CNN said Russian dictator Vladimir Putin is responding to
the unrest “the only way he knows how.”
Mobile internet shutdowns in Russian cities have hit
ordinary people, fueling wider public pushback against the Kremlin.
Russia is facing wartime economic strain, while its security
services continue to suppress protests. At the same time, the conflict in the
Middle East has unexpectedly strengthened Moscow’s war effort against Ukraine
by sending oil prices sharply higher, CNN noted.
“Nevertheless, Russia’s repressive state apparatus now
appears to be gathering pace,” the article’s author wrote, pointing to a wave
of high-profile political arrests and searches in recent weeks.
CNN wrote that the Russian government is also reviving
symbols of Soviet-era repression.
One recent example cited in the article was a search of the
offices of one of Russia’s largest publishing houses and the detention of
employees as part of a criminal investigation into what Russian authorities
call “LGBTQ+ propaganda.”
Russia under Vladimir Putin has long reacted with hostility
to what it sees as dangerous Western ideas. The Russian dictator presents
himself as a defender of traditional values.
But publishing is not the only area where free speech is
being squeezed in Russia, CNN noted.
In April, authorities searched the offices of Novaya Gazeta,
whose co-founder won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2021.
The propaganda outlet RIA Novosti, citing the Interior
Ministry, reported that journalist Oleg Roldugin had been detained for
questioning in a case involving the alleged illegal handling of personal data.
Roldugin denied wrongdoing during a court hearing on pretrial restrictions.
After Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Novaya Gazeta
was forced to shut down its print edition, though it continues to operate
online. The latest searches have further squeezed what remains of Russia’s
independent press.
Alongside its attack on the media, the Kremlin is also
reviving old symbols of political repression, CNN noted. The Russian FSB
Academy, where Vladimir Putin trained as a KGB agent, was recently renamed
after Felix Dzerzhinsky, the founder of the Soviet secret police.
CNN also pointed to several other developments suggesting
that Moscow is seeking to preserve the country’s grim totalitarian past.
Putin, meanwhile, has shown little concern. Only on April 23
did he directly respond for the first time to Russians’ complaints about mobile
internet restrictions.
The Russian dictator said the restrictions were “connected
to operational work to prevent terrorist attacks.” He also made clear that the
public did not need to know all the details.
CNN concluded that there are no signs Russia’s security
services are easing their repression of the population.
In early April, analysts at the Institute for the Study of
War said the Kremlin had recently faced a stronger public backlash over
tightening censorship than Moscow expected.
Vladimir Putin’s public trust rating has fallen by five
percentage points, from 76% to 71%, since March 22, according to polling data
from the Public Opinion Foundation. It was the steepest drop in Putin’s trust
rating since 2019.
The foundation’s weekly surveys show Putin’s trust rating
has been falling steadily since Feb. 8, 2026.