A very common tactic used by Russian authorities during mass protests today is to fence off the location in advance with portable metal barriers, block all approaches with heavy machinery, and detain alleged organisers as soon as they leave their homes. By carefully reading old samizdat articles from the Soviet era, you can pinpoint the exact day when Soviet police and KGB operatives first used this approach: December 10, 1978. On that date, at the suggestion of Andrei Sakharov, a few dozen people assembled at Pushkin Square in Moscow to mark the 30th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. More here…
