MOSCOW—It is still an open question whether Russia’s machinery of repression, which dates back to the time of the Czars and became an all-pervasive presence under the Soviets, can be quickly re-tooled to enforce quarantines and slow the outbreak of COVID-19. Its purpose has always been to track down common criminals while silencing political opposition, and already we see it returning to that role as if by reflex.
OP-ED
Anna Nemtsova: Coronavirus could turn all of Russia into a digital Gulag
A woman wearing a face mask walks on a street in Moscow on April 7, 2020, amid the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus.
