The Moscow Times: Russia on Tuesday confirmed 39,008 Covid-19 infections and a new pandemic record of 1,178 deaths.
RFE/RL: The Russian authorities have detained three men suspected of illegally obtaining the personal data of Federal Security Service (FSB) agents whom jailed opposition leader Aleksei Navalny has accused of being involved in his poisoning last year.
RFE/RL: A court in Russia’s Tatarstan region has sentenced a prominent Islamic scholar to 6 1/2 years in prison for running a branch of a banned religious group. Gabdrakhman Naumov was sentenced by a court in Kazan for leading a branch of the Islamic Nur movement, his lawyer Ruslan Nagiyev told RFE/RL on November 2.
RFE/RL: Ivan Safronov, a prominent former Russian journalist accused of high treason in a case widely considered to be politically motivated, has been additionally charged with passing classified information to a university in Switzerland and to Germany’s intelligence service. Safronov’s lawyer, Ivan Pavlov, said on November 2 that the new allegations were known only once his final accusation papers were submitted.
The Moscow Times: Prominent Russian ex-journalist Ivan Safronov faces new charges of treason, his former lawyer said Tuesday as reports indicated that authorities were wrapping up their investigation into his case. Though case materials are classified, investigators allege that NATO recruited Safronov in 2012 and that he passed secret information on Russia’s military activities in the Middle East and cooperation with African countries to Czech intelligence in 2017.
The Moscow Times: Russia’s Supreme Court will not hear the case of the surviving descendants of Stalin-era Gulag prisoners fighting for state compensation, according to a court database spotted by Russian media Tuesday. The dwindling group of so-called “Gulag Children” filed a class action lawsuit against Russia’s lower house of parliament, the State Duma, last week to demand the housing that is guaranteed to them under Russian law.
Human Rights in Ukraine: 19 Crimean Tatar men and women were detained on 1 November, including one journalist. All of them were standing apart from one another outside the occupation Crimean Garrison Court, where the open appeal hearing was taking place against huge sentences imposed on three recognized political prisoners: Crimean Solidarity activist Rustem Emiruseinov; Arsen Abkhairov and Eskender Abdulganiev.
The Moscow Times: Foreign tourists are canceling trips to Russia in droves over confusion surrounding digital coronavirus passes after current nationwide restrictions are lifted, the Russian Association of Tour Operators (ATOR) said Tuesday. ATOR head Maya Lomidze said foreign visitors vaccinated with non-Russian jabs are not allowed to visit popular tourist destinations like museums and theaters in certain cities.
