Putin's warning to anti-war Russians evokes Stalinist purges

This week, the first criminal charges have followed, including against Veronika Belotserkovskaya, a Russian cookbook author, socialite and blogger living in Europe who has been criticizing the war to her online followers.

A so-called “Committee in Defense of National Interests” has also begun publishing online a list of Russians who left the country — denouncing them as “cowards and deserters.”

Artyom, a liberal political activist reached by NPR in Tbilisi, Georgia, says he fled Russia after neighbors alerted him that masked police were waiting outside his apartment. He requested that NPR not use his full name out of fear for the safety of relatives still in Russia.

“I had no chance to tell anyone I was leaving because it was too dangerous,” he says. “I’ve got a dog and a cat still at home and that’s the hardest part. Because I can tell my friends and family what happened, but the dog will not understand.”