Kremlin ramps up efforts to suppress Russian dissidents after Ukraine invasion

The Kremlin is ramping up its efforts to suppress Russian dissidents and prevent people from leaving the country amid growing fears of economic ruin and political persecution following the invasion of Ukraine.

Officers from the Federal Security Service (FSB) have been stationed at airports to interrogate citizens attempting to fly to Armenia, Georgia and Turkey, according to local reports, social media posts and people who have spoken with The Independent. The three countries have yet to place a flight ban on Russia.

One Russian citizen, who has left Moscow for Georgia, said the FSB have been questioning individuals, taking their phones, reading personal messages and asking “them what they think about Ukraine and Putin”.

Access to liberal radio stations, independent TV channels and social media platforms have also been restricted in recent days, while people found guilty of spreading “fake information” about the Russian army will be jailed for up to 15 years under a new law passed on Friday.

And speculation is beginning to mount that Russian authorities are planning to prevent men of fighting age from leaving the country and prepare for a mass mobilisation of forces - something the Kremlin has dismissed.

Veronika Miller, another resident of Moscow, said the situation was “very terrible”, with many of her friends now leaving for Istanbul or Bali.

“People are now being fired from their jobs, men are being prepared to be drafted into the army, everyone is in a very anxious mood,” she said.

“I don’t want to make rash decisions yet - I have family, work, friends, an apartment here. I have a lot to do with Moscow and I have something to lose. I will leave only as a last resort - if they declare war on the territory of Russia. Until that happens, I'll be here.”

Many fleeing Russians have headed towards Georgia and its capital, Tbilisi. It’s understood that 100s of Russians have been crossing the border every day since the invasion of Ukraine began, with Georgian government officials said to be alarmed by the size of the influx.

A Russian citizen living in Tbilisi said they had been bumping into “random people from Moscow two days in a row, [I] didn’t even know they were here,” adding that they had “more friends coming here this weekend”.

“A few days ago one of my Russian friends here expressed concerns that there are so many Russians coming that Georgia will start discriminating and it’s happening now,” they said.

According to reports, the Bank of Georgia has asked Russian immigrants opening new accounts to sign a document condemning the invasion of Ukraine and agree not to share Kremlin propaganda.

The cost of plane tickets has leapt since Russia closed its airspace to airlines from the European Union and many other countries in a tit-for-tat response to sanctions imposed by the west, severely limiting Russians' ability to travel.

The unprecedented western sanctions on Moscow have already sent prices rising and started hitting the lives of ordinary Russians, while those who protest have been swiftly arrested.

Some 7,669 people have been detained at anti-war protests since the invasion began on 24 February, according to the OVD-Info protest-monitoring group.

Veronika said that men “who go to a rally against the war are officially taken” to Ukraine and speculated that “soon all young men will be called up”.

She added: “Nobody wants to take risks, so the guys leave [the country]. I’m scared, but I don’t give in to panic, I try to think soberly and make decisions calmly.”

Rising fears in Russia have been exacerbated by the passing of a new law that imposes lengthy prison sentences for people found to be spreading “fake” information about about Russia's armed forces. It also makes public calls for sanctions against Russia a criminal offence.

“If the fakes lead to serious consequences then imprisonment of up to 15 years threatens,” the Duma, the lower house of the Russian parliament, said on Friday.

Schools and media organisations in Russia have meanwhile been ordered not to describe the invasion as a “war” while several outlets have been shut down following negative coverage of the fighting.

Kremlin chiefs have repeatedly claimed that “false” information is being spread by Russia's enemies in an attempt to sow discord and divide its people.

Earlier this week, Vladimir Putin ordered the shut down of Russia’s only independent TV channel and a liberal radio station as the president ramped up efforts to censor coverage of the war, leaving citizens with propaganda from state-run outlets as their only source of information.

On Tuesday, the country's media watchdog was ordered to “restrict access” to TV channel Dozhd TV and radio station Ekho Moskvy, after they were accused of spreading “deliberately false information” about Russia’s assault on Ukraine.

The prosecutor general’s office said that the two outlets were spreading “false information regarding the actions of Russian military personnel as part of a special operation” in Ukraine and were sharing “information calling for extremist activity, violence”.