The Moscow Times: Russia on Friday recorded its highest coronavirus death toll for a fourth day running. A government tally reported 24,522 new coronavirus cases and 887 deaths.
CPJ: Russian authorities should stop harassing journalist Roman Dobrokhotov and his family members, and allow members of the press to work freely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
The Guardian: Russians who study and report on the problems faced by the country’s military, space agency and security services, as well as the millions of people who serve in those agencies, can now be named foreign agents, as Russia expands restrictions on its own citizens under the controversial law. Russia’s main security service has published a comprehensive, 60-item list of topics that could lead to individuals who so much as share reports of physical abuse or official corruption on social media being added to a quickly growing register of “foreign agents” who must file extensive financial reports and face other restrictions.
The Moscow Times: News organizations in Russia risk being labeled “foreign agents” for covering corruption, crime and other issues within the military and space industries, under new rules that will likely further strain the country’s media landscape. The Federal Security Service (FSB) published a 60-point list of information Tuesday that is not classified as a state secret, but which “foreign states, organizations and citizens can use against Russia’s security.” According to the list, covering military crimes, troop morale, or the size, weapons, deployments, training and structure of the Russian armed forces and other security bodies are all grounds for a news outlet to be labeled a “foreign agent.”
Human Rights in Ukraine: Dmitry Demushkin, a far-right Russian nationalist, has revealed details of how he was invited by the then Russian Deputy Prime Minister, Dmitry Rogozin, to gather nationalists to fight in Ukraine.
Human Right in Ukraine: In the trial of Crimean Tatar journalist Remzi Bekirov; human rights activist Riza Izetov and three civic activists: Rayim Aivazov; Farkhod Bazarov and Shaban Umerov, an independent religious scholar has exposed the ‘expert’ used by the FSB in these flawed ‘terrorism’ cases.
The Moscow Times: Thousands of employees from companies linked to sanctioned oligarch Oleg Deripaska were dispatched to Moscow for a business trip on the final day of voting in Russia’s parliamentary elections, and some of them told The Moscow Times they were expected to be on standby for a pro-government rally in the capital.
RFE/RL: The founder of an obscure Moscow-based think tank called the Anti-Globalization Movement of Russia, Ionov has long been seen as a freelance pro-Kremlin activist helping advance a government-backed war of attrition against perceived enemies.
