Putin’s ruling party increasingly resembles Soviet-style ideological machine

Dmitry Medvedev, chairman of United Russia and deputy Security Council chief, told Vedomosti that Russia should stay in 'permanent readiness for war' even after fighting in Ukraine ends, and that its defense industry should stockpile weapons against a supposed NATO threat, according to the Institute for the Study of War. He rejected the idea of another mobilization campaign, even as ISW notes growing signs the Kremlin is preparing exactly that after September's Duma elections.

ISW says Medvedev is using the party to consolidate an ideological role resembling the Soviet Communist Party's, casting United Russia as the sole executor of Putin's policies against an imagined global enemy. Zelenskyy has said Russia is planning to mobilize roughly 300,000 people this year and next, about 600,000 total through 2027, with regional call-ups expected to intensify once elections are out of the way. The Moscow Times reported complaints of forced detentions and mobilization from at least 17 Russian regions over a recent six-week span.

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