The primary goal of the recent State Duma bill that expands the definition of treason is political. As with the other repressive laws passed this summer and fall, Russians have begun feeling the heavy impact of the treason bill even before it has become a law. The Federal Security Service has kept a typically low profile until recently, deliberately staying in the shadows of the Investigative Committee and Interior Ministry. This behavior is inconsistent with the "new nobility" status that the agency held throughout the 2000s.
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