Of course it can. Just read up some Russian history. If you think that some kind of abuse by the government is not possible, then Russian government did it many times already and in a lot worse ways.
For example, when the war started, some westerners were wondering why are there not that many protests in Russia. Sure the government can’t just put everyone into jail. Guess what? 2k people went straight into jail during the first day of the protest on the first day of the war and 10k in the first week. Millions were sent to Gulags during Soviet times. Yes, Russian government can jail millions, not a big deal. And if jails will become overcrowded, millions will be shot. Again, happened many times before.
As for slavery, at least a quarter of Russia’s population were slaves until 19th century. No other country in the world enslaved its own citizens on such scale.
Of course it can. Just read up some Russian history. If you think that some kind of abuse by the government is not possible, then Russian government did it many times already and in a lot worse ways.
For example, when the war started, some westerners were wondering why are there not that many protests in Russia. Sure the government can’t just put everyone into jail. Guess what? 2k people went straight into jail during the first day of the protest on the first day of the war and 10k in the first week. Millions were sent to Gulags during Soviet times. Yes, Russian government can jail millions, not a big deal. And if jails will become overcrowded, millions will be shot. Again, happened many times before.
As for slavery, at least a quarter of Russia’s population were slaves until 19th century. No other country in the world enslaved its own citizens on such scale.