Kremlin Relies on Five ‘Shock Absorbers’ to Prevent Problems from Growing into Protests, Mikhaylichenko Says

Paul Goble

            Staunton, Jan. 7 – Many expect the problems Russians are increasingly facing will inevitably lead to protests, Dmitry Mikhaylichenko says. But such people forget that the Kremlin can confidently rely on five “shock absorbers” that set Russia apart from most countries and that Moscow can count on to prevent problems from leading to protests.

            The France-based Russian political analyst argues that “the Russian authorities have at least five levers with which they will be able to prevent negative attitudes among citizens from developing into open dissent (t.me/Scriptirum/1686 reposted at newizv.ru/news/2024-01-07/gotovy-poterpet-pochemu-problemy-rossiyan-budut-nakaplivatsya-no-ne-reshatsya-425912).

            These five, Mikhaylichenko says, are the following:

1.     The readiness of Russians to tolerate deterioration, the so-called adaptation strategy.

2.     Genuinely high support for those in power and a war which allows the Kremlin to unite people behind it.

3.     The willingness of the Kremlin to lower social supports, a reminder to everyone that things could get even worse if protests happen.

4.     The regime’s control of the media which keeps many issues from being covered at all or coming to the attention of the population at large.

5.     The readiness of the authorities to use harsh repressive measures against anyone who dissents or even is thinking about doing so.