Russia seems condemned to repeat the mistakes of history, rather than learning from them, as shown by Putin’s mass mobilisation of Russian males into the armed forces, and the shock and panic it prompted earlier this year in Russia. Konstantin Samoilov is a well-known YouTuber whose channel ‘Inside Russia’ comments insightfully on Russia’s descent into authoritarianism over the last few years. But now, like many others, he’s outside Russia, with no idea of when he can return there.