Putin misses the good ol’ days…

https://www.newsweek.com/russias-putin-says-he-always-liked-communist-socialist-ideas-419289

”At a forum in Stavropol on Monday, Putin piled more criticism onto Lenin, but insisted his attitude to Communist ideas had never wavered and that to this day he keeps his party membership ticket at home.”

“‘I was not, as you know, a party member by necessity,” he said. ‘Iliked Communist and socialist ideas very much and I like them still.’”

You don’t say…

https://www.npr.org/2019/02/23/697234127/opinion-jehovahs-witnesses-cling-to-faith-despite-arrests-in-russia

“Russia’s Supreme Court branded the church “an extremist organization” in 2017. Witnesses do not recognize any authority but God, governments especially. That puts them into conflict with Vladimir Putin’s Russia, where there are an estimated 175,000 Jehovah’s Witnesses.“

“Last month, Dennis Christensen, a Danish Witness who lived in the western city of Oryol until his arrest at a prayer service in 2017, was sentenced to six years in prison for “religious extremism.”

”The Jehovah’s Witnesses told The Moscow Times at least seven of their members were beaten, suffocated and jolted by electric shocks.”

“A representative of Russia’s Investigative Committee told Tass, Russia’s official news agency, security officials acted entirely “within the realm of the law.” More than 120 Jehovah’s Witnesses now reportedly face criminal investigation.”

”When many other people found ways to just go along with an immoral and murderous regime, Jehovah’s Witnesses refused. They honored their faith. Will nations that honor religious freedom now dare to speak up to Vladimir Putin’s Russia about the imprisonment of Jehovah’s Witnesses for following their faith?”