The Moscow Times: Russia on Thursday reported a record high number of both new coronavirus cases and deaths. Officials reported 31,299 new coronavirus cases and 986 fatalities from Covid-19 over the last 24 hours.
RFE/RL: A Russian court has imposed one year of restrictions on freedom of movement on Anastasia Vasilyeva, the personal doctor of jailed Russian opposition politician Aleksei Navalny, after finding her guilty of breaching COVID-19 safety rules. Vasilyeva, also the chief of the Alliance of Doctors NGO, was prosecuted for urging people earlier this year to join a protest against Navalny’s imprisonment that authorities said was illegal due to COVID-19 safety restrictions.
RFE/RL: Imprisoned Kremlin critic Aleksei Navalny says his supporters who have left Russia in the face of growing repression can continue their efforts to oppose the Russian government from abroad.
RFE/RL: When news emerged on October 12 that Sergei Zuyev, rector of the prestigious Moscow School of Social and Economic Sciences – known as Shaninka — had been detained in connection with a fraud investigation against a former education official, the arrest was quickly framed by critics as the latest salvo in the Kremlin’s ongoing crackdown against dissent.
RFE/RL: The Russian Justice Ministry has designated a human rights organization in the Far Eastern region of Yakutia a “foreign agent,” as the authorities continue to tighten their grip on civil society across the country.
RFE/RL: Jailed Russian opposition leader Aleksei Navalny, a group of Afghan women, and a jailed Bolivian opposition politician are the final three candidates for the European Parliament’s top human rights prize.
Human Rights in Ukraine: Russia’s Supreme Court has refused to refer the case of Yury Dmitriev for a cassation review despite glaring procedural irregularities and violations of his right to a fair trial. This was the last chance, at least in a Russian court, of achieving justice and averting what is likely to become a death sentence against the world-renowned historian and head of the Karelia branch of Memorial. Dmitriev played an inestimable role in naming victims of Stalin’s Terror, and its perpetrators, as well as in uncovering the mass graves at Sandarmokh. His persecution has coincided with attempts by the current regime in Russia, under President Vladimir Putin, to ‘rewrite’ the history of the Terror and to minimize the scale of the crimes.
The Moscow Times: Russian President Vladimir Putin said talk of his possible successor “destabilizes” the country’s political system and that he had not yet made any plans about his future.
