Free Republic

Every August, the anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Georgia is accompanied by familiar reflections about missed warning signs, intelligence failures, and a supposedly unexpected turning point in European security. The language has become so standardized that it obscures a far more uncomfortable reality. Georgia did not reveal a new Russia. It exposed a Russia that had been behaving consistently for nearly two decades while much of the West continued searching for evidence that Moscow had fundamentally changed after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Describing the failure to recognize this trajectory as a collection of mistakes understates what actually occurred....

Russia’s Supreme Court on Monday barred the liberal Yabloko party from contesting September’s parliamentary elections, sidelining the only officially registered party that opposes Moscow’s war in Ukraine. More than four years after Russia launched its full-scale war, the decision highlights the authorities’ intolerance of anti-war views and further narrows the already limited space for dissent in Russian politics. “Excluding Yabloko from the election means refusing dialogue with people who ask questions that are uncomfortable for the authorities,” Nikolai Rybakov, the party’s leader, said, vowing to appeal the decision.