The Real Russia. Today.

The fight for Vladimir Kara-Murza’s release

Friday, April 29, 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.

In today’s newsletter:

The latest news updates
War disrupts cancer treatment in Ukraine
The fight to free Kremlin critic Vladimir Kara-Murza
Anti-war protester Sasha Skochilenko falls ill in pre-trial detention

Major recent events in Russia and Ukraine

Journalist killed in Kyiv: Ukrainian journalist and producer Vira Hyrych was killed by a Russian missile strike that hit an apartment block Kyiv on April 28, according to a statement from her employer, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Hyrych had been working for RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service since 2018. The organization’s editorial board said it would “remember her as a bright and kind person, a true professional.”
Ukraine fires across the border — again: Shelling was reported in Russia’s Kursk and Bryansk regions on the morning of April 29. According to Kursk Governor Roman Starovoit, a border crossing point in Krupets was hit by a mortar shell; in Bryansk, according to Governor Alexander Bogomaz, an FSB border control office in the village of Bila Berizka was hit, damaging water and electricity supply systems.
Dangerous literature: State Duma Culture Committee Chairperson Yelena Yampolskaya made an online post criticizing bookstores that continue to sell works by authors who have spoken out against the war (such as Boris Akunin, Dmitry Bykov, Leonid Parfenov, and Dmitry Glukhovsky). The post was reprinted in the Russian parliament’s official newspaper and has sparked a conversation about the possibility of literary censorship in Russia.
Students are always listening: Another schoolteacher, this one in Krasnodar, was fired for criticizing the war in Ukraine after her students secretly recorded her words and their parents posted the recording on social media. “There’s a saying: ’To live is to serve the Motherland,’” said the teacher in the recording, “but what if the Motherland is wrong?”
A long layover in Kyrgyzstan: A Ural Airlines plane was detained in the Kyrgyz city of Osh after officials noticed it had two airworthiness certificates — one from Russia and one from Bermuda. After numerous Russian airliners were detained abroad because of EU sanctions, Russian authorities passed a law allowing Russian airlines to register the rights to foreign aircraft they had leased and receive domestic airworthiness certificates for them. After conducting an inspection, Kyrgyz officials reported that the plane would be allowed to return to Russia.
British volunteers kidnapped: Two British aid workers with the Presidium Network, a British NGO, have reportedly been captured in Ukraine by Russian troops and accused of spying. Dominik Byrne, one of the organization’s co-founders, said the organization lost touch with the volunteers on April 25, when they were preparing to help evacuate civilians from an area south of Zaporizhzhia.
EU preps Russian oil embargo: A phased embargo on Russian oil is expected to be approved by EU Ambassadors next week, reports The New York Times, citing EU officials and diplomats who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Another mass grave: In a comment to Ukrayinska Pravda, President Zelensky’s spokesman Serhiy Nikiforov confirmed that another mass grave was discovered in the Kyiv region on April 29. Clarifying a comment Zelensky made in an interview earlier in the day, Nikiforov said that a total of 900 bodies had been found in the surrounding area, not in this particular mass grave itself.

🏥 Ukraine’s cancer patients struggle to get treatment in wartime (7.5-minute read)

Every year, hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians are diagnosed with cancer — and for years, the Ukrainian healthcare system has done fairly well at treating them. Since the war began, however, Ukraine’s medical centers have been overwhelmed by the war-wounded, leaving them with little capacity for cancer patients. While international organizations have mobilized to evacuate juvenile cancer patients quickly and efficiently, adults with the disease have frequently had to fend for themselves. Meanwhile, neighboring countries are worried about their own health care systems being overwhelmed by Ukrainian patients.

⚖️ Yevgenia Kara-Murza on assuming the mantle of her husband’s political work — and explaining his arrest to their children (13-minute read)

Vladimir Kara-Murza has been fired from his job, declared a “foreign agent,” and poisoned twice. But despite all of the threats and persecution, he’s remained in Russia and continued to fight for a freer future. On April 22, Kara-Murza was prosecuted for spreading “fake news” about the Russian army. Now, the public fight for Kara-Murza’s release is being led by his wife, translator Yevgenia Kara-Murza, who left her NGO work behind to help her husband and keep his work alive. Meduza spoke with Yevgenia Kara-Murza about life across two countries, the role fear plays in her life, and the sacrifices that come with being married to a high-profile member of the Russian opposition.

🤒 Jailed protester Sasha Skochilenko has an autoimmune disease. Prison officials are ignoring her needs. (4.5-minute read)

In mid-April, Russian artist Sasha Skochilenko was charged with spreading “knowingly false information” about the Russian military’s invasion of Ukraine after she replaced the price tags in a St. Petersburg grocery store with anti-war messages. She now faces up to 10 years in prison. Skochilenko has now been in custody for over two weeks, or since April 11, when she was arrested at a friend’s house after police reportedly forced the friend to trick her into coming over. Since the prosecution began, Skochilenko’s relatives, supporters, and friends have been warning officials that she needs to stay on a gluten-free diet because she has celiac disease. The court ignored the warnings when choosing her pre-trial restrictions. Two weeks later, the fears have been confirmed: Skochilenko has been largely unable to obtain safe food, and, according to her lawyers, her health is deteriorating.

Yours, Meduza