Back to the Future in Russia

The Gulag is dead, long live the Gulag! After it seemingly headed the way of the dodo bird, the Gulag system has revived and is now alive and well in Vladimir Putin's Russia: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120277726156660765.html. Let me ask the question which seems to be so obvious: WHY would this be a surprise to anyone? Has Vladimir Putin's Russia been such a paragon of democracy and honesty that something like this was unthinkable? Frankly, I wonder what took it so long. The country may now be called Russia, and it may not include many of its former "republics", but make no mistake, this is basically the same old USSR. New name, same place.