‘Run rabbit, run…..’

When a country introduces draconian measures to silence its population, then the leadership is signaling it is worried that it has misjudged the mood of the people and is less secure than it originally thought. This is the case with Putin who has persuaded the Russian Duma to enact legislation forbidding citizens to report the war in the Ukraine contrary to the official version, that is what is sanctioned by Putin to be broadcast by the State controlled media. Those people who offer an alternative view will face a maximum penalty of fifteen years’ imprisonment, enough to test the resolve of the most intrepid protestor.

The methods employed by the Russian police and paramilitary is familiar to most of us from seeing how dictators cling to power by using brutality and intimidation; and it is not so long ago when the Brown Shirts in Nazi Germany meted out severe punishment to anyone who dared to offer resistance to the one-party State. First comes hubris and then nemesis, something Mr Putin should reflect upon. More immediately, the Russian people, who are saddled with a despot are not to blame for Putin’s aggressive policies,  will be forced to consider their options when their young sons, fathers, husbands, brothers are returned to Mother Russia in bodybags or maimed.  Then the tide may turn!