Screenshot from CBC Radio Canada YouTube channel video, residents of St. Petersburg wait at a full train station. Olga, leaving for Spain says, “the situation can become more serious at anytime. I am really scared.” Since the start of Russia’s war in Ukraine, more than 7,000 people have been arrested for anti-war demonstrations across Russia. As hundreds of Western businesses continue to pull out of the country and Moscow continues to be isolated from the world economy, Russians are fleeing the country. More than 40 countries have shut their airspace to Russian airplanes, limiting the options for escape to Central Asia, the Caucasus, and the Middle East. To prevent dissent at home, Moscow has also begun to prosecute the opposition at an unprecedented rate, threatening outlets and journalists with prison. Draconian punishments and social persecution are making it increasingly more dangerous to speak out against the official government narrative. As the state becomes more vulnerable and rumors of impending martial law abound, the Russian government has declared war on its own citizens. Foreign social media platforms were the first to feel restrictions. On February 25, Moscow partially limited access to Facebook. On March 5, Roskomnadzor, Russia’s communication regulator, fully banned access to Facebook across the country. Access to Twitter has similarly been curtailed, after the network limited Russia Today and Sputnik, Russia’s state media channels. That same day, the State Duma unanimously adopted a resolution punishing “fake news” inside the country. An individual who disseminates information not officially communicated by the government about the Russian military, the “special operation” in Ukraine, or calls for sanctions, can be punished with up to 15 years in prison. The Duma provided several examples of grave misinformation that ought to be punished, including sharing “doctored” photos of burned military equipment, reports about attacks on civilians, and estimates of Russian military casualties. The Fake News Law comes on the heels of Russia’s 2019 restrictions on media reports “disrespecting the government,” albeit the punishment three years ago was much lighter. Those spreading “unreliable” information about government officials and disrupting the social order were liable to fines of up to RUR 1.5 million rubles (USD 22,900) and 15 days in jail. As a result, access to foreign media has been severely cut back. Following a request from prosecutors, Roskomnadzor “limited” access to Meduza, BBC, Deutsche Welle, and Radio Free Europe. Consequently, Bloomberg, the Guardian, and the BBC have suspended the work of their journalists in the country. The international association of investigative journalists OCCRP has also been placed on the “undesirable organizations” list. Critical domestic media across Russia has been mostly silenced. Ekho Moskvy, Znak.com, The Village, Taiga.info, Dozdh, Tomsk's TV 2, and many more, have shut down their operations in the face of heavy pressure and threat of legal prosecution. Znak cited “the large number of restrictions which have appeared recently affecting the work of media in Russia” for its closure. Those that have not shut down are being harassed in person. The offices of the newspaper Pskovskaya Guberniya were raided on the morning of March 5; the publication's website has been blocked as a result The outlets that haven’t been shut down yet are being forced to delete stories and only report official state dispatches. Twelve domestic publications have announced they will cease all coverage of the war, including The Bell, VPost, and The Blueprint. Novaya Gazeta, recipient of the 2021 Nobel Prize for Journalism, has removed most articles regarding the war. State-sanctioned polls report that most Russians are supportive of “special operations” in Ukraine. The results note that residents of Moscow and St. Petersburg, especially amongst young people, hold the strongest sentiment. Considering the escalating repressions across the country, many have cast doubt on the validity of such polls. On March 1, two mothers with five children were detained for laying flowers in front of the Ukrainian embassy in Moscow. The mothers were both charged for non-fulfillment of parental duties and violating orders of a public event. Hundreds of people are being detained daily in connection to anti-war protests or political opposition. Police are searching and arresting people across the country for anything from displaying Ukrainian flags to posts regarding anti-war protests on social media. Moscow authorities have been documenting all social media posts related to Ukraine and using the facial recognition software “Sphere” to identify and detain individuals who take public transportation.