Kremlin legalizing persecution of war critics - think tank

Russia is codifying terms to legitimize criminal prosecution of those who oppose the Kremlin's policies and the ongoing war against Ukraine.

That's according to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) think tank, Ukrinform reports.

The Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs published on July 22 the draft of a new Russian counterterrorism strategy, which establishes legal definitions for "Russophobia" and "xenophobia" and modifies the definitions of "radicalism," "countering extremism," and "subjects of countering extremism," ISW wrote.

"These newly modified legal definitions significantly expand the Kremlin's ability to criminally prosecute anyone who opposes the Kremlin by classifying domestic opposition under a number of nebulous and broad definitions that are linked to existing Russian information operations that both aim to discredit international actors and promote self-censorship domestically," experts believe.

Russia’s government seeks to informationally link and even define opposition to its actions as ethnic intolerance against the Russians who do support the Kremlin's policies and the war in Ukraine, a hatred of Russian culture and history, and support for states "unfriendly" to Russia, ISW notes.

The think tank noted that the Kremlin also likely seeks to use these definitions and subsequent prosecutions to curry favor with Russian ultranationalists, as the Kremlin has recently been cracking down on illegal migration amid ethnic tensions under the guise of counter-extremism while failing to adequately address the threat of Islamic extremism within Russia.

"The Kremlin will likely lean into narratives and ideologies promoting domestic nationalism to set informational conditions for its prolonged war effort in Ukraine and its future hostility towards other states the Kremlin deems hostile under the ‘Russophobic’ and other extremist labels," ISW concludes.

As Ukrinform reported earlier, the Kremlin and its propaganda machine are preparing the Russians for a long-term war against Ukraine, at least for another 10 years, ISW noted.