The BBC Russian Service reported at least a hundred police officers fired because of their support for politician Alexei Navalny since December 2021. BBC sources in the Ministry of Internal Affairs say that “by February we were already talking about hundreds” of dismissed employees. “In Volgograd, according to the BBC, 17 employees had to leave.

The Moscow Exchange has banned short selling of shares of more than 30 Russian companies, including Aeroflot, Gazprom, Lukoil, Rosneft and Sberbank. This is reported on the exchange website. BCS Express notes that the ban applies to the most liquid Russian shares. “Probably, this decision indicates that the Moscow Exchange is preparing for the imminent resumption of trading in shares,” the publication adds. Trading in shares on the Moscow Exchange was suspended on February 25.

Bloomberg, citing sources , reports that Google has begun to remove from the country employees of its Moscow office, the only one in Russia, where 244 people worked. Google expects YouTube to be blocked in Russia amid the invasion of Ukraine.

The Investigative Committee opened a criminal case under the article on fakes about the Russian armed forces (clause “e” of part 2 of Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code, up to ten years in prison) against journalist Alexander Nevzorov, according to the department’s website.

Roskomnadzor issued a warning to Novaya Gazeta for mentioning an NGO - a “foreign agent” without marking its status. The department's press service reported this to TASS. Two written warnings from Roskomnadzor within a year are grounds for filing a claim in court to terminate the media registration certificate.

Patriarch Kirill during Vespers with the rank of forgiveness in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior on March 6, 2022. Photo: Artem Geodakyan / TASS In early February, Patriarch Kirill, after the Divine Liturgy on the thirteenth anniversary of his intronization, argued that the Russian Orthodox Church has “vast and important” external connections that contribute to the rapprochement of the Christians of the East and West “on many issues of modernity”.

The Southern District Military Court sentenced Crimean Tatars from Simferopol, baker Timur Yalkabov and loader Lenur Seidametov, to 17 and 13 years in prison in the Hizb ut-Tahrir case. This was reported by Interfax with reference to the press service of the court and Crimean Solidarity . Both will spend the first four years in prison, and the rest of the term in a maximum security colony.

At the exit from Pokrovskaya IK-2, police detained the lawyers of oppositionist Alexei Navalny, Olga Mikhailova and Vadim Kobzev. This was reported by a Mediazona correspondent. They were taken into a police bus when they came out to reporters after the politician’s verdict was announced and began answering questions about the trial.

Change.org has hidden the names of people who signed petitions launched in Russia; Commentators will also be able to remain anonymous. Journalist Alexander Amzin published a screenshot of a letter from the portal from his telegram channel “We and Jo”. The letter states that this decision was made to protect the safety of participants in civil campaigns that are launched on the platform. “The Change.org team is responsible for the safety of people who use our platform.

The Lefortovo District Court of Moscow, at an off-site hearing in the Pokrovsk colony, sentenced politician Alexei Navalny to nine years in a maximum security colony in cases of fraud in collecting donations for work and for trial. This was reported by a Mediazona correspondent from the courtroom. Navalny was also ordered to pay a fine of 1.2 million rubles.

In Krasnokamensk, Trans-Baikal Territory, on March 20, the deputy head of the security department of correctional colony No. 10 committed suicide, Chita.ru and the telegram channel “Incident Krasnokamensk” claim , citing sources. According to Chita.ru, an employee of the colony “on March 20 went from work to the garage, wrote a message to his wife and committed suicide.” He cut his neck with a knife, the Krasnokamensk Incident claimed.

The State Duma, in one meeting, in the second and third readings, adopted amendments that provide for criminal liability for fakes about the work of Russian authorities abroad. This was reported on the website of the lower house of parliament.

The Council of the State Duma postponed for April the consideration of the bill, which will oblige the conscripts to come to the military registration and enlistment office without a summons. This was reported in the base of the lower house. The exact date is not given there. Thus, the rules for the call of conscripts will remain the same by the beginning of the spring call on April 1. The bill passed the first reading in April 2018.

The Investigative Committee opened a criminal case regarding “fakes” about the Russian army against Sergei Klokov, born in 1984. This was reported by Network Freedom with reference to lawyer Daniil Berman. Klokov is suspected of publicly distributing “fakes” about the Russian military by a group of people using their official position for hate reasons (points “a”, “b” and “e” of Part 2 of Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code).

Since the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine, 78 planes of Russian airlines have been seized abroad due to sanctions, Transport Minister Vitaly Savelyev reported to the Federation Council. His words are quoted by TASS and RIA Novosti . “There were 1,367 aircraft in the country across 111 airlines <…> We lost 78 aircraft, they were arrested during flights,” Savelyev said.