Week-ending 20 February 2026
Russia’s War against Ukraine
Prosecutors in Moscow have asked Russia’s Supreme Court to designate the Russian Anti-War Committee as a terrorist organization. (The Moscow Times, 13/2/26)
Moscow courts sentenced exiled Russian-Georgian journalist Yekaterina Kotrikadze and Russian businessman Yevgeny Chichvarkin to years in prison in absentia for spreading “fakes” about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. (The Moscow Times, 16/2/26)
Former operatives linked to the late Russian mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin are helping Moscow recruit agents in Europe to carry out sabotage. (The Moscow Times, 16/2/26)
Police in the republic of Sakha (Yakutia) reportedly arrested Viktor Savvinov, suspected of killing two people after being twice released to fight in Ukraine. (The Moscow Times, 16/2/26)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said 2,000 Ukrainian children had been brought back from Russia and Russian-occupied land since the start of the war. (The Moscow Times, 17/2/26)
A military court in Siberia sentenced two teenagers to prison for setting fire to a military helicopter on orders from Ukrainian intelligence services. (The Moscow Times, 18/2/26)
Cash incentives for contract soldiers and multimillion-ruble payments for families of those killed have fueled disputes over inheritance, custody and alleged fraud. (The Moscow Times, 18/2/26)
Foreign intelligence services can see Telegram correspondence sent by Moscow’s troops in Ukraine, Russia’s digital development minister claimed on Wednesday. (The Moscow Times, 18/2/26)
More than 1,000 Kenyans have been lured to fight for Russia in its war with Ukraine, according to an intelligence report to the Kenyan parliament. (The Guardian, 19/2/26)
Russian General Roman Demurchiev boasted about torturing, executing, and desecrating the bodies of Ukrainian military personnel, including prisoners of war. (Meduza, 20/2/26)
Other news
Russia’s state statistics agency Rosstat has stopped publishing data on the salaries and headcount of federal and municipal officials. (The Moscow Times, 13/2/26)
Alexei Navalny was killed by dart frog poison administered by the Russian state two years ago, a multi-intelligence agency inquiry has found. (The Guardian, 14/2/26)
The mother of Aleksei Navalny said European laboratory findings he was killed with a toxin confirmed “what we knew from the beginning…. He was murdered.” (RFE/RL, 16/2/26)
In a joint statement marking the second anniversary of Alexey Navalny’s death, 15 countries called on Russia to release all political prisoners. (Meduza, 16/2/26)
Moscow’s permanent representative to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) argued that epibatidine and similar toxins “cannot be a subject of discussion within the OPCW” because they fall under the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention. (Meduza, 17/2/26)
Police detained at least 19 people in cities across Russia as they held memorials to the late opposition activist Alexei Navalny on the second anniversary of his death. (The Moscow Times, 17/2/26)
A Moscow judge has sentenced U.S. citizen Robert Mao to four years in a penal colony for attempting to smuggle firearm components out of the country. (The Moscow Times, 17/2/26)
The State Duma passed a bill that would require internet and mobile providers to comply with orders from the FSB to shut down telecommunications services. (The Moscow Times, 17/2/26)
Russia’s Justice Ministry has designated the international successors of the Memorial human rights group as “undesirable” organizations. (The Moscow Times, 18/2/26)
The Kremlin intends to maintain its official Telegram channel, even as Russia increases restrictions on the platform, spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday. (Meduza, 19/2/26)
President Putin urged businesses to play a “key role” in meeting Russia’s demographic goals by encouraging their staff to have larger families. (The Moscow Times, 19/2/26)
School teachers in at least 10 Russian regions have faced delays in part of their salaries, an independent teachers’ union told the pro-Kremlin daily Izvestia on Thursday, as widening fiscal deficits strain public finances. (The Moscow Times, 19/2/26)
