Anyone who runs against Vladimir Putin should already know what they are up against - the power of the state. The consequences can be less violent than they used to be, but the same tactics that were used in the Ukraine still dominate those in Russia proper. Criminalization of behavior is top on that list. Enter Alexis Navanly, who organized anti-corruption rallies that bring out quite a few people for a country that does not favor this kind of thing. Several outlets are saying as many as 8,000 attended and about 1,000 of those were arrested. For his part Navanly gets a short sentence which prevents him from running for political office just in time for the forthcoming election. A thousand of his supporters now have a record and can be identified in case they get too involved in further anti-corruption activities.
This is what revolutions are made of. The Russian government can demand a press that responds to what it wants, can keep its political opponents from running, and can continue to expand its reach into the new Russia, but the one thing it cannot do is pretend to be a democracy when it isn't. China does the same thing. Both of these countries spend more time worrying about revolution than they do keeping the peace inside their countries. Sooner or later, as they both know, the only choice for leadership change is revolution.
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