Read a witness account of Russian POWs returning to the Soviet Union following WWII. The ranking general went down the gang plank to greet the political officers. He reported in, gave the number of soldiers on the ship and saluted. One of the political officers pulled out a pistol. He said Russians don’t surrender and shot him in the head.
Total control of the media only goes so far. Eventually the people find out and the regime loses credibility and support among the people.
In “Operation Keelhaul” U.S. forces returned thousands of `liberated’ Soviet POWs to the Red Army. They were marched a few miles away and then machinegunned to death.