Ukraine Praising Russia’s Rights Record?

Ukraine’s migration authorities apparently believe Russia is a safe and democratic country – which does not only sound odd in the current political context of the relationship between Kyiv and Moscow but will also greatly surprise those who have been following events inside Russia

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Observers at his court hearing, media covering his case, and Vetrov himself have said that the reason migration authorities provided for the refusal, which a first appeals court upheld, was that Russia is a democratic country that does not persecute government critics. This seemingly overlooks Russia’s clampdown on civil society in recent years.

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Since Vladimir Putin returned to the Kremlin in 2012, the authorities in Russia have used a broad range of repressive tools to intimidate critics into silence. At first, it was brutal dispersal of protesters by the police, mass arbitrary detentions, harassment and intimidation of activists and their families, and smear campaigns in the media discrediting the protest movement. Then, the government pushed through parliament new draconian laws restricting freedom of assembly, association and expression to suppress discontent.

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