Week-ending 1 May 2026
Russia’s War against Ukraine
“Resistance Imprisoned,” a new exhibition at Strasbourg’s Ritsch-Fisch Galerie dedicated to Russian and Ukrainian political prisoners held by the Kremlin. (The Moscow Times, 24/4/26)
Boris Nadezhdin, the anti-war politician blocked from the 2024 presidential election, plans to take part in elections for the State Duma and Moscow’s assembly. (The Moscow Times, 24/4/26)
Russian State Duma speaker thanked North Korean leader Kim Jong Un for “the liberation of Kursk” by sending troops there to fight off Ukrainians. (The Moscow Times, 26/4/26)
The Foreign Ministry said it added more people to its entry ban list of European officials, activists and academics in response to the EU’s latest sanctions package. (The Moscow Times, 27/4/26)
A St. Petersburg resident was barred from leaving Russia for Belarus after receiving a draft notice and then was turned away twice from international flights at Minsk airport. (Meduza, 27/4/26)
President Putin signed laws extending benefits to families of servicemen killed in the war, seriously wounded Rosgvardiya personnel, and those returned from military service. (Meduza, 27/4/26)
Poland released Russian archeologist Alexander Butyagin wanted in Ukraine for excavations in annexed Crimea. (The Moscow Times, 28/4/26)
Viktoriia Roshchyna spent part of her captivity in the prison of Taganrog, a place where Ukrainian civilians and prisoners of war are held, interrogated and broken. (The Guardian, 29/4/26)
NoName057(16) claimed responsibility for waves of DDoS attacks on public institutions and private companies across Europe since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. (The Moscow Times, 29/4/26)
Russian disinformation network Storm-1516 has been operating in the West since 2023, actively spreading fabricated stories and interfering in the political processes. (Meduza, 29/4/26)
Russians who received a military conscription notice will no longer be allowed to travel through neighboring Belarus to avoid service. (The Moscow Times, 29/4/26)
Russia’s annual Victory Day parade will be held on 9 May without military hardware for the first time in almost two decades for fears of attack by Ukrainian drones. (The Guardian, 29/4/26)
An explosion killed an army officer in what appeared to be an attempt to target Maj Gen Azatbek Omurbekov a senior commander known as the “Butcher of Bucha”. (The Guardian, 30/4/26)
The FSB claimed a Ukrainian handler instructed two individuals to “carry out intimidation campaigns at the homes of four senior officials of Roskomnadzor.” (The Moscow Times, 30/4/26)
Other news
Russian e-book platforms and online retailers have begun attaching warnings about drug-related content to works by classic Russian authors. (The Moscow Times, 24/4/26)
An animal rights activist in Omsk died on April 23 after an assault. (Meduza, 24/4/26)
The Federal Penitentiary Service (FSIN) has been ranked as one of the country’s top-performing state agencies for “client-centric” service. (The Moscow Times, 27/4/26)
A court in Voronezh sentenced a 24-year-old local resident to one year of corrective labor for displaying prohibited symbols of the International Satanism Movement. (Meduza, 27/4/26)
A court in St. Petersburg ruled in favor of a case brought by the Russian Justice Ministry to brand the Russian LGBT Network “extremist.” (The Moscow Times, 27/4/26)
Valery Fadeyev, head of the Presidential Council for Civil Society and Human Rights, condemned Russians for using VPNs saying it was “something unnatural.” (Meduza, 28/4/26)
Russian users downloaded VPN apps from Google Play 9.2 million times in March 2026 — 14 times more than in the same month a year earlier. (Meduza, 28/4/26)
Putin’s alleged daughter heads a closed AI hub at MGU. (The Moscow Times, 28/4/26)
Around 200 dogs died in a fire in the city of Nizhny Novgorod. (The Moscow Times, 29/4/26)
President Putin supports Kadyrov’s bid for another term as head of Chechnya. (Meduza, 29/4/26)
Roskomnadzor demanded Apple and Google remove iStories from app stores. (Meduza, 29/4/26)
Police in Karachay-Cherkessia arrested at least 16 men on criminal charges of organizing the activities of an extremist organization for queer dating. (Meduza, 30/4/26)
The State Duma plans to ban the supply of computing capacity to VPN services. (Meduza, 30/4/26)
Kyle Nagy, a US citizen charged with cryptocurrency fraud, moved to Moscow. (RFE/RL, 30/4/26)
Ruslan Kutayev was suspended from the European advisory body for exiled Russian dissidents, for comments about LGBTQ+ people and so-called “honor killings.” (The Moscow Times, 30/4/26)
Eksmo CEO Yevgeny Kapyev and his colleagues were released after questioning about LGBTQ+ “propaganda” and “extremism.” (The Moscow Times, 30/4/26)
Russians have begun complaining on social media about being coerced into voting. (Meduza, 30/4/26)
According to Memorial, at least 68 victims of political repression haver died in custody over the last five years, including at least six since the start of 2026. (Meduza, 30/4/26)
