The Real Russia. Today.

Friday, May 10, 2024

🪖 Russia launches new offensive in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region (3-min read)

Russian forces launched a new offensive in the border areas of Ukraine’s Kharkiv region on Friday, May 10. Russian pro-war Telegram channels were the first to report the ground attack. The Ukrainian Defense Ministry later confirmed that the Russian military had attempted “to break through the defensive line under the cover of armored vehicles.” Ukraine’s Defense Ministry said its forces repelled the attacks but that “fighting of varying intensity” is still ongoing, and reserves have been sent to reinforce the area. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky also stated that there is a “fierce battle” in the Kharkiv region, adding that Ukrainian artillery fire had halted the Russian advance.

🔍 How Navalny’s team worked while he was in prison — and what changed after his death (15-min read)

In 2011, Russian opposition politician Alexey Navalny founded the Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK), an organization dedicated to fighting government corruption. Since its inception, the FBK has released numerous investigations into the corrupt dealings of public officials and served as a rallying point for the Russian political opposition — prompting a government crackdown and eventual nationwide ban. After Navalny’s death in a Russian prison in February 2024, the organization was left suddenly leaderless. Meduza spoke with several FBK members to get an in-depth look into the group’s history and to learn how the organization most known for its famous leader is trying to find its way in the wake of his death.

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🇩🇪 ‘War found me again’: A German aid network provides vital support for Ukraine’s elderly survivors of Nazi persecution (14-min read)

In a video address in honor of Victory in Europe Day on May 8, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that “everyone who remembers World War II and has survived to this day is experiencing déjà vu.” As The Beet has reported previously, for some elderly Ukrainians, Russia’s full-scale invasion has indeed stirred childhood memories of another war — one in which Germany was the enemy rather than an ally. Meanwhile, in Germany, Russia’s aggression has reignited the issue of historical war guilt, prompted a reckoning with decades of foreign policy, and helped fuel Berlin’s current support for Ukraine. This sense of collective responsibility also undergirds the work of the Aid Network for Survivors of Nazi Persecution in Ukraine, an organization formed in response to Russia’s 2022 invasion. Journalist Anna Conkling reports from Berlin.

• ⚖️ Goose stepping or goof steppin’? The head of Russia’s Federal Investigative Committee has demanded a criminal case against a man in Volgograd who was filmed on May 9, Victory Day, marching in public and gesturing what appeared to be a Nazi salute. In a separate video, the man identifies himself as Vasily Kozlovsky and apologizes for offending people, claiming that he was only goofing around.
• 🗳️ Meet the new PM, same as the old PM: In a vote of 375 in favor, 57 abstaining (all Communist Party members), and zero opposed, the State Duma endorsed Mikhail Mishustin’s reappointment as Russia’s prime minister. Vladimir Putin promptly signed an executive order approving the decision.
• 🚨 Deadly river crash in St. Petersburg: At least seven passengers are dead after their bus crashed into the Moyka River on Friday. Eight other people aboard the bus survived, thanks to dozens of rescue workers, including several bystanders who jumped into the river to assist with the sunken vehicle’s evacuation. The driver, a Russian citizen born in Tajikistan, was assigned morning duty after working a 20-hour shift the day before, according to his wife (who survived the crash with him). The company that owns the bus has been fined 23 times in the past 2.5 years for violating its license terms, but spokespeople insist that the crashed bus was inspected and cleared for service on May 7. Police are investigating two felonies in the crash: a fatal traffic violation and providing unsafe public services.
• 👑 Next-gen Putinism takes the stage: The sons of two of Vladimir Putin’s closest friends are poised to take senior positions in the next government cabinet, report journalists at Agentstvo. On Friday, Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matviyenko named Boris Kovalchuk as one of three suggested candidates to lead Russia’s Accounts Chamber. Boris is the son of Yuri Kovalchuk, whom the media outlet Proekt describes as “essentially the second most influential person in the country.” Meanwhile, Dmitry Patrushev — the son of Russia’s National Security Council secretary — is expected to keep his job as agriculture minister and even get a promotion to deputy prime minister. Agentstvo speculates that these personnel moves could indicate the arrival of a “second generation” of managers close to Putin, i.e. the sons of his oldest allies.
• ✈️ Unsustainable smuggling keeps Russia’s passenger jets flying: A new investigation by The Financial Times describes how Russian airlines struggling under Western sanctions have resorted to smuggling networks and paying exorbitant prices to obtain critical components. The Russian government provides substantial subsidies to prop up the aviation industry, but experts warn that planes will become unserviceable without a long-term solution to the parts shortage. The Russian air travel system’s possible collapse would take the form of too few planes in the air, not “that [the planes] will all start falling out of the sky every day.”
• ☢️ NYT eyeballs Russia’s likely nuke facility in Belarus: The New York Times analyzed satellite imagery and photos and spoke with nuclear weapons and arms control experts to track new security features and other upgrades at a munitions depot in central Belarus, 120 miles north of the Ukrainian border. The new construction, which started in March 2023, could be the “special storage for tactical nuclear weapons” Vladimir Putin teased in a speech last year. “The suspected nuclear storage site is in the same town as Belarus’s Iskander missiles, which can be used to launch nuclear or conventional warheads,” reports the NYT.
• 🏫 Ole Blood and Guts: The governor of Russia’s Rostov region has awarded a “diligence and professionalism” medal to Vitaly Bobylchenko, the director of a local Cossack Cadet Corps. Last year, Bobylchenko was accused of beating one of his cadets and even breaking one of the boy’s fingers. Despite reports filed by the cadet’s parents, testimony from fellow students, and three audits by state investigators, no criminal charges were ever brought.
• ⚖️ Fined for waving her tongue: A court in the Republic of Tatarstan issued two fines to a local 63-year-old woman named Ruzila Sharafutdinova for sharing audio messages on Telegram in October 2023 where she urged families to teach their children the Tatar language and wished “freedom” for Tatarstan. The court convicted her of the misdemeanor offenses of inciting hatred and promoting separatism. Ekaterina Palekha, the linguist who provided the expert testimony against Sharafutdinova, has testified in numerous cases against activists for politicized offenses like “discrediting the army” and “rehabilitating Nazism.”

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