Week-ending 31 October 2025
Russia’s War against Ukraine
Law enforcement officers searched the apartment of Anastasia Chumakova, mother of the U.S.-based founder and editor-in-chief of the independent news outlet Astrain Ulyanovsk in connection with alleged spreading “false information” about the Russian military. (The Moscow Times, 24/10/25)
Leonid Pshenichnov, 70, a Ukrainian biologist who is an expert on Antarctica, was arrested in the Russian-occupied territory of Crimea on charges of treason. (The Guardian, 26/10/25)
Russia has been using drones to chase and drop bombs on civilians who live near the frontline in Ukraine – forcing thousands to flee whole areas in a crime against humanity, the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine has found. (The Guardian, 28/10/25)
Hundreds of Central Asians who have been killed or are missing since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, according to the I Want To Live project, including over 400 Tajiks, nearly 300 Kazakhs, over 100 Uzbeks, and dozens of Turkmen and Kyrgyz. (RFE/RL, 28/10/25)
Russia’s Orenburg region has slashed one-time enlistment bonuses for men signing military contracts to the minimum legal threshold. (The Moscow Times, 28/10/25)
Diana Loginova (aka Naoka), who fronts the band Stoptime, was ordered jailed for an additional 13 days on a charge of petty hooliganism, on grounds one of the lyrics of her songs contained an expletive, the day after her previous 13-day detention ended (RFE/RL, 29/10/25)
Russia is poised to enforce year-long military conscription, rather than just in the spring and autumn. (The Guardian, 29/10/25)
Russia’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has, during the war in Ukraine, quietly amassed millions of rubles in property and income that far exceed her official earnings, the investigative news outlet Explainer reported. (The Moscow Times, 30/10/25)
Russian commanders are executing or deliberately sending to their deaths soldiers who refuse to fight in Ukraine, according to the independent outlet Verstka. (The Guardian, The Moscow Times, 30/10/25)
Other news
A Russian state prosecutor has requested 440 hours of compulsory community service for opposition politician Lev Shlosberg on accusations that he failed to comply with “foreign agent” laws, the Yabloko party said. (The Moscow Times, 24/10/25)
A Moscow court ordered the arrest in absentia of anti-war Russian pop singer Monetochka on charges of evading foreign agent obligations, the city prosecutor’s office said. (The Moscow Times, 27/10/25)
Russian authorities banned the world’s largest anime and manga platform MyAnimeList over “extremist” LGBTQ+ content, state media reported Tuesday. (The Moscow Times, 28/10/25)
Russian figures close to the Kremlin are seeking to halt the extradition from Dubai of Horațiu Potra, a Romanian-French mercenary, wanted in Romania for plotting a coup. (The Guardian, 29/10/25)
Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) has ordered banks to install surveillance equipment that would allow authorities to monitor customer communications, the RBC news website reported Wednesday. The systems, known as SORM (System for Operative Investigative Activities), enable security services to intercept and analyze messages, voice recordings, videos and other user-generated content. Banks have been instructed to implement the technology by 2027. (The Moscow Times, 29/10/25)
Russia has placed Galina Timchenko, co-founder and CEO of Meduza, on its international wanted list, the country’s Investigative Committee announced on Wednesday. (Meduza, 29/10/25)
Russian officials, who have repeatedly described its demographics and “very low” birth rate as a serious concern, are intensifying their efforts to encourage citizens to have more children. Yet despite officials’ best efforts, experts say the current demographic situation in Russia should be viewed as a deep crisis. (The Moscow Times, 30/10/25)
Two Siberian regions have become the 26th and 27th Russian regions to adopt legislation this week banning the “coercion” of pregnant women into terminating a pregnancy amid efforts by conservative figures to expand state pressure to boost birth rates. (The Moscow Times, 30/10/25)
