Protestations would be simply drowned in blood. See how Ukraine is doing against Putin's machine - and they have weapons, Javelins, Bayraktars, tanks, and big support of the West, including asylum for non-combatants.

Would EU countries give refuge to families of Russian people fighting the government,or fleeing the coming purges? No, they'll better cut off Russians from the Internet [1].

[1]: https://www.theverge.com/2022/3/5/22962822/internet-backbone...