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Police officers shocking peaceful protesters with electric batons.
An unconscious man pushed into a prison truck.
A policeman from the Omon special unit who draws his service weapon and threatens demonstrators with it.
The images of the protests across Russia for the release of the opposition activist Alexei Navalny are shocking.
Russia's Kremlin critics have never experienced the level of repression last Sunday.
Nationwide, according to information from the civil rights organization OVD-Info, at least 5,135 people were arrested in 88 cities - a sad record.
More than 100 journalists were prevented from doing their job and arrested.
40 criminal proceedings should
so far have been opened against demonstrators and Navalny supporters.
During protests across the country, numerous people were forcibly arrested by security forces
Source: REUTERS
They used shields and batons against the demonstrators, as here at a protest in St. Petersburg
Source: AP
In Berlin, however, these excesses have so far only triggered rhetorical interventions.
Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) demanded the immediate release of Nawalny, Federal Foreign Minister Heiko Maas (SPD) pleaded after the demonstrations for upholding the rule of law in Russia.
However, Berlin is holding back when taking concrete steps against Moscow.
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Now, of all people, France, where President Emmanuel Macron recently campaigned for closer relations with Russia, has called for the Nord Stream 2 Baltic Sea pipeline to be stopped. The USA and several European countries, including Poland, have long been critical of the pipeline project.
They warn of Germany's excessive dependence on Russian gas and negative consequences for Eastern European countries.
However, Berlin also made its own position on the pipeline clear again on Monday: In the past few days, the federal government had "emphasized that its fundamental stance has not changed," said Deputy Government Spokeswoman Martina Fietz.
As for other options for sanctions, Berlin wants to wait for the outcome of Nawalny's court date on Tuesday.
"It will depend a lot on how this court ruling turns out," said Maas.
The Kremlin critic faces up to three years in prison.
The EU Parliament had meanwhile called for punitive measures in a resolution, including a construction freeze on Nord Stream 2. But the Chancellor seems to insist on her statement that it is a “purely commercial project” that should be separated from political issues.
One likes to hear such statements in the Kremlin.
After all, they mean that Germany, Russia's most important partner in Europe, prefers to watch in silence when Moscow makes diplomatic mistakes.
Should the federal government stick to its position until completion, Moscow would have little reason to end its harassment against its own people and wars abroad - and trade with Russia would be decoupled from politics once and for all.
It also works with humor: a toilet brush, which appears as a luxury item in Nawalny's latest unveiling video, becomes a symbol of protest
Source: picture alliance / dpa / TASS
... and blue underpants serve as a reference for the Kremlin critic's underwear, which is allegedly poisoned with Novichok
Source: picture alliance / dpa / TASS
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The emphasis on the alleged commercial nature of the pipeline obscures Russia's interests anyway.
Russia bears at least half of the cost of the pipeline, for political reasons to avoid Ukraine as a transit country.
Sanctions below the pipeline construction stop would hardly have the potential to unmistakably show Putin limits.
Whether Navalny would be released in the event of a construction stop is another question.
The recently increased reprisals against him and his supporters may seem like a panic overreaction to outsiders, like the activism of a ruler who sees his power waning.
In fact, Navalny and his supporters are far from breaking Putin's rule.
The reprisals make sense from Putin's government logic, as the Kremlin wants to keep the political field stable before the Duma elections in the autumn so that Putin's United Russia party retains total control over parliament.
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The toolbox of the Kremlin includes changes to the electoral law, election manipulation, but also intimidation against Nawalny's supporters across the country.
Each of the more than 5,000 arrested is a message to Russian society not to rebel.
Some of the Navalny supporters want to run the election themselves, others coordinate the campaign with which Navalny wants to weaken United Russia through targeted calls for elections for candidates from other parties.
Waiting, as the federal government is currently doing, will hardly ease the situation;
The visit of the EU foreign affairs representative Josep Borrell's planned for the coming days to Moscow should not dissuade the Kremlin from its rigorous tactics.
Because this follows a plan.
Putin, for example, cleared his presidential human rights council of critical voices last year, and last year he had laws against critical activists and election observers tightened.
Shortly before the turn of the year, his parliament did everything it could to quickly vote on the relevant legislative changes.
It was also announced on Monday that Putin was considering creating a new national judicial body in order to devalue the ongoing criticism of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).
The persecution of Navalny, however, is only one indication of many that reveal the state of the Russian judicial system.
Around 12,000 Russians submit complaints to the ECHR every year.
No other state can compete with the judges' rulings in favor of the defendant country: in 2020 alone there were 185. However, after Putin's constitutional amendment last year, Moscow does not have to implement the judgments anyway.
He will not deviate from the tough course that Putin has been following at least since the last major wave of protests in 2012.
Only the international community - which also includes Germany and Europe - can collect the costs of the transformation of Russia he is striving for.