On the 24^th of February a new phase of the imperialist war started in Ukraine, a “Special Military Operation” as it was called by the Russian propaganda. A few days later the Russian government hastily passed new clauses to the Administrative and Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

Since March it is considered an offense to discredit “the duties by state bodies of the Russian Federation outside the territory of Russia in order to protect the interests of the country and its citizens”. “Discredit” is defined as any disloyal utterance, any criticism of the authorities, as explicitly stated in the article in the government newspaper. The penalty is a fine up to a hundred thousand rubles [1700 USD].

It is also a crime to spread «fake news» about the “execution of duties by state bodies of the Russian Federation outside the territory of Russia”. In this case “fake news” means any information, that contradicts the official statements of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation or other state institution, regardless of being true of false. The penalty can go up to one and a half million rubles [25000 USD] or imprisonment of up to 3 years. On top of that the Criminal code includes a section which states that if «aggravating circumstances» are present the sentence increases to 15 years.

Right after these and other laws were passed the flywheel of repression started turning against all, who were opposing the war openly. Here are some examples:

• In the beginning of March, a person from Siberia was fined with sixty thousand rubles [1000 USD] because he planned to participate in a meeting against war.
• A citizen of Tomsk has been fined with forty-five thousand rubles [750 USD] for “silently supporting unlawful actions”.
• In the end of April a special spot-check had taken place in schools of Volgograd Oblast with the intention to reveal schoolchildren disloyal to the state. Overall 146 “violations” among children were brought to attention.
• A 17-year-old student of a technical school refused to go to a “patriotic” meeting and wear the St. George’s ribbon folded in Z-shape [Russian symbol of the intervention into Ukraine], she explained her reason in the group chat of her class. Shortly after, the principal of the school informed the police, and the girl was fined with thirty thousand roubles [500 USD].
• A woman from Tomsk went outside with a banner: “War is everyone’s concern” and was penalized for that.
• In Vladimir Oblast a worker was taken to court after a frank conversation with a colleague about the war.
• A court in Nalchik settled for 2 years of probation and a fine of thirty thousand roubles [500 USD] for a father, whose 12-year-old daughter peeled off the St. George’s ribbon folded in Z-shape from someone’s car.
• In Sverdlovsk Oblast the authorities opened a criminal case against a priest, who wrote that “the government of Russia is violating the divine commandments”.
• A deputy of the Moscow Municipal Council Mr. Gorinov received a sentence for 7 years of imprisonment for “fake news” about the Russian military.

At the end of July the Ministry of Justice prepared two methodological materials on how to conduct an examination under the new state code clauses. It is advised that “an opinion about the fact of military action or negative evaluation of such is a sign of … discrediting the use of armed forces”.

And so, the mask slipped: the Russian regime unambiguously declares its willingness to punish its own people for any unpleasant or independent opinion.

What is currently happening in Russia is a vivid display of tendency to fascism, which is inherent to Russian imperialism for the last 15-20 years. This tendency has significantly sped up lately. For example, even before the years of the pandemic in many regions of Russia public gatherings were de facto prohibited. However the ban does not apply to organizations loyal to the government. Even more frequently police is arresting activists for spreading leaflets or posting on social media. In march of 2022 the state security service raided a Marxist group in Ufa. Now its members are accused of “extremism” and threatened with a prolonged prison terms. On the other hand, the mob-like neo-nazi and far right religious organizations such as “Sorok Sorokov”, are openely encouraged by the state, church and police. Such groups are already training at police bases and being used to suppress any potential unrest.

These days any dissidence of mind is being pursued on the legislative level.

We urge all friendly communist youth leagues to get rid of illusions about the situation in Russia, it’s international role and it’s inner politics. The Russian ruling class only drapes itself in red fabric and memories about the Victory of the Soviet People over Nazism. The anti-communist propaganda in Russia gets stronger every day, monuments to Lenin are tacitly removed. The so called liberated territories of Ukraine are seeing how the ukrainian natonalist ideology is being replaced by the century-old Great-Russian chauvinism, monarchism and reactionary ideas of the “Russian world”.

The social order in our country is resembling a somewhat twisted blend of Tsarism and the Pinochet regime of Chile. Communists in Russia who did not betray their ideals are forced to go further underground.

The Russian Revolutionary Communist Youth League – RKSM(b) declares its true devotion to ideas of the social revolution and proletarian internationalism. Today, as we stand on the brink of the Third World War, one slogan stays relevant: Proletarians of all countries, unite!