Evening Medusa

How Ukrainian special services prepared to capture Wagner PMC fighters. Deputy Valery Rashkin admitted to killing the moose. There is slavery in Russia right now

Good evening,

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This is Meduza's daily newsletter about the most important things that happened that day. Let's start with a quote from the new mayor of Krasnodar, Andrei Alekseenko, who, upon taking office, made a policy statement: “They expect us to talk, not concrete actions.” Well, let's get down to business - this is probably what you've been waiting for.

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Pulse

The main thing for the day - point by point

• Putin spoke at the Foreign Ministry collegium. He said that Russia had managed to create “a certain tension” in the West - and it was necessary to maintain it as long as possible.
• Deputy Valery Rashkin admitted to killing the moose.
• Radio Liberty* spoke about a St. Petersburg clinic where Putin’s friends were treated and unknown “athletes” were tested for HIV and syphilis.
• Two Italian producers approached the Kremlin to present their film about the dictatorship. They were detained .
• Actor Igor Savochkin has died . He starred in "Night Watch", "Outbreak" and "Method".
• Alec Baldwin is being sued over a shooting on the set of the movie Rust.
• The United States has recorded record drug overdose deaths .
• Apple will begin selling original iPhone spare parts for DIY repairs.

* Radio Liberty has been declared a “foreign agent” in Russia.

Texts of the day

Interview with Lolita Milyavskaya

Lolita Milyavskaya has long been not only one of the most famous Russian singers, but also a regular participant in YouTube projects (from Comment Out to “What Happened Next”), a popular Instagram heroine and musical experimenter. Meduza editor Natalya Gredina talked with her about appearance and self-love, politics and support for Yulia Navalnaya, Soviet and modern censorship - and how to survive the “era of hints.” Here is one of the quotes.

Do you think I'm not scared? I'm scared at some moments from what I see. From aggravation, from the nuts being screwed in for no apparent reason. Sometimes I don't understand why people shouldn't be allowed to speak out. If I were in the shoes of those who tighten the screws, on the contrary, I would be afraid of the unspoken. <…> But when you realize that all this has already happened, you know that then there was something else. The question is: will we catch this “other”? Will we experience this thaw or will we not?

How Ukrainian special services prepared an operation to capture Wagner PMC fighters

In the summer of 2020, shortly before the presidential elections in Belarus, 33 Russian citizens were detained near Minsk. The Belarusian authorities called them fighters of the Wagner PMC, accused them of preparing mass riots, and then deported them to Russia. As it turned out later, in this way the operation of the Ukrainian special services was disrupted, which lured the Wagnerites out of Russia, but failed to transport them to Ukraine for trial, as planned. The investigative group Bellingcat* and The Insider** described in detail how this operation was prepared.

* Stichting Bellingcat has been declared a “foreign agent” in Russia.

** The domain administrator of The Insider has been declared a “foreign agent” in Russia.

Coronavirus

Should children and teenagers be vaccinated? And is it possible?

A clinical trial of a coronavirus vaccine for adolescents aged 12–17 years has begun in Russia. It was created by the Center for Epidemiology and Microbiology named after. Gamaleya, developer of Sputnik V. The new vaccine may be called Sputnik M, where M stands for small. Is it really necessary to vaccinate children and adolescents? After all, they say that Covid does not pose such a threat to them as it does to adults. How safe will it be? What are the possible contraindications? We answer in our cards .

More news about coronavirus

• In Russia, the second consecutive anti-record of deaths from covid is 1251 people per day .
• Activists unleashed a “mental war” on the Instagram accounts of Russian governors. They are massively demanding that the bill on mandatory QR codes be withdrawn.
• Due to the pandemic, the Kremlin Christmas tree was cancelled .

Podcast “What Happened”

There is slavery in Russia right now

In Russia, according to various estimates, from 800 thousand to five million people are in slavery. They are bought and sold to be forced into begging, sex work or forced labor. The average price of a person who is sold into labor slavery is approximately twenty-five thousand rubles. The price for those forced to beg can reach up to 300 thousand. How does human trafficking work in Russia? Who is doing this? How can you fight this? We speak with the founder of the organization fighting modern slavery “Alternative” Oleg Melnikov.

Listen to “What Happened” on Meduza and on YouTube , and also subscribe on Apple Podcasts , Google Podcasts , Castbox , Yandex.Music and other podcast services.

And finally - what to watch in the cinema

Today, the films “The Last Duel” by Ridley Scott and “The French Messenger” by Wes Anderson were released in Russia. Their premieres took place at the Venice and Cannes Film Festivals. The Last Duel stars Ben Affleck, Matt Damon and Adam Driver. In the "French Messenger" - Bill Murray, Tilda Swinton, Timothée Chalamet, Frances McDormand and a huge number of A-list stars. What came of it - read in the reviews of Anton Dolin.

Looks like I need to go to the cinema. Your "Medusa"