The Real Russia. Today.

Russia’s sunk warship

Thursday, April 14, 2022

For ongoing coverage of the invasion of Ukraine and its consequences back in Russia, follow Meduza’s live updates. Please note that the authorities are now blocking our website in Russia, and we’re turning to you, our global audience, for financial support.

Major recent events in Russia and Ukraine

• Border attacks: Local Russian officials claimed Ukrainian forces were responsible for two attacks on Russian territory along the Ukrainian border. The governor of Russia’s Belgorod region reported that Ukraine had conducted airstrikes on the village of Zhuravlevka, damaging residential buildings and community facilities, while officials in the Bryansk region said Ukrainian helicopters had conducted airstrikes on residential buildings in the village of Klimovo, injuring at least seven people. Ukrainian authorities denied the claims: “The Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine’s Center for Countering Disinformation has already warned of the enemy’s intentions to commit a series of terrorist acts on Russian border territory to consolidate the Russian population against Ukrainians.”
• Disarming the populace: Signs calling for people to give up their firearms by Monday, April 18, have started appearing in Mariupol. According to the announcements, which are signed simply “administration,” citizens who keep their arms will be held criminally responsible, and searches for unsurrendered weapons will begin on Tuesday.
• No to Russian oil: The EU is reportedly planning to institute a ban on Russian natural gas over the course of multiple phases in order to give Germany and other countries time to find alternative suppliers, according to The New York Times. According to the Times’ sources, EU member countries won’t begin debating the embargo until after the French presidential election on April 24.
• Another Tochka-U missile: Ukrainian forces reported that the Russian military hit a residential building in the city of Gorodnya with a Tochka-U missile — the same kind that was used to shell a train station in Kramatorsk late last week. In 2017, the Russian Defense Ministry announced it would retire the Tochka-U, a Soviet tactical missile system, from its arsenal and replace it with the Iskander missile system; the Tochka-U missiles would be put in storage. Ukrainian authorities have suggested Russian forces may have a shortage of Iskander missiles and are therefore supplementing them with Toshka-U missiles.
• Turning up the patriotism: Students in Russia’s Voronezh region will soon start their days with the raising of the Russian flag, according to Regional Governor Aleksandr Gusev. “It’s very important right now that we instill in our children the correct ideas about the Motherland and foster respect for their country’s values in them. Authorities in the Kaluga region recently announced a similar initiative; every Monday, the Russian national anthem will be played in Kaluga schools as the flag is raised.
• Scientists leave Russia out: Russian Academy of Sciences President Alexander Sergeev spoke out about the international science community’s unwillingness to cooperate with Russian scientists, naming German scientists, French scientists, American scientists, and Chinese scientists: “Unfortunately, I can say directly that our Chinese academic colleagues have also pressed pause, and over the last month, we have been unable to enter into serious discussions, despite the fact that we previously had an excellent partnership with regular communication."

Towed to port: Russian warship Moskva ‘seriously damaged’ after Ukraine claims missile strike (5-min read)

Russia’s missile cruiser Moskva, the flagship of its Black Sea Fleet, sustained “serious damage” and had to be towed back to port on Thursday, April 14. This came after a fire aboard the vessel that broke out on Wednesday evening. Ukrainian officials and media outlets reported that the warship had been struck by two of Ukraine’s Neptune missiles. In turn, the Russian Defense Ministry stated that ammunition on board the vessel exploded in a fire, adding that the cause of the blaze was “being established.” On Thursday evening, the Russian Defense Ministry reported that due to damage to its haul, the Moskva sank while being towed to port in stormy weather.

What Russians who were previously ‘not interested in politics’ think about the war against Ukraine (22-min read)

For many Russians, life has changed radically because of Moscow’s decision to wage an all-out war against Ukraine. As a result, some Russians who had never given politics a second thought are now closely following the news and have begun to carefully criticize the government, quit their jobs in protest, and even attend anti-war rallies. Meduza shares some of their stories here.

Yours, Meduza