Russian dictator Vladimir Putin is afraid of losing power, so he does not resort to supporting openly repressive measures.
This was reported by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).
In support of this, analysts cite the example of how the Russian government withdrew from the Russian State Duma a bill that provided for an increase in taxes from 13 to 30 percent for Russians who left the country.
"Russian ultranationalists have repeatedly called on the Kremlin to nationalize property belonging to Russians who have 'betrayed' the country by fleeing, but the Kremlin seems hesitant to introduce such unpopular measures," the analysts write.
In addition, some Russian sources report that Putin does not support the return of the death penalty in the Russian Federation.
"The Kremlin could use the threat of the death penalty to scare Russians into supporting military action, but Putin is unlikely to dare to destroy his image as a diplomatic and tolerant tsar," ISW said.
Analysts also note that Putin relies on control of the information space to protect his regime far more than a massive apparatus of repression like the Soviet Union.
Key findings:
High-ranking US and EU officials believe that Russian President Vladimir Putin will not be willing to negotiate in response to Ukraine's successful counteroffensive.
A Ukrainian military official said on April 25 that Ukrainian forces are achieving "impressive results" in counter-battery fighting against Russian forces on the Russian-occupied eastern (left) bank of the Dnipro River.
Wagner Group owner Yevgeny Prigozhin denied ISW's April 22 assessment of the limited improvement in Wagner's relations with the Russian military command ahead of the planned Ukrainian counteroffensive.
Russian ultranationalists continue to advocate the Kremlin's acceptance of Stalinist repressions.
The Kremlin continues to avoid overtly repressive measures, likely out of concern for the stability of Putin's regime.
On April 25, the Russian human rights organizations "OVD-Info", "Memorial" and "Russia Behind Bars" challenged the Russian law on censorship against the discrediting of the Russian army.
Russian sources claimed that Russian forces carried out limited ground attacks on the Svatove-Kreminna line.
Russian troops continued to attack Bakhmut and its surroundings, as well as along the Avdiivka-Donetsk front line.
Russian military bloggers continued to vehemently deny that Ukrainian troops had taken firm positions on the eastern (left) bank of the Kherson region.
The Russian Ministry of Defense is trying to financially incentivize Russian prisoners to fight in Ukraine by offering them compensation equivalent to that of Russian volunteers.
The Ukrainian Resistance Center reported that Ukrainian partisans blew up a checkpoint of Russian troops near Oleshky.