RFE/RL: Russian authorities have charged Aleksei Navalny with an additional crime, a move that could prolong the jailed opposition politician’s stay behind bars if he is convicted. The Investigative Committee said on August 11 it had charged Navalny with creating an organization that infringes on the rights and personal safety of citizens.
RFE/RL: President Vladimir Putin last month ordered the creation of an interagency commission on historical education, and his reasoning was clear from the preamble to the decree, which said it was “in order to ensure a planned and aggressive approach to the matter of defending the national interests of the Russian Federation.
RFE/RL: Facebook announced on August 10 that it had shut down a network of dozens of Facebook and Instagram accounts from Russia with connections to a marketing group that was trying to enlist social-media “influencers” to push false claims about COVID-19 vaccines.
Human Rights in Ukraine: Russia’s persecution of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine [OCU] and its believers has hit a new low with the Head of a Ukrainian Orthodox monastery in Russian-occupied Crimea facing administrative prosecution for so-called ‘unlawful missionary activities’ in his own church. Archimandrite Damian reported on 11 August that he has received a courts summons for 17 August, with the charge falling under Article 5.24 § 4 of Russia’s code of administrative offenses.
The Moscow Times: An oil spill off the coast of the Black Sea is at least 400 times larger than originally claimed, Russian scientists said Wednesday, citing satellite images.
The Moscow Times: Sergei Kovalev died just a few days shy of the 30th anniversary of the 1991 August revolution — the revolution that he fought for, that the won, and that put an end to the communist experiment in Russia. Kovalev was a veteran of many wars he volunteered to fight in, and like any old soldier, he sometimes won and sometimes lost his battles.
