Week-ending 10 January 2025
Russia’s War against Ukraine
Crimea’s penal facilities have become home to scores of politically active Ukrainians abducted from other parts of the country under Russian occupation. (RFE/RL, 5/1/25)
Azerbaijan’s president said Russia was “guilty” over the downing of an airliner Baku says was shot by Russian air defenses. Brazil’s air force has extracted the data from two black box recorders. Azerbaijan Airlines announced it is indefinitely suspending flights between Baku and Kazan. The downing of the airliner shows flying over Russia poses a “high risk” to civilian aircraft, the European Union Aviation Safety Agency said. (The Moscow Times, 6/1/25; The Guardian, 6/1/25; Meduza, 9/1/25; The Moscow Times, 10/1/25)
The Ukrainian military said its forces had started new offensive operations in Russia’s Kursk region. (RFE/RL, 7/1/25)
Europe bought a record amount of liquefied natural gas from Russia last year, data shows, despite EU efforts to ditch the fossil fuels funding Putin’s war chest. (The Guardian, 9/1/25)
A growing number of Russians have sought refuge in Mexico, fleeing either the ongoing war in Ukraine or persecution due to their sexual orientation. (The Moscow Times, 10/1/25)
Other news
More than 30 dead dolphins have been found in the sea following an oil spill caused by the wreck of two tankers during a storm in the Kerch. (Meduza, 6/1/25)
Russian courts imposed 188 fines totaling nearly 30 million rubles (about $277,000) in 2023 and the first half of 2024 under laws targeting the “propaganda of non-traditional relationships, gender transition, and pedophilia,” (Meduza, 6/1/25)
The Swedish navy said it had recovered the anchor of an oil tanker suspected of damaging four underwater telecoms cables and one power cable. (The Moscow Times, 7/1/25)
Thousands of people in Chita have been left without heating and hot water amid subzero winter temperatures following an accident. (The Moscow Times, 7/1/25)
Russia said it expelled more than 80,000 migrants in 2024, nearly twice as many as in 2023. (The Moscow Times, 8/1/25)
A court in Yakutsk, Russia, has fined the local nightclub Number One 250,000 rubles ($2,448) for violating regulations on public gatherings and “the promotion of non-traditional sexual relationships.” (Meduza, 9/1/25)
Russian censors have re-edited the American film Anora to conceal depictions of drugs and marijuana use. (Meduza, 9/1/25)
Poland announced Wednesday it had shut its consulate in the Russian city of St. Petersburg after Russia ordered the closure in a tit-for-tat move. (The Moscow Times, 8/1/25)
A Russian court has ruled to block the website of the fast-fashion retailer Shein over LGBTQ+ bracelets that it sells. (The Moscow Times, 9/1/25)
Russian state media and pro-Kremlin news outlets saw their website audience numbers drop by as much as 30% in 2024. (The Moscow Times, 9/1/25)
Russia’s Federal Financial Monitoring Service (Rosfinmonitoring) has refused to remove the late Russian opposition figure Alexey Navalny from its registry of “extremists and terrorists,” according to a response published by his widow, Yulia Navalnaya. (Meduza, 10/1/25)
