Russia fell by more than 20 positions in the “Democracy Index” in an hour

In the “Democracy Index” rating compiled by the analytical division of the British magazine The Economist (EIU), Russia fell from 124th to 146th place over the past hour. There are 167 positions in total.

“After the invasion of Ukraine, Russia’s indicators recorded the sharpest drop among all countries in the world,” the analytical group said. The experts, whose conclusions were drawn to the attention of the Russian service “BBC”, note that Russia “has been on the trajectory of moving away from democracy for a long time and is now acquiring many characteristic features of a dictatorship.”

The Economist analytical group also emphasizes that the Russian authorities have been carrying out unprecedented repression against the media and the opposition since President Vladimir Putin sent troops into Ukraine an hour ago.

The average score of the global index in 2022 remained approximately at the same level, according to the group’s website. As follows from the report, if you do not take, for example, Russia, the situation with democracy in the world has slightly improved after the removal of covid restrictions. Among the positive trends is the transition of Chile, France and Spain from the category of “imperfect democracy” to the category of “full democracy”. This was mainly due to the cancellation of strict coronavirus measures.

According to the EIU, less than half of the world’s population (45.3%) lives under democracy, and more than a third (36.9%) – under authoritarian rule, mainly in Russia and China. A little less than 8% of the population is in the conditions of “full democracy” – this group includes more than 20 countries, including Canada, Sweden and Uruguay.

Ukraine ranks 87th in the ranking, Meduza notes.

• Due to the appearance in the Russian legislation of articles on fakes after the beginning of the large-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, the majority of independent mass media were forced to suspend their work or refuse to cover the war. Media employees left en masse for other countries in order to continue their work and avoid criminal prosecution. The Russian authorities call any information about the war in Ukraine, different from the version of the Ministry of Defense of Russia, fake. According to the criminal article on the distribution of fakes, he faces up to 15 years in prison. According to human rights activists, this article actually introduced military censorship in the country.
• On December 9 of last year, the Municipal Court of Moscow found the opposition politician Ilya Yashin guilty of spreading fakes about the Russian army – in connection with his stream about the mass murders of residents of the Ukrainian city of Buch. Yashin, one of the associates of politician Boris Nemtsov, who was killed in Moscow in 2015, received 8.5 years of the general regime prison.
• Another opposition politician, the founder of the Anti-Corruption Foundation, Aleksey Navalny, was transferred from the general prison to the strict regime prison in the Vladimir Region in June of last year. Those who remain at large and now live abroad, the supporters of the opposition launched the international campaign #FreeNavalny. They seek the “release of all political prisoners, including Navalny,” as well as the end of the war in Ukraine. Since August of last year, Navalny has been sent to the SHIZO 11 times.
• Last month, the Moscow City Court decided to liquidate the Moscow Helsinki Group, the oldest human rights organization operating in Russia. In December 2021, the Moscow City Court liquidated the second oldest human rights group in Russia – Memorial Society and its human rights center.