Unfortunately, at this moment in Russia, civil society has lost the struggle for its rights. Even the small, unauthorized protests over what would seem to be a non-political issue — the right to an uncensored internet, a window to the civilized world — end in arrests, beatings, threats, and sexualized violence. This is how freedom dies: when the majority, in exchange for an illusory sense of stability and security, agrees to the capitulation of its own rights.

The protests against internet blocking on March 29 became yet another confirmation of this reality: according to OVD-Info, 19 people were detained across Russia, 14 of them in Moscow. At least two detainees in the capital reported being beaten in police stations. Artur Wagner said that officers at the Meshchansky police station struck him on the back of the head, forcing him to testify against his aunt, Yekaterina Wagner, who had been detained alongside him. Vladislav Azarochkin, detained at Bolotnaya Square, reported being beaten at the Yakimanka police station and threatened with torture and rape. Among those detained were minors, and, as reported, lawyers were not allowed to see some of the detainees in