Russia

Russia

Putin seizes five European firms in ongoing hostile asset crackdown

The decree covers a flooring manufacturer, a paper packaging firm, a hygiene products maker, and two metal- and plastic-packaging companies, all of which continued operating in Russia after the all-out invasion of Ukraine in early 2022.

16/10/2026

Russia

Russia detains Swedish citizen as Moscow eyes future prisoner swaps

The FSB arrested the Swedish citizen in Pskov region on terrorism charges and Japanese journalist Yuki Imai on Sakhalin on espionage charges, days after former president Medvedev wrote that Russia may need to “fill up the exchange pool with European and American idiots” to recover Russians abroad.

15/10/2026

Russia

Russia’s internet shutdowns push state firms back to landlines

State procurement of landline telephones tripled in the first eight months of 2026 as mobile internet outages hit nearly 80% of the country. Rostelecom’s chief urged Russians to keep one at home “like a fire extinguisher".

14/10/2026

Russia

Japan summons Russian ambassador to protest journalist's arrest

Moscow's FSB security service said a Japanese national was arrested on the Far East island of Sakhalin, near a disputed cluster of islands, but did not name the individual.

14/10/2026

Russia

Russia funnels nearly half its budget into war as social funds shrink

Russia’s 2027 draft budget allocates a record share to defence and security, as regions quietly divert funds for foster children and orphans to war payments and “coffin money” for soldiers’ families is cut by up to 95% in some areas.

13/10/2026

Russia

Rent surges in Georgia and Armenia as Russians flee mobilisation fears

Monthly rents in Yerevan now run to €800–900 for a two-room flat, up 23.5% year on year in August, while Tbilisi rents have stabilised after 60–70% jumps following the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Russian nationals account for 72% of all foreign property transactions in Armenia.

13/10/2026

Russia

Russia slashes cancer care as defence spending hits post-Soviet record

The federal cancer programme budget falls from 44.9 billion to 3.87 billion roubles in 2027 — a nearly 40-fold reduction against 2025 levels — as defence spending reaches 35% of all federal expenditure, the highest share since the Soviet Union collapsed.

09/10/2026

Russia

Russia dismisses transparency calls amid reports of second plague case

Rospotrebnadzor said nearly 5,000 tests found no dangerous pathogens and saw "no epidemic risk," while the Kremlin called most media reporting "false" and said it had no knowledge of a US demarche formally requesting additional information.

07/10/2026

Russia

Trump to talk plague with Putin as Russia plays down fears of outbreak

The Kremlin welcomed the offer while Russia's health watchdog shot back that Moscow was "ready to assist the US in tackling infectious disease outbreaks" as the WHO asked Russia for additional information.

07/10/2026

Health news

Plague fears in Siberia: How are Irkutsk residents reacting?

Irkutsk residents react to reports of a suspected pneumonic plague death at a local anti-plague institute, with authorities saying the cause of death remains unconfirmed.

07/10/2026

Russia

Russia asks Vietnam for planes as seized Western fleet falls apart

Moscow proposed wet-leasing Vietnamese aircraft, crews and maintenance, but any transfer would involve Airbus or Boeing jets, exposing Vietnamese carriers to secondary sanctions. Nearly a fifth of Russia's largest airlines' planes are already grounded, double the normal downtime rate.

07/10/2026

Russia

Russia denies plague death but quarantines 200 without explanation

Rospotrebnadzor said Darya Shipilova, 28, died of "pneumonia of unknown aetiology" with no links to her work at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Institute, but imposed quarantine on her contacts, confined 60 colleagues inside the facility and restricted access to hospitals including a maternity ward.

06/10/2026

Russia

Russia denies lab worker died of plague as quarantine stays in place

Rospotrebnadzor said tests found no pathogen linked to the deceased lab worker's work at the Irkutsk anti-plague institute, but more than 60 colleagues remained isolated inside the building and several hospitals stayed closed without explanation.

05/10/2026

Russia

Russia leads world in cat ownership — yet has 2.8 million strays

Nearly 59% of Russian households own at least one cat, the highest rate globally, but the 2022 mobilisation order left hundreds of thousands of animals abandoned when owners fled the country or were sent to the front in Ukraine. Up to 98% of Russia's stray cats and dogs were once domestic pets.

03/10/2026

Europe

Putin says all weapons 'on agenda' if Russia's Kaliningrad attacked

Russia would consider using "all types of weapons" if its exclave of Kaliningrad was attacked, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday, while insisting that Moscow had "no intention of attacking anyone."

02/10/2026

Russia

Russia expels Hungarian diplomats as Budapest breaks with Orbán era

Moscow ordered Hungarian embassy and consulate staff out just weeks after Budapest expelled 10 Russian diplomats on national security grounds in September, the first such move by Hungary since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

01/10/2026

Russia

Russia's jury reform draws fire for handing verdicts back to the state

The Supreme Court proposals would allow presiding judges to "clarify" questions during deliberations and reduce jury panels from six or eight members to four, changes lawyers say undermine the independence of a system that acquits at 60 times the national average in non-jury trials.

01/10/2026

Russia

Russian nuclear-capable Tu-95 crashes in Far East, killing six crew

The bomber went down near Krasnoyarovo shortly after taking off from the Ukrainka air base, which Russia had used to shelter surviving strategic bombers after Ukraine's Operation Spiderweb destroyed or damaged more than 40 aircraft at Russian airfields in June 2025.

29/09/2026

Russia

Putin expands army for fourth time this year as war losses mount

The decree adds 15,500 troops, bringing the authorised military strength to 1.55 million, the fourth such increase since March. Zelenskyy said Moscow had "already begun additional mobilisation" and that North Korea was preparing to send a further 10,000 soldiers to Russia.

29/09/2026

Russia

Russia plans new 'superprisons' despite war recruitment emptying jails

Seven complexes holding more than 20,000 inmates are planned for 2035, including one in Russian-occupied Kherson, even as the prison population has dropped from 465,000 to 282,000 since 2021, largely because inmates have been recruited as contract soldiers for the war in Ukraine.

28/09/2026

Russia

Russia lost nearly half its schools — war propaganda fills the rest

Closures driven by per-pupil funding that made smaller rural schools unviable far outpaced demographic decline. Since 2022, all remaining schools hold mandatory weekly classes on Russian "traditional values" and the Kremlin's version of events surrounding Russia's war in Ukraine.

28/09/2026

Europe

Russian foreign minister rejects Berlin's call to abandon escalation

Tensions between Germany and Russia hit a flashpoint in early September after Berlin accused Russia of being behind a drone attack at Leipzig/Halle airport earlier this year.

27/09/2026

Europe

Russia's finance ministry raises taxes to bolster military budget

More frequent long-range strikes by the Ukrainian armed forces on strategically important targets, as well as growing spending to counter these attacks, are further deepening Russia's budget deficit.

27/09/2026

Russia

AI serves up content from Russia's sanctioned state outlets, RSF finds

Reporters Without Borders tested six AI chatbots by requesting news from RT, Sputnik, and other EU-sanctioned Russian outlets, and found that three produced full summaries with links and quotes, sometimes after encountering web pages explicitly stating the outlets were under sanctions.

23/09/2026

Russia

Russia quietly modernises bomb shelters in Moscow and St Petersburg

Tens of millions of roubles have been allocated for repairs to shelters across Moscow districts and St Petersburg metro stations as Ukrainian drones struck another Russian refinery on Sunday, as the Kremlin's all-out war in Ukraine continues well into its fifth year.

22/09/2026

Russia

Russians abroad voted overwhelmingly against Putin's party, polls show

Two independent exit polls covering 27 countries put New People first with around 45% and United Russia as low as 2.8%, the reverse of official results inside Russia, where Putin's party took nearly 58%. Exit poll organisers said the gap "destroys the image of supposed support for the authorities."

22/09/2026