News
- Retired FSB major general found dead in Moscow apartmentIgor Laptev, a retired 83-year-old FSB major general, was found dead in his Moscow apartment, Russian media reported.
- French math journal publishes paper by jailed Russian mathematician Azat MiftakhovThe French mathematics journal Revue de la filière mathématiques (RMS) has published a scientific article by imprisoned mathematician Azat Miftakhov, opening its June-August 2026 issue.
- Russian police detain Communist Party candidate over Nazi symbols chargePolice in Saratov detained Communist Party State Duma candidate Nikolai Bondarenko and forcibly brought him to a local court, the politician told Vedomosti.
- Ozon apps return to Google Play after removal last weekOzon's main marketplace app and several related services are available again in Google Play after being removed last week, the company said.
- FSB says nine plotted FPV drone attacks on Russian targetsRussia's Federal Security Service said it opened a criminal case against nine people accused of preparing attacks on Russian territory, with eight arrested and one killed during detention.
- Ukraine asks Musk to allow Starlink on drones for strikes deep inside RussiaUkraine has asked Elon Musk to permit the use of Starlink satellite internet on drones for strikes against targets up to 200 km inside Russia, but President Donald Trump has not backed the initiative.
- Beauty business closures in Russia jump 52% as tax burden bitesThe number of beauty businesses closing in Russia rose 52.5% in January–July, to 12,300, as new registrations fell 16.1%, according to data compiled for Kommersant.
- Fuel crisis spreads across Russia as second wave hits gas stationsDrivers across Russia are facing fuel shortages and queues at gas stations, with complaints reported from at least 25 regions including Moscow and St. Petersburg.
- Russian publishers cut print runs after drone strikes on Wildberries warehousesRussian book publishers are halting new printings and reducing print runs after Ukrainian drone attacks on Wildberries warehouses destroyed millions of books, Kommersant reported.
- VK sues Apple in Moscow court over App Store removalsVK has filed a lawsuit against Apple in Moscow's Arbitration Court demanding the restoration of push notifications in its apps and penalties for non-compliance.
- Russian drones kill two women in Kharkiv region, strike border crossing with MoldovaRussian drones killed two women in the Kharkiv region and struck a border crossing with Moldova overnight, Ukrainian officials said.
- Russian teen jailed in Kansk case faces third criminal chargeRussian investigators have opened a third criminal case against Nikita Uvarov, a convict in the 'Kansk teenagers' case, accusing him of involving others in extremist activity while in prison.
- Russia proposes fines for defying regional governors' wartime ordersThe Russian government has submitted a bill to the State Duma introducing fines for failing to comply with decisions of regional governors and regional operational headquarters.
- Ukraine weighed AI drone swarm attack on Moscow airportsUkraine discussed a plan to disrupt Moscow's airports using a swarm of up to 1,000 AI-guided drones, according to The Atlantic.
- Russia's UN envoy says no mass mobilization plannedRussia's UN envoy Vasily Nebenzya said mass mobilization is not planned, contradicting Ukrainian claims of a new wave.
- Ukrainian drones strike Lukoil refinery in Perm regionUkrainian drones attacked the Lukoil-owned Permnefteorgsintez refinery in Russia's Perm region, with local authorities reporting explosions and smoke across the city.
- Ukraine sanctions creators of 'Masha and the Bear' cartoonUkraine imposed sanctions on the studio behind the popular children's cartoon 'Masha and the Bear,' accusing it of spreading pro-Russian narratives disguised as children's content.
- Dozens of Ukrainian soldiers desert during training in GermanyDozens of Ukrainian soldiers have deserted during training exercises in Germany, with around 80 cases reported in the state of Saxony-Anhalt alone.
- Son of ex-children's ombudsman Pavel Astakhov arrested in new fraud caseAnton Astakhov, son of former Russian children's ombudsman Pavel Astakhov, has been jailed in Moscow's Matrosskaya Tishina detention center on charges of large-scale fraud.
- Russian court overturns pensioner's drone-shooting fine, orders rifle returnedA regional court in Volgograd has thrown out a fine against a pensioner who shot at Ukrainian drones and ordered his confiscated rifle returned.
- Russia has damaged one in three apartment buildings in KyivNearly 4,000 of Kyiv's 12,000 apartment buildings have sustained damage of varying severity since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said.
- Russia's gold reserves hit lowest level since 2020 as Finance Ministry sellsRussia's gold reserves fell to their lowest level since January 2020, shrinking for a sixth straight month as the Finance Ministry sold bullion to cover budget shortfalls.
- Putin reverses dismissal of top asset-seizure prosecutorPresident Vladimir Putin has annulled the dismissal of Sergei Bochkarev, the head of the Prosecutor General's Office's main civil litigation department, who was removed in late July.
- Former Kukryniksy bassist found dead in St. Petersburg pond with severed handThe body of Dmitry Oganyan, former bassist of the Russian rock band Kukryniksy, was found in a pond in St. Petersburg with a severed hand and an axe nearby.
- Rodina party website goes dark after court removes Yabloko from ballotThe website of the Russian Rodina party has been inaccessible since August 10, the day the Supreme Court heard its lawsuit to remove the Yabloko party from the State Duma election ballot.
- Poland detains Ukrainian accused of bombing plot for RussiaPolish security services arrested a 63-year-old Ukrainian citizen suspected of attempting to assassinate a Ukrainian defense industry figure on orders from Russian intelligence.
- Suspect in Volkov attack retracts testimony implicating NevzlinAnatoly Blinov, accused of organizing attacks on Russian opposition figures, has disavowed his pretrial testimony in a Warsaw court, including statements that businessman Leonid Nevzlin ordered him to 'deal with' Leonid Volkov and economist Maxim Mironov.
- Alabuga students say drone assembly pay fell to 1,500 rublesStudents at Alabuga Polytech, a Russian college where they assemble Shahed drones, said their pay fell far short of promises, with one former student receiving just 1 ruble for a month of work.
- Russian lawmaker says warehouse owners should pay for drone attack repairsA senior Russian lawmaker said owners of warehouses damaged in drone attacks should restore them at their own expense, rejecting direct state funding.
- Russian banks cut mortgage discounts, add rate premiums as key rate easing slowsRussian banks have begun reducing discounts and introducing premiums on market mortgage rates, with the Moscow Credit Bank, VTB and Dom.RF among the first to tighten terms.
- Siberian mayor forces removal of Yabloko candidate's 'For peace and freedom' bannerThe mayor of Baikalsk in Siberia's Irkutsk region demanded the removal of a campaign banner for Yabloko candidate Pavel Kharitonenko that read 'For peace and freedom,' the candidate said.
- 14-year-old from Barnaul becomes youngest on Russia's terrorists and extremists listA 14-year-old from Barnaul, Ivan Maltsev, has become the youngest person ever added to Russia's list of terrorists and extremists, according to Mediazona.
- Russian town threatens child with criminal case over Smeshariki drawings on playgroundAuthorities in the town of Bolokhovo, Tula region, have filed a police report over drawings of Smeshariki cartoon characters on a playground's rubber surface, identifying the young artist via CCTV.
- Russian Orthodox Church backs sending Dmitry Donskoy's remains to war zoneThe Russian Orthodox Church called 'reasonable' a plan to send the newly found remains of Prince Dmitry Donskoy to the combat zone in Ukraine for soldiers to venerate.
- Russia's ruling party gets top ballot spot in 21 of 39 regions — odds of 1 in 26 millionUnited Russia received the first position on election ballots in 21 of 39 Russian regions where regional parliament elections are set for September, a result the Yabloko party says defies statistical probability.
- Ukrainian drones strike Tatarstan refinery, Taman oil terminal and power substationUkrainian drones attacked the TANECO refinery in Nizhnekamsk, Tatarstan, and hit a key power substation and oil terminal on the Taman Peninsula in southern Russia on the morning of August 20.
- Russian ballistic missile strike on Kyiv kills five, wounds 23A Russian ballistic missile attack on Kyiv overnight killed at least five people and wounded 23, according to the Kyiv City Military Administration.
- Russian vaccine maker recalls four batches after dog deathsAt least 20–25 dogs have died in Russia after being vaccinated with the domestic vaccine Multikan-8, prompting the manufacturer to recall four batches.
- Russia's youngest political prisoner Arseny Turbin turns 18 in jailArseny Turbin, Russia's youngest political prisoner, turned 18 on August 19 while in a pre-trial detention center, where his mother says he looks depressed and his health is deteriorating.
- Russian journalist sentenced in absentia to 4.5 years for anti-mobilization callsA court in Tomsk sentenced journalist Andrei Serafimov in absentia to 4.5 years in a general-regime penal colony over his calls for Russians to ignore military draft notices.
- Russians barred from foreign travel over hogweed-overgrown plotsCourt bailiffs in Russia's Perm region imposed travel bans on landowners who failed to clear their plots of Sosnowsky's hogweed.
- Putin orders warehouse rebuild after Ukrainian strikes, says no 'critical consequences'President Vladimir Putin has ordered the Russian government to develop a program to rebuild logistics and warehouse facilities damaged by Ukrainian drone attacks, while insisting the strikes have no 'critical consequences' for the economy.
- Russian banks now require drone-attack coverage on mortgage homesRussian banks have begun requiring borrowers to insure mortgaged housing against drone attacks, the head of the All-Russian Union of Insurers told Kommersant.
- Record 20,000 Russians cross into Georgia in one day amid mobilization rumorsMore than 20,000 people crossed the Russia-Georgia border through the Upper Lars checkpoint in a single day, the Federal Customs Service said, as rumors of a new mobilization wave drive Russians to leave.
- Russia's top VEB economist fired after report warning Moscow is losing economic warAndrei Klepach, chief economist at Russia's state development corporation VEB.RF, was dismissed on August 16 after a report he authored concluded Russia cannot win the economic war of attrition against the West.
- Russian studios get 100-page guide on making 'traditional values' filmsRussia's largest film producers have received a draft guide on creating movies and series that promote 'strong family' values, according to RBC.
- Ukraine's parliament appoints ex-Alpha chief Khmara as defense ministerUkraine's Verkhovna Rada approved Yevhen Khmara as defense minister, with 312 lawmakers voting in favor and two against.
- Kremlin-linked economists draft plan to revive Russia's growth, hinting at 2029 end to warA new economic program prepared for Vladimir Putin by a Kremlin-affiliated think tank proposes shifting Russia's growth model from state spending to private capital, with a budget target that implicitly sets 2029 as the end of the war.
- Russian dealers report motor oil shortages, prices up to 40% higherRussian car dealers and service chains report motor oil shortages and price increases of up to 40% since the start of the year, with some import products doubling in cost.
- Russian recruiters use Wildberries warehouse guard ads to lure men into army contractsAround 2,000 ads on Russia's Avito classifieds site offer warehouse guard jobs at Wildberries and Ozon, but recruiters instead pitch one-year military contracts with the Defense Ministry.
- Russia and Ukraine exchange 103 prisoners of war each in UAE-brokered dealRussia and Ukraine exchanged 103 prisoners of war each, with the UAE serving as mediator, Russia's Defense Ministry said.
- Russian drone strike on minibus in Kherson kills fourA Russian drone attack on a minibus in Kherson killed four people and wounded five others, Ukrainian officials said.
- Court removes Yabloko candidate from Russian parliamentary race over paperwork errorsA Moscow regional court disqualified Yabloko party candidate Viktor Bystrov from the State Duma election in the Kolomna district due to errors in his financial disclosure forms.
- Russian government panel backs bill allowing Emergency Ministry troops to use firearmsA Russian government commission has approved a draft law that would allow servicemen of the Emergency Ministry's rescue military units to use force and firearms.
- Moscow fuel stations reintroduce gasoline purchase limits as shortages spreadGas stations operated by Gazprom Neft and Tatneft in Moscow have again capped fuel sales per driver, with limits ranging from 40 to 60 liters, as a second wave of Russia's fuel crisis hits the capital.
- Ukraine's anti-corruption agency searches Zelensky aide's officeUkraine's National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) is conducting searches at the office of Iryna Mudra, deputy head of President Volodymyr Zelensky's office, as part of an operation targeting an alleged criminal organization.
- Russian strike on Zaporizhzhia kills one, injures sevenA Russian overnight attack on Zaporizhzhia killed one person and wounded seven, Ukrainian authorities said.
- Ukrainian drones strike Russian explosives plant and residential high-riseUkrainian drones attacked the Sverdlov explosives plant in Dzerzhinsk, Nizhny Novgorod region, and a residential building in the city overnight on August 19.
- Ukraine's ex-defense minister urges elections even amid warFormer Ukrainian Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov called on the country to find a 'legal, safe and realistic mechanism' to resume elections even if the war continues for years.
- Moscow blackout knocks out major internet exchange, disrupting Runet nationwideA power outage at Moscow's largest internet exchange point caused widespread disruptions to websites and services across Russia on Tuesday.