Week-ending 10 April 2026
Russia’s War against Ukraine
Russia’s army recorded almost no territorial gains on the frontline in Ukraine in March for the first time in two-and-a-half years. (The Guardian, 4/4/26)
In St. Petersburg six former members of Vesna were sentenced to prison sentences of varying lengths on charges of extremism and spreading ‘war fakes.’ (The Moscow Times, Meduza, 8/4/26)
A series of public opinion surveys have registered a decline in support for Putin. (RFE/RL, 8/4/26)
Drone forces commanders can discharge contract personnel but are not obliged to do so. (Meduza, 8/4/26)
Preschoolers across Russia will begin state-backed patriotic lessons known as “Kind Games” later this year, a senior Education Ministry official said Wednesday. (The Moscow Times, 8/4/26)
Underage college students in Krasnodar Krai are being recruited to sign statements pledging to enlist with the Defense Ministry in the future. (Meduza, 8/4/26)
The US has ignored compelling evidence that Russia has been helping Iran to target US bases in the Middle East because it “trusts” Vladimir Putin, Volodymyr Zelenskyy said. (The Guardian, 9/4/26)
Russia’s FSB detained a former Russian freelancer for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Aleksandr Andreev, accusing the man of treason. (RFE/RL, Meduza, 9/4/26)
Russia transferred the bodies of 1,000 fallen Ukrainian servicemembers to Ukraine; Ukraine returned the bodies of 41 fallen Russian servicemembers. (Meduza, The Moscow Times, 9/4/26)
Kyiv and Moscow pledged to halt fighting for 32 hours to mark Orthodox Easter. (RFE/RL, 10/4/26)
Other news
Residents of Daghestan were evacuating their homes as major floods swept through the region. Some residents blamed local officials for mismanagement. (RFE/RL, 2/4/26)
Parliamentary speaker Alen Simonyan said Armenia would leave the Collective Security Treaty Organization and the Eurasian Economic Union if Russia raises the price of gas. (Meduza, 4/4/26)
Pavel Talankin said his film, Mr. Nobody Against Putin, gets more attention and viewers for being banned.(RFE/RL, 4/4/26)
Dozens of people gathered outside the Presidential Administration in Moscow to submit petitions against the blocking of messaging apps and the shutdown of mobile internet access. (Meduza, 4/4/26)
A second weekend of major flooding in the North Caucasus republic of Dagestan has left at least five people dead, regional authorities said Monday. (The Moscow Times, 6/4/26)
A man sentenced to life for his role in the Crocus City Hall attack died by suicide. (Meduza, 6/4/26)
Police officers have been ordered not to identify themselves as law enforcement on social media or messaging apps. (Meduza, 6/4/26)
Reports say universities have a quota for recruiting contract soldiers for the war. (Meduza, 6/4/26)
A court in Grozny has designated the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria a terrorist organization and banned its activities in Russia. (Meduza, 7/4/26)
Yale, one of the most prestigious universities in the world, is one of at least 18 Western universities, educational alliances and programs to have been labeled “undesirable.” (The Moscow Times, 7/4/26)
Russian marketplaces Wildberries and Ozon, along with the online grocery retailer VkusVill, have begun restricting access for users connected to popular VPN services. (Meduza, 7/4/26)
Armed men in masks broke up a self-organization festival in the Siberian city of Tyumen on its opening day. (Meduza, 8/4/26)
Marat Nikandrov was given 8 months on a suspended sentence on foreign-agent charges. (Meduza, 8/4/26)
The Supreme Court declared the human rights group Memorial an extremist organization and banned its activities in the country. (Meduza, The Moscow Times, 9/4/26)
The Memorial Human Rights Center said it is suspending all work inside Russia. (Meduza, 9/4/26)
Journalist Oleg Roldugin, managing editor at the independent Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta, has been detained in a police raid on the paper’s offices. (Meduza, 9/4/26)
Victor Olevich, a political analyst who appears on NTV said he has left Russia after coming under pressure from the FSB. (Meduza, 9/4/26)
Russia has opened a criminal case against comedian and screenwriter Semyon Slepakov for failing to comply with his obligations as a foreign agent. (Meduza, 9/4/26)
A 55-year-old man suspected of planning to kill a Russian activist and a political adviser known for his criticism of Russia in Lithuania has been arrested in Greece. (Meduza, 9/4/26)
A fan festival dedicated to Alla Pugacheva has been canceled after Vitaly Borodin, head of the Federal Project on Security and Anti-Corruption, filed a complaint seeking to ban it. (Meduza, 10/4/26)
Russia’s Justice Ministry announced that at least 196 people are actively involved in the International Memorial movement, which the Supreme Court has designated an extremist organization. (Meduza, 10/4/26)
Russia’s federal censorship agency, Roskomnadzor, has added the “VPN Traffic Light” project to its registry of banned websites. The service tracked which VPN services were still working in Russia. (Meduza, 10/4/26)
