According to russian media, convictions on treason charges in russia are at the highest level in at least 9 years, with more convictions in the first 6 months of 2024 than in all of 2023, citing data from the Ministry of Justice of russia. Similarly, there has been significant growth in convictions under criminal articles relating to extremism, terrorism, and disinformation, the UK Defense Intelligence reports.
This conviction data illustrates the increasing reliance by the russian government on coercive and demonstratively deterrent methods to maintain control over elements of the population that are hostile to the regime. Prior to russia’s full scale invasion of Ukraine, the regime would usually preference more subtle ways of controlling dissent.
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