Russia regressing

In March we noted that 5,000 prominent Russians, amongst them Boris Spassky, sent a letter to the Russian Prosecutor General's Office, repeating an earlier demand to ban Jewish organizations and claiming that that the Kitzur Shulchan Aruch 'teaches hatred toward non-Jews.'
As if that was not alarming enough, Ha'aretz is now reporting that the Prosecuter General is actually launching an investigation into the book! They are looking

to ascertain whether it constitutes racist incitement and anti-Russian material. The prosecutor ordered the probe against a Jewish umbrella organization in Russia for distributing a Russian translation of an abbreviation of Shulhan Arukh.
Last Thursday, attorneys from the Russian State Prosecutor's Office questioned Rabbi Zinovy Kogan, chairman of the Congress of Jewish Organizations - one of the two large Jewish umbrella organizations in Russia. Kogan was asked to explain the contents of Shulhan Arukh, especially regarding its treatment of non-Jews.... The affair has been covered widely by the Russian news media, eliciting sharp reactions from Jewish organizations in Russia.

This is so outrageous and surreal I am practically at a loss for words. For all the Russian Foreign Ministry's lip-service, and although Russia's Jewish community is diplomatically placing the blame elsewhere, I find it hard to believe such an investigation would take place without the knowledge and sanction of Mr. Putin. Jews are again being used in Russia to stir up nationalist feelings; the situation is becoming extremely serious. What with the erosion of democratic rights, politically sanctioned trials, and now (apparently) state-sanctioned anti-Semitism, Russia is heading down a very dangerous path.