Part 3/7:
The phenomenon of internal discontent is not new to Russia. Looking back to the late Soviet era, spontaneous protests erupted despite strict prohibitions, creating a landscape where state authorities responded inconsistently based on crowd size. An internal affairs official once described a chilling strategy: suppress small protests, monitor mid-sized ones, and even join larger demonstrations. This historical insight underscores the possibility that, in Russia today, the regime’s response to dissent may be equally unpredictable and contingent on scale.