In society

Results-2021. Arrests, arrests, arrests - and liquidation

January 11, 2022 Andrey Soldatov, Irina Borogan

Last year, it is impossible to call boring any way, the events developed dynamically, however, not in a very optimistic direction. And this time, not only for independent journalists and opposition politicians, but also for Russian elites.

The arrest after the failed escape of Marina Rakakova, the vice president of Sberbank, the former Deputy Minister of Education, and then the detention of her husband, small children separated from her parents-this is a new level of cruelty of power against their own. Neither the high patron of Cancer helped, the first deputy prime minister Andrei Belousov, nor, it would seem, the influential head of Sberbank German Gref. The Rakoka case was held by the arrest of the rector of the famous "Shaninka" Sergey Zuev, who was imprisoned immediately after surgery on the heart.

It seems that we are already accustomed to everything: it was the case of Ulyukaev, for several years the former Minister of Open Government Abyzov has been in prison, but still families have not yet been planted.

Another disturbing trend for the elites is the collection of an intimate incrimatitis with special services and it is stuffed into a public field. The story with the video of the ex-director of the Economic School of Economics Yaroslav Kuzminov and Valery Kasamara, who appeared on the Internet, is an attempt to use the dirty and disgusting tactics of the FSB, which had previously been used many times against opposition and political competitors, who certainly have never been enemies of the regime.

Most likely this video is addressed not to the ex-director and vice of the “tower”, which by the time the video appeared in the public, have already left their posts, it is addressed to the wife of Kuzminov and the head of the Central Bank Elvira Nabiullina. It is significant that shortly after the appearance of the video, the president, through his spokeswoman Peskov, had a high appreciated "the work of the Central Bank as a whole and the head of the Central Bank Nabiullina in particular." No analogies here, except with the sadistic techniques used by the Kremlin old man, does not occur to the head.

Unfortunately, the megaganous event last year - the arrest of Alexei Navalny - was quite expected. Few were surprised when the father of the director of the FBK Ivan Zhdanov on a far -fetched charge was sent to prison. The arrest of Lilia Chanysheva, the ex-coordinator of the Ufa headquarters of the FBK, many months after the liquidation of the FBK caused a lot of experiences, but also did not have a surprise for anyone.

Last year, the Kremlin launched a whole company to recognize independent journalists and in general all critics of power by foreign agents. This forced many to leave Russia in a hurry.

Mass political emigration of oppositionists, independent journalists, bloggers and even rappers is a characteristic sign of last year. Of course, for many years in a row Russia has been left by the opponents of the Kremlin, but not in such quantities and not for such a short time.

The popular radio host Michael Naki, for whom the arrest of Alexei Navalny was the turning point, left for Georgia, the famous video blogger Ruslan Usachev left the country because it reigned "obscurantism, hypocrisy, twisting of the nuts."

The same people who are engaged in repression against the opposition were forced to leave the country of rapper Morgenstern, the most unusual political emigrant. The head of the Investigative Committee, Alexander Bastrykin, without bothering to collect evidence, accused the rapper of selling drugs on the network.

After the interrogations of the chief editors to the SK, the best investigative teams of journalists - Istories, insider and project - are forced to leave the country. Moreover, the first two were recognized by foreign agents, and the “project” - the activity of which is illegal.

The employees of the journalistic-Advocat project “Team 29” under the leadership of the lawyer Ivan Pavlov, who specialized in business in GOSTIN, also left the country. The FSB announced for years Pavlov’s activity, who told the media what was actually happening with espionage affairs, and betrayed that the FSB would like to leave a secret, and the end against a well -known lawyer opened a case, and “team 29” was recognized as a foreign agent. Radio Liberty, one of the first to receive the status of a foreign agent, also moves from Russia.

The liquidation of the “memorial”* against this ominous background looks like an attempt to complete the creation of its own version of history. True, an attempt in advance doomed to failure - electronic archives, unlike paper, do not burn!

Last year, the Kremlin managed to build a “sovereign Internet” - a route filtration system, controlled from a single center, which replaced the old and ineffective system of locks. By the end of the year, the system controlled 73% of Internet traffic and 100% mobile traffic. A successful example of its work is the slowdown in Twitter in March: as a result, the social network removed more than 91% of the content prohibited by Roskomnadzor.

Successes in the IT sector, so to speak, used the Kremlin in the international arena. A series of Russian cyber attacks against American infrastructure turned out to be very successful, a variety of vital spheres of the economy suffered from the largest pipeline operator on the east coast to a network of meat processing plants. This, as well as an increase in the military presence of the borders of Ukraine, led to the fact that Putin got a meeting with Bayden in Geneva in June at the G7 summit, after Bayden called him a killer.

After that, in early November, the director of the CIA William Burns arrived in Moscow and met with the Secretary of the Security Council Nikolai Patrushev, the parties discussed the problems of cybersecurity. As Nyt wrote, the Americans handed over to Patrushev the details of the investigation of hacker attacks that were organized from Russia, and the names of specific people in the hope of result and arrests. We are still waiting for the latter.

The most last alarming event last year was Putin's pre -scanning ultimatum regarding NATO expansion and a new increase in forces on the border with Ukraine - a situation that apparently faded the West.

With this unresolved crisis, we enter the New Year, which promises to become even more interesting, especially given the unexpected protests in Kazakhstan and sending Russian troops there.