Putin's growing authoritarianism started driving the leading artists of Russian culture out of Russia even before he started attacking Ukraine. Now the only major artists that remain in Russia are those who wish to flaunt their support for Putin's regime.

Recall how Putin used to mock the idea that other Russians could run against him in elections? It wasn't enough for him that he was popular and would win even a free election. It wasn't enough for him to make victory for his opponents impossible. He went out of his way to rig elections blatantly (for instance, against Kasparov) so as to disparage the very idea of democracy.