Russian President Vladimir Putin on the Spaso-Preobrazhensky Monastery on Valaam with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko on Valaam Island in Lake Ladoga, Republic of Karelia, Russia, July 25, 2024. | Picture credit score: AP
Russian President Vladimir Putin vowed Thursday to crush anybody making an attempt to divide Russian society and praised the effectiveness and unwavering loyalty of his nation’s highly effective regulation enforcement businesses.
Putin has stepped up a decades-long crackdown on civil society, unbiased media and the opposition amid his navy offensive in Ukraine, banning dissent and criticism of the Kremlin, that are punishable by years in jail.
“Those that attempt to intimidate folks, divide our society, play on non secular or nationwide emotions won’t ever succeed,” Putin mentioned in a video message launched by the Kremlin.
“An inevitable and simply punishment awaits them,” he added.
Russia commonly makes use of such language to explain those that oppose the Kremlin, together with home critics whom Moscow portrays as Western spies or puppets.
Putin was marking Russia’s “Day of Investigative Officers” and paying tribute to a number of Russian regulation enforcement businesses, together with the Investigative Committee and the FSB safety providers, the successor to the Soviet-era KGB.
“The investigators present unconditional loyalty to the Motherland and our folks,” Putin mentioned.
Kremlin critics say Russia’s give attention to investigating and prosecuting its home political opponents and rivals has left it blind to real safety threats.
In March, gunmen killed greater than 140 folks at a Moscow live performance corridor within the nation’s deadliest terrorist assault in practically 20 years.
The incident got here simply days after warnings from Western intelligence businesses that Putin publicly rejected as “blackmail” and an try and “destabilize our society.”
The Islamic State group claimed duty, however Putin and different officers sought to hyperlink the bloodbath to Ukraine, with out offering any proof.
Nearly all of Putin’s principal opponents are in jail or have fled into exile.
Having suppressed dissent and handed strict navy censorship legal guidelines that make criticism of the navy unlawful, Putin has repeatedly claimed that Russian society is united behind his offensive towards Ukraine.