In the fading days of the Soviet Union they put away dissidents in insane asylums where they were pressured into giving up their USSR citizenship and leaving for the West. While inhumane, no one ever got beaten or treated as poorly as the modern Russian police treats its opponents. That was partially why 1991 was a bloodless revolution, the USSR mostly abided by its own laws, minus the democracy part. I have a feeling history will judge the current regime worse than the Communists.