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In recent years, the Kremlin has stepped up its repressive policies against individuals and groups. While the media and political experts have largely focused on the persecution and prosecution of those engaged in unwelcome political and civic activities, repressions against administrative elites have significantly expanded and criminal punishments of high-ranking officials have grown much harsher. Maria Lipman speaks to Nikolay Petrov, who has studied the scope and patterns of repressions against high-ranking government officials and hypothesized about the goals of the Kremlin’s campaign, which has already put dozens of high-level executives behind bars.

Earlier this month, a new bill aimed at protecting “Internet sovereignty” passed the first reading in the Duma. This legislative initiative has raised fears that the Kremlin seeks to isolate Russian Internet users from the outside world. Whether or not this is indeed what the Kremlin has in mind, the feasibility of such an ambitious project is highly dubious. What is not to be doubted, however, is that the Russian government is determined to thwart all unwelcome forms of public organization and ensure that the Russian people continue to be barred from using the Internet as an organizing tool.

Soviet women commonly resorted to abortion as a way to end unwanted pregnancies. In the post-Soviet decades, the emergence of a market economy, the availability of modern contraceptive methods, and increased knowledge about contraception have all contributed to improving sexual culture. The number of abortions has decreased significantly and would have declined even more rapidly were it not for certain issues, among them the absence of a system of sex education. Victoria Sakevich, a Russian demographer, discusses the abortion dynamic in Russia in recent decades in an interview with Maria Lipman, comparing it with abortion rates in other countries.

Over half of Russian governors have been replaced by the Kremlin in the past two and a half years. A large share of these new regional leaders are “outsiders,” individuals with no roots in or experience with the territories that the Center has entrusted to them. This policy alienates regional elites and may even lead to the radicalization of local politics, says Alexander Kynev, Russia’s leading expert on the regions. In an interview with Maria Lipman, he referred to the current reshuffling as ”the most anti-regions policy ever.”