Moscow’s Repressive Apparatus Works Both at Putin’s Direction and by Inertia, Experts Say

Paul Goble

            Staunton, Oct. 8 – There are two classical images of repression under Stalin. One, laid out in Arthur Koestler’s Darkness at Noon suggests that each repressive action reflects the will of the leader; and the other, Victor Serge’s The Case of Comrade Tulayev argues that once his repressive machine is put in motion, it will continue on its own via inertia.

            Both these novels captured not only something about Stalin’s system but also about Putin’s especially during periods like now when there doesn’t seem to be any need for Putin to be as repressive as his regime is but the machine itself continues to operate and even increase its activities because that is the logic of these bureaucracies.

            There can be no doubt, experts say, that Putin sets the tone and does give orders for some actions; but much reflects the needs of the repressive bureaucracies he has created rather than a specific direction from him (novayagazeta.eu/articles/2025/10/08/est-repressivnyi-apparat-i-on-dolzhen-byt-ispolzovan).

            As long as that bureaucracy or at least its officials are around, repressive actions likely continue and even to increase in number and severity unless and until the entire bureaucracy is demolished and those now in it dismissed. That didn’t happen in 1991, and the result is what exists now, a result that reflects both Putin’s wishes and the bureaucracy’s own requirements.