23rd January, Istories

A deserter who survived a torture cellar and fled the front three times was denied asylum in Germany.

Georgy, a Russian conscript who fled the front three times, was placed in a basement for "refuseniks" in the village of Zaitsevo, and is wanted in Russia for desertion, has been denied asylum in Germany. Germany's Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) justified the refusal by claiming that mobilisation in Russia had supposedly been completed in October 2022, as Sergei Shoigu reported to Vladimir Putin at the time. BAMF employee also doubted the existence of torture cellars where Russian military personnel are illegally held and decided that deserter Georgy and his family would face no consequences upon returning to Russia other than a fine of 30,000 Rubles for evading a summons. According to Georgiy, German authorities initially refused to consider his case because he entered via Croatia, where he had already applied for asylum.

23rd January, Vedomosti

The total fertility rate continued to decline in 2025

Rosstat data cited by Vedomosti show Russia’s total fertility rate fell to 1.374 as of December 2025 (from 1.4 in 2024), staying around 1.37–1.39 during 2025. The article highlights sharp regional gaps: the rate was above 2 in Chechnya, Yamalo-Nenets AO, and Tuva, while among the lowest were Leningrad, Smolensk, and Vladimir oblasts; it also notes a decline in the indicator for third and subsequent births to 0.362. Experts argue that the effectiveness of pro-natalist policies depends on stronger, more up-to-date support for families—especially large families—and on more uniform implementation across regions, ideally without means-testing, with some measures folded into the national project “Family” (2025–2030).

23rd January, Kommersant

United and collective

At the “Znanie. Gosudarstvo” forum, Kremlin official Alexander Kharichev delivered a programme talk presenting the “pentabasis” model (person–society–family–country–state) as a framework for defining Russia’s direction. He contrasted Russia’s “sovereign traditionalism” with Western “liberal globalism” and said that research into a “civilizational code” shows that top-rated values include collectivism, service to the fatherland, and the unity of peoples, with rights and freedoms rated much lower. Kharichev also outlined five “polar vectors” (e.g., rationalism–idealism, individualism–collectivism, negative vs “positive” freedom) and linked policy responses to perceived threats ranging from “childfree” ideas and distrust of institutions to consumerism, virtual retreat, and transhumanism. According to him, the vision of an ideal Russia has five options: Great, Comfortable, Just, Modern, and Land of opportunity, which the administration hopes to unite into one vision, where a citizen is a proactive participant.

22nd January, Port Media

Russians have become the fifth-largest diaspora in the world.

The UN has published global migration data for 2024. According to the organisation, over 9.1 million Russian citizens were living outside of Russia in 2024. Also in the top are Ukraine (9.769 million emigrants), Mexico (11.596 million), China (11.701 million), and India (18.533 million). The 2022 report had 10.65 million Russians emigres and was ranked third. A clear indicator that sanctions and other restrictions did not cause ‘brain drain’ and instead buttressed the Russian Federation.

20th January, Meduza

A schoolgirl who posted a photo of RVC fighters on a school bulletin board was sentenced to four years in prison.

The First Western District Military Court in St. Petersburg sentenced 17-year-old schoolgirl Eva Bagrova to four years in prison for posting photographs of members of the Russian Volunteer Corps at school. The verdict was handed down in October 2025 but was previously unknown. Bagrova was found guilty of justifying terrorism (Article 205.2 of the Russian Criminal Code) and aiding terrorist activity (Article 205.1 of the Russian Criminal Code).

19th January, RBC

Patriarch Kirill called Putin an Orthodox leader.

Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia called Russian President Vladimir Putin an Orthodox leader. He made the statement during his Epiphany sermon at the Epiphany Cathedral in Moscow. “We have reached a time when the head of our state is a truly Orthodox leader, not, as they say, by protocol, but by conviction, Vladimir Vladimirovich [Putin],” the patriarch said after the liturgy. According to him, this indicates that “through the prayers of the holy saints” a “miracle of God” occurred.

15th January, Kommersant

Deputies will not let Russia “cheburakh” (tumble)

The State Duma Committee on Culture decided to hold a meeting on the state of Russian cinema. sparked by a bill that would give the Ministry of Culture the power to set “priority themes” for films seeking state funding. At the committee session, MPs complained about the alleged insider distribution of subsidies and “undesirable” filmmakers, criticised commercially successful fairy-tale franchises like Cheburashka and The Bremen Town Musicians for lacking the right message and values. They even floated the idea of letting the ministry intervene directly in the creative process. They are starting to intervene in non-political art, in a step from authoritarian to totalitarian.

15th January, Novaya Gazeta Europe

A political prisoner from the Omsk region died in a colony almost a year ago. The Federal Penitentiary Service reported this to an activist who was in correspondence with him

Roman Tyurin, a political prisoner from the Omsk region, who was convicted four times for posts on social networks, died in a colony almost a year ago, on February 17, 2025, Memorial reported. Human rights activists managed to find out about the death of the political prisoner when the activist, who was in correspondence with Tyurin, returned an unopened envelope with her letter. In February 2024, Tyurin was sentenced to four years in prison in a terrorism case (Article 205.2 of the Criminal Code). In the same month, the full namesake of the political prisoner was included in the register of extremists and terrorists of the Federal Financial Monitoring Service. In May of the same year, the term was increased to six years after the second sentence, in the case of military "fakes". In October 2024, the political prisoner was found guilty under the article on repeated discrediting of the Russian army (Article 280.3 of the Criminal Code), and in November, under the articles on calls for activities against the security of Russia (Article 280.4 of the Criminal Code) and repeated demonstration of prohibited symbols (Article 282.4 of the Criminal Code).On the aggregate of four sentences, the term of imprisonment for Tyurin reached six and a half years. Who else among political prisoners in Russia is already dead?

13th January, RBC

The court fined comedian Gudkov for the parody song "I am narrow"

A court in Krasnogorsk punished comedian Alexander Gudkov with a fine for parodying a song by singer Yaroslav Dronov (SHAMAN). Gudkov was found guilty under Article 20.3.1 of the Code of Administrative Offences - incitement to hatred or enmity, as well as humiliation of human dignity and was sentenced to an administrative fine of 11 thousand Rubles. "The court found that Gudkov A.V. posted a video on the social network "VKontakte" with the name "Alexander Gudkov - I am narrow", using the arrangement of the song "I am Russian", performed by the singer under the pseudonym SHAMAN, changed the lyrics of the song, using the phrase "I am narrow," the press service of the courts of general jurisdiction of the Moscow region said in a statement. (In the Russian language, words ‘narrow’ and ‘Russian’ do rhyme, hence the song parody) A psychological and linguistic study showed that the video recording contains actions aimed at humiliating the dignity of "a person and a group of persons based on origin." Since the video recording is available to an unlimited number of people, these actions are also public on the Internet. Seems that SHAMAN has become a protected image now, not allowed of parody.

12th January, Current Time

Gazprom-Media has invested hundreds of millions of Rubles in a system for searching for LGBT "propaganda" and drugs in films and TV series

Gazprom-Media Holding has invested several hundred million Rubles in the Predicto Platform module complex, one of the systems of which is designed to automatically check video content for the presence of "undesirable elements" - "propaganda" of drugs, alcohol, smoking, and LGBT people. After processing the video in this program, it returns a file with colour marking for the presence or absence of "signs" of smoking, alcohol, drugs, and LGBT people. The platform itself consists of 12 modules. In addition to the content verification module, as noted, it includes modules for content personalisation, user activity analysis, a recommendation system, search, and analytical systems. With more extremist monitoring being assigned to the AI, human personnel are focusing on a wider share of the population.

12th January, Kommersant

Gazprom's supplies to China exceeded exports to Europe for the first time in 2025

According to preliminary data, 38.8 billion cubic meters of gas were exported to China through the Power of Siberia gas pipeline, 24.8% increase compared to 2024. At the same time, Gazprom continued to supply to the near abroad. In 2025, exports to Central Asia and Transcaucasia increased: Russian gas supplies to Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan increased by 22.2%, and to Georgia by 40.4%. Another milestone in the economic shift.

11th January, URA.ru

Rossiyane/Russovians can lose their property after owing just 3,000 Rubles.

Bailiffs can seize property if the debt exceeds three thousand Rubles, Vladimir Gureev, chairman of the public council of the Federal Bailiff Service of Russia, has announced. "Current enforcement legislation allows for the seizure of a debtor's property for debts exceeding 3,000 Rubles (£28/€32/$38). Accordingly, foreclosure, generally, is possible starting from this amount," he said. Gureev noted that the debtor retains the opportunity to repay the debt voluntarily at any time, and if the seized property has not been sold within the framework of enforcement proceedings by that time, it will be returned to the debtor. A convenient method to take away the property of ‘foreign agents’ and those with frozen bank accounts.

8th January, Novaya Gazeta

The body of Russian journalist Yevgeny Safronov was found near Paris. Police are investigating the suicide, and media reports claim he may have received death threats.

On the morning of January 6, a 38-year-old Russian journalist was found dead in a Paris suburb, Le Figaro reports, citing a police source. The man's body was discovered beneath the windows of his apartment. Safronov left Russia before 2022, after the media outlet he worked for was designated a "foreign agent." At the end of 2024, Safronov "experienced a difficult and, as he claimed, unfair dismissal."  Yevgeny was reported to have been very depressed a week before the body was found, being crestfallen by the hacking of his accounts a week prior.  "During our last call, we were discussing the hacking of his accounts, and he still couldn't quite tell me what happened or how it happened. He was really depressed, totally on edge, and said he wanted to hang himself. "

7th January, TASS

Patriarch Kirill explained who is considered a traitor to the Motherland.

Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus' called those who fall outside the public consensus traitors to the Motherland. According to the patriarch, there must be a public consensus around the idea of ​​the state's existence. "If someone falls outside this consensus, then there is the definition: 'traitor to the homeland, with all the legal consequences that entail ', " the cleric said. Regarding the issues that citizens should focus on, he cited spiritual and moral aspects and security, “inherent in human moral nature.”

6th January, Delfi

Volkov regrets writing a message about Kapustin, the RVC, and Ukrainian officials. 

After controversial statements about Ukrainian officials made by Lithuania-based Russian opposition figure Leonid Volkov surfaced publicly, he admitted that he regretted his words. “I regret writing that message. It was a stupid, incorrect, and harshly emotional message that should not have been written,” Volkov told the portal on Tuesday.

“I was deeply outraged by the story of many Russians glorifying D. Kapustin as a hero. Someone wrote, ‘All hope is lost.’ ‘This is the real Russian opposition.’ ‘He’s fighting the right way, and everyone else is fighting the wrong way.’ This offends me. I do not like neo-Nazis. I believe that supporting them or collaborating with them is wrong, because they are evil, and fighting evil with evil is not the best idea,” he explained.

In late December, following reports of the alleged death of Denis Kapustin—the leader of the Russian Volunteer Corps—Volkov called him a Nazi in a letter and celebrated his “denazification.” On Monday evening, Volkov confirmed his words but clarified that the letter was personal and therefore emotional. After learning of Volkov’s letter, the Migration Department intends to decide whether he will be allowed to continue residing in Lithuania. Following a strong statement from Lithuania’s prime minister, Volkov may have to change his country of residence. This may signal a shift in the balance of power within the Russian opposition.

5th January, Mediazona

Hopping from one Wi-Fi hotspot to the next: Regions with internet "white lists"

Since May 2025, mass mobile internet shutdowns have been sweeping across Russia. The authorities claim this is necessary to defend against Ukrainian drones, yet the restrictions affect regions far from the front lines. In early August, the Kremlin announced that during these mobile blackouts, only specific, state-approved services would remain accessible. They are included in the so-called “whitelists.” Mobile internet shutdowns leave people unable to use everyday services like taxis, navigation, messaging, and many payment systems, forcing them to hunt for Wi-Fi and carry cash. Authorities and operators increasingly rely on “whitelists,” where only selected, approved apps keep working, pushing people toward those platforms, and narrowing what information and services remain accessible. The outages also raise personal safety risks and anxiety because people cannot reliably contact others or get help when they need it.

2nd January, RBC

Russia's richest businessmen earned nearly $32.8 billion in 2025.

The total fortune of the richest Russian businessmen increased by $32.8 billion in 2025, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. As of Friday, January 2, 20 Russians were included in the billionaire ranking. According to the ranking, Alisher Usmanov, the founder of the USM holding, showed the greatest growth among Russian businessmen. His fortune increased by $6.04 billion to $19.3 billion, followed by the founder of the Ural Mining and Metallurgical Company (UMMC), Iskander Makhmudov, whose fortune increased by $4.75 billion to $7.88 billion. A reminder that, if one of the sanctions goals was to put elites against the state, that goal has failed.

1st January, Novaya Gazeta

RDK leader Denis Kapustin is alive.

Denis Kapustin, the founder of the Russian Volunteer Corps, was not killed, as previously reported. This information was disseminated to cover up a Ukrainian intelligence operation to save his life. This was reported by Ukrainian intelligence agencies. According to the Main Intelligence Directorate, the murder of Denis Kapustin was ordered by Russian intelligence agencies, and half a million dollars was allocated for its implementation.