Russian woman who left note on grave of Putin's parents convicted amid dissent crackdown A Russian court has given a two-year suspended sentence to a St_ Petersburg woman who left a note on the grave of President Vladimir Putin’s parents that said they had “raised a freak and a killer.” https://www.independent.co.uk/news/...i-navalny-novaya-gazeta-ukraine-b2337240.html
Welcome to the modern Soviet era... The cyber gulag: How Russia tracks, censors and controls its citizens https://apnews.com/article/russia-c...ine-internet-dab3663774feb666d6d0025bcd082fba (AP) - When Yekaterina Maksimova can’t afford to be late, the journalist and activist avoids taking the Moscow subway, even though it’s probably the most efficient route. That’s because she’s been detained five times in the past year, thanks to the system’s pervasive security cameras with facial recognition. She says police would tell her the cameras “reacted” to her — although they often seemed not to understand why, and would let her go after a few hours. “It seems like I’m in some kind of a database,” says Maksimova, who was previously arrested twice: in 2019 after taking part in a demonstration in Moscow and in 2020 over her environmental activism. For many Russians like her, it has become increasingly hard to evade the scrutiny of the authorities, with the government actively monitoring social media accounts and using surveillance cameras against activists. Even an online platform once praised by users for easily navigating bureaucratic tasks is being used as a tool of control: Authorities plan to use it to serve military summonses, thus thwarting a popular tactic by draft evaders of avoiding being handed the military recruitment paperwork in person. Rights advocates say that Russia under President Vladimir Putin has harnessed digital technology to track, censor and control the population, building what some call a “cyber gulag” — a dark reference to the labor camps that held political prisoners in Soviet times. It’s new territory, even for a nation with a long history of spying on its citizens. “The Kremlin has indeed become the beneficiary of digitalization and is using all opportunities for state propaganda, for surveilling people, for de-anonymizing internet users,” said Sarkis Darbinyan, head of legal practice at Roskomsvoboda, a Russian internet freedom group the Kremlin deems a “foreign agent.” (Much more at above url)
Better not wear blue & yellow in Russia -- even if it is your workplace uniform of a totally different shade or the flag colors of Russia’s own Aerospace Forces. What a Soviet style suppression shiat show. Russian forces ‘arresting people for wearing colours of Ukraine flag’ https://www.standard.co.uk/news/wor...low-arrest-ministry-of-defence-b1085470.html? Russian security officials have begun arresting people for wearing colours similar to the Ukrainian flag, British defence chiefs claim. In its latest intelligence update, the UK’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) said the Russian National Guard has interpreted wartime legislation to mean that public displays of blue and yellow are outlawed. The MoD cited reports of a care home worker who was arrested for wearing a blue and yellow jacket to work. Another man, aged 22, was also detained for displaying the blue and yellow flag of Russia’s own Aerospace Forces in Volkhov near St Petersburg. The MoD said the clampdown shows a “paranoid Russian officialdom” in an “increasingly totalitarian” system. They wrote: “Some local Russian security officials are likely interpreting Russia’s draconian wartime legislation to mean that public display of blue and yellow items is outlawed because it might evidence discreet support for Ukraine. “On 09 May 2023, a care home worker was reportedly arrested after wearing a blue and yellow jacket to work. “In recent days, Russian National Guard troops arrested a 22 year old man in Volkhov near St Petersburg for displaying which was eventually determined to be the blue and yellow flag of Russia’s own Aerospace Forces.” The MoD added: “The clampdown highlights uncertainty within a paranoid Russian officialdom of what is and is [not] deemed permissible within an increasingly totalitarian system. “Criticism of the arrests has come from an unexpected quarter: the ultra-nationalist, pro-war Liberal Democratic party. The party’s own branding features yellow on a blue background.” It comes after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Saturday that Ukraine was ready to launch a counter-offensive to recapture Russian-occupied territory. He said: “We strongly believe that we will succeed. I don’t know how long it will take. “But we are going to do it and we are ready.” Kyiv hopes that taking back land will change the dynamics of the war. Mr Zelensky said last month that he was waiting for more armoured vehicles to arrive before starting the campaign. Russia holds Ukrainian territory in the East, South and South East.
Welcome to the new Soviet era... Paranoid Putin Launches Unprecedented Crackdown on Treason as Kremlin Launches Secret Courtroom Trials Against Internal Enemies https://knewz.com/paranoid-putin-la...et-courtroom-trials-against-internal-enemies/
Putin’s purge begins, starting with commanders and pilots who refused to bomb Wagner Group troops https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/worl...fused-to-bomb-wagner-group-troops/ar-AA1d9SYV
In Russia, they really need to start installing windows that don't open on any floor higher than one. Russian bank executive, 28, mysteriously dies after plunging out of 11th floor Moscow flat The incident comes days after Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin's aborted coup attempt, posing questions about the woman's involvement. https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/1785903/russian-banker-dies-fall-apartment-moscow