In Russia it was proposed to revive the Gulag

Member of the Russian State Duma Defence Committee Andrei Gurulev has proposed to revive the system of the Main Directorate of Correctional Labour Camps (Gulag) in Russia. This politician said, answering the questions of the host on air of the TV channel "Tsargrad".

He pointed out that concentration camps should be revived in Russia for opponents of Putin's regime who do not like the Kremlin's policies.

In particular, the anchor of the TV channel asked Gurulev to comment on his statement about the need to destroy or isolate residents who disagree with the authorities. Gurulev replied that since Russia has a moratorium on the death penalty, if "a person goes against the state, it is probably necessary to take some measures."

People say to me now: "You want to organise a gulag again". Well, I honestly say that I want those who are harming our Motherland here inside today to be happily waving a pickaxe around the Kolyma road. This is true. And not only I want it, and the people want it," the MP said.

In October 2023, in a TV talk show, Gurulev claimed that Russia has "a minuscule percentage of rot that must be destroyed."

Earlier, in April 2023, Gurulev called for the resumption of Stalinist repression. "It is time to introduce the concept of 'enemy of the people', there are enemies and no concept. This applies not only to people at the front, but also here on the civilian, all the waiters, all this scum. What are we embarrassed about? Do I want Stalinist repressions? Let it be so!", - stated the deputy. He gave the example of his own grandfather, who after the Great Patriotic War served nine years in Soviet camps, because "at that time it was necessary to do it in the state".

Note that the abbreviation GULAG means "Main Directorate of Camps" (in full - the Main Directorate of Corrective Labour Camps, Labour Settlements and Detention Facilities). It is a network of forced-labour camps that existed in the Soviet Union. Such institutions were used by the Soviet regime as a tool to suppress political dissidents and punish other "enemies of the state".

Most of these camps were close to the Arctic Circle, where conditions were extremely harsh. Gulag prisoners lived in barracks in inhumane conditions.

In 1950, by order of the Gulag administration, mass shootings of prisoners took place in all camps in accordance with the directive to exterminate 5 per cent of the prisoners.

Between 1929 and 1953, 28.7 million people passed through the Gulag. The number of people who died in the camps ranges from 1.2 to 1.7 million.