The arrest and jailing of prominent Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny in January 2021 triggered a wave of demonstrations across Russia that were unprecedented in their geographic spread and scale. Though the underlying causes of frustration were much broader—encompassing poor socioeconomic conditions, the state of governance in Russia, and the regime’s clampdown on civil and political freedoms—Russian authorities’ violent response to the protests also fueled further discontent. A greater willingness to deploy force against demonstrators, combined with an expansion of the power and capabilities of Russia’s security forces, are symptoms of a self-perpetuating “repression trap,” whereby the expanded role of the security services amplifies the Kremlin’s external threat assessment and justifies its use of greater repression at home. To learn more about this subject, read Mariya Omelicheva’s analysis for the CSIS Europe, Russia, and Eurasia Program’s Russian Military Capabilities Working Group paper series: https://www.csis.org/analysis/repression-trap-mechanism-escalating-state-violence-russia———————————————A nonpartisan institution, CSIS is the top national security think tank in the world. Visit www.csis.org to find more of our work as we bring bipartisan solutions to the world’s greatest challenges.Want to see more videos and virtual events? Subscribe to this channel and turn on notifications: https://cs.is/2dCfTveFollow CSIS on:• Twitter: www.twitter.com/csis• Facebook: www.facebook.com/CSIS.org• Instagram: www.instagram.com/csis/

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