Novaya Gazeta Europe editor-in-chief Kirill Martynov summed up the week’s major developments in Russia and around the world in his regular commentary.
According to him, journalists at The Bell found that the FSB’s Second Service is responsible for the development of the so-called “cheburnet”. At the same time, new restrictions on VPNs have appeared, although, as the commentary notes, Pavel Durov has left a loophole for Android users.
Martynov also says the state continues to intrude into citizens’ private lives. In particular, refusing to unlock a phone at the border may lead to up to 15 days of detention, while officials are simultaneously working on possible extrajudicial access to device data.
He separately mentions a video address by Viktoria Bonya, who complained about the situation in the country. At the same time, in his assessment, others are effectively not allowed to complain publicly unless they took part in the war.
The roundup also lists new cases of repression: a criminal case over a hookah placed on an Easter cake, a case involving a photograph with a dildo, proposals from church representatives to punish such acts with flogging, and prosecution over remarks made in the street about the end of the war.
Among other examples are fines that the author describes as bordering on the absurd: for throwing a moccasin at a Lenin monument and for reacting with a poop emoji to a video featuring military personnel.
In conclusion, Martynov writes that the state is trying to rewrite history. Among the examples he cites are claims of “Polish Russophobia” in the context of Katyn, as well as the effective destruction of the GULAG History Museum, which, he says, will now be replaced by an exhibition about the “special military operation”.