Translated material
Evening Medusa
The Ministry of Justice included us in the list of “foreign agents”. Navalny ends his hunger strike. Putin made days off between the May holidays
Good evening,
This is Meduza's daily newsletter about the important news of the day. Today they are such that you want to fly somewhere into space. Just like SpaceX's Crew Dragon - 2 ship, which went to the ISS with four astronauts on board. The launch looked fantastically beautiful .
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Pulse
The main thing for the day - point by point
- The Ministry of Justice added Meduza to the list of “foreign agents” . We will appeal this decision - and will return to the topic at the end of the newsletter.
- Vladimir Putin declared non-working days between the May holidays. The weekend will last from May 1 to May 10 .
- Alexei Navalny announced that he was ending his hunger strike . The attending doctors declared a direct threat to his life and demanded that the politician be transferred to Moscow .
- Aleksey Vorobyov, associate professor of the MAI rocket engines department , received 20 years in prison for treason. The case was considered behind closed doors.
- Russia will resume flights to Egypt . When exactly is still unknown.
- Dmitry Medvedev wrote a column about relations with the United States. We retold it - and discovered that Medvedev, it seems, had not read “The Art of War” by Sun Tzu , which he was trying to quote.
- Doxa editor Vladimir Metelkin demanded the recusal of the investigator who called him a “sexy hero.” She was transferred to another accused in the case.
Texts of the day
A St. Petersburg journalist came to the rally in the uniform of an Interior Ministry officer and reported “from under the regime’s visor.” We tried to find out from him why he did it
Viktor Smirnov works for the publication 47news and spoke about the St. Petersburg rally for Navalny from the point of view of the security forces. Its text does not describe either harsh detentions, although the largest number of people were detained in St. Petersburg, or the use of stun guns. But there are complaints from police officers about inadequate demonstrators. According to Smirnov, he did not see the use of shockers or other manifestations of harshness by the security forces, and in a police uniform he “felt even less protected than on the side of the protesters.” And another quote from the interview : “So, of course, I wouldn’t want journalists to be detained at rallies. But the water is wet, the sky is blue, and journalists are being detained.”
Consequences of a leak from free.navalny.com: a Mosgortrans employee was asked to resign, and Tomsk students were summoned for “conversations” with the police
On April 18, Mosgortrans engineer Yana Kholodova received an anonymous letter. It said that her employer would find out about the girl’s plans to attend a rally for Navalny. The day after the action, Kholodova was asked to resign of her own free will. Details of this story were recorded by Meduza special correspondent Kristina Safonova .
On the eve of the rally, students of Tomsk universities who became victims of email leaks began to be called to “preventive conversations” at the dean’s office. Not only teachers, but also police officers were waiting for them there . Students asked police officers how lists of students were compiled for “preventive conversations,” to which they received answers about a “digital footprint” or “likes and reposts.” The police interviewed students about their attitude towards Navalny and said that the students “do not understand that they are being manipulated.”
What do people who cannot see, can hardly hear, or suffer from schizophrenia feel every day?
To understand at least a little how a person with certain characteristics feels, you can simply ask him. But doing this is not always convenient. Then videos, applications, and browser extensions come to the rescue. Although these decisions are criticized for the fact that they do not convey the whole experience and can provoke pity. However, such simulators are often created by patient communities themselves. We have collected them in one material .
Coronavirus
So what's up with the May long weekend?
The idea of making the days from May 4 to May 7 non-working was suggested to Putin by the head of Rospotrebnadzor, Anna Popova. According to her, these days Russians travel to and from their dachas and come into contact with a large number of people, which can lead to new infections. Popova emphasized that scientists and epidemiologists believe that rest days should be made “continuous.” Presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov said that a new lockdown would not be introduced. The last time non-working days were declared was in the spring of 2020 amid an increase in the incidence rate.
What is Sputnik Light and does it protect as well as a regular Sputnik?
Sputnik Light will be registered in May 2021. It appears to be the same in composition as the first component of the regular Sputnik V. We don't know whether the "lite" version of the vaccine should replace the regular one. Judging by the patent, the main task of Sputnik Light is revaccination of people . It is not yet possible to assess the effectiveness of the new drug with any accuracy, but getting vaccinated is definitely better than not doing so. In any case, it is better to use the “classic” Sputnik only for the first vaccination. If you have already been vaccinated, you can relax for now.
Podcast “What Happened”
Lukashenko and Putin say that the special services stopped the coup in Belarus. Is it even possible?
The intelligence services of Russia and Belarus stated that they had uncovered a plot to coup and assassinate Alexander Lukashenko, as well as his family and entourage. Are there really such sentiments among the Belarusian elite? How are things going with the transit of power there? Is Russia still trying to increase its influence over Minsk, taking advantage of the political crisis? And why did the protests die down in Minsk? We are talking about this with the director of the Minsk Institute of Political Studies “Political Sphere” Andrei Kazakevich.
Listen to “What Happened” on Meduza . And subscribe to Apple Podcasts , Google Podcasts , Castbox , Yandex.Music and other podcast services.
And once again about the main topic of the day
Dear readers!
Today, Russian authorities recognized Meduza as a “foreign agent” by the media. We strongly disagree with this decision and plan to appeal it. However, we understand that the chances are slim.
This is bad news for Meduza. “Foreign agent” is a discriminatory status that will make it harder for us to do our jobs—and make a living.
This weekend we will come up with a plan of action. On Monday we will discuss it at the editorial board with the participation of all Meduza employees, and on Tuesday with members of our supervisory board.
We will definitely keep you updated. Thank you very much for your support! We love you, it’s much easier to experience these events with you ❤️
Have a nice weekend (more truly), your cheerful foreign agents