Lavrenty Beria — one of Stalin's longest-serving secret police chiefs, who oversaw the People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (NKVD) in…
In the early 1950s, a group of highly respected doctors from Moscow faced accusations of plotting to assassinate Soviet leaders under Western orders. These doctors, predominantly Jewish, were stripped of their positions, arrested, and subjected to torture. However, as Stalin passed away in 1953, Lavrenty Beria, a top secret police official who had overseen the notorious Gulags, halted the investigation.
It was later revealed that the security services had fabricated the entire incident. Presently, the Kremlin appears to be emulating the same playbook. Initially, the 2012 foreign-agent law targeted organizations receiving foreign funding, but its scope has significantly broadened since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Anyone viewed as a threat is now labeled as a "foreign agent," facing penalties ranging from bans on public roles to restrictions on consular services for Russians living abroad who are prosecuted domestically for political offenses.
Recent measures even aim to strip key citizenship rights from those who defy the foreign-agent law. The Kremlin has also compiled a lengthy list of individuals deemed anti-state, effectively portraying Russian history as a continuous struggle against foreign adversaries. This labeling campaign aims to instill fear and discourage dissent.
This approach mirrors the Great Terror of Stalin's era, which claimed the lives of thousands. While Stalinist tactics were extreme, Putin's regime surpasses them by eliminating any ideology or grand vision, merely focusing on preserving power. Russian officials, once seen as somewhat liberal or professional, now mirror the aggressive and debased behavior of the NKVD.
This shift has led to a notable decline in Putin's approval ratings, though the Kremlin-controlled polls tend to paint a more favorable picture. Despite this, signs of covert resistance to the Kremlin's authoritarian rule persist, indicating a growing discontent among Russians who have witnessed the dangers of unchecked security forces.
Written by urgent.news from Kyiv Independent's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
