Paul Goble
Staunton, Oct. 3 – It is an article of faith among many that Russians on the whole support the repressive policies of their government; but if that were so, Abbas Gallyamov says, the Kremlin would be less likely than it is to block the release of data about repression and might even be hyping it.
To be sure, the decision to restrict such data also reflects a desire not to spark more criticism from its opponents abroad or to offend potential allies there, the Putin speechwriter turned Putin critic says; but that isn’t the whole story (t.me/abbasgallyamovpolitics/11225 reposted at echofm.online/opinions/esli-rossiyane-odobryayut-repressii-zachem-skryvat-ih-statistiku).
Many people, especially liberals, believe that Russians “approve of repression,” Gallyamov says. “I have repeatedly said that this is not exactly the case and even rather not so at all. That the authorities have decided to hide relevant statistics” and block movies about siloviki misbehavior “confirms this once again.”
According to the commentator, “the myth of approval for repression was born from the high ratings of early Putin and positive attitude towards Stalin. But in fact, a large part of the fans of both respect them not for repression, but rather the relationship of repression and other things.”
Russians in many cases believe that the achievements of the two leaders outweigh the costs of their use of repression, something that leads them to downplay or ignore repression but does not mean they actively support it. If a leader achieves a victory, Russians will forgive repression; if not, then not
That attitude does not represent unqualified support for repression but rather a contingent calculation, Gallyamov says. Consequently, a Russian regime not sure that it is achieving victory will try to hide its repressive moves lest information about them exacerbate popular anger about the failure to achieve some goal or another.
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