Possible martial law in Russia

 

Possible martial law in Russia

d.d. 02-03-21:38 

20:41

 

Pjotr Sauer

The Russian Federation Council is set to hold an unscheduled meeting on Friday, leading to widespread speculation in Moscow that the country might impose martial law.

The introduction of martial law would give the authorities sweeping powers to limit freedom of movement and freedom of speech. Martial law has been introduced in modern Russia.

Tatyana Stanovaya, a prominent Russian political analyst and founder of R.Politik on Wednesday evening tweeted that introducing a martial law would be a “logical scenario.”

“The proclamation of martial law will allow the authorities to introduce military censorship, to increase the secrecy of the state’s activities and the actions of local bodies.”

With the introduction of martial law, the powers of elected bodies, local authorities and officials are automatically extended.

The last time an unscheduled meeting of the Federation Council was called, the body approved President Vladimir Putin permission to use military force outside the country, two days prior to the country’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24th.

The Federation Council said it will officially discuss on Friday a package of anti-crisis measures in response to Western sanctions.

Over 6,500 Russians have so far been detained across Russia during anti-war protests, according to the independent monitoring site OVD-Info.

Russia has also seen a widespread crackdown on its independent media since the start of the war. Yesterday, Russia’s prosecutor general ordered the country’s media watchdog to block the liberal Ekho Moskvy radio station and the last remaining opposition television channel Dozhd TV.

The Duma is also set to meet on Friday to discuss a new law that would punish “spreading disinformation about the armed forces of the Russian Federation in any military conflicts” with up to 15 years in prison.