With regional elections fast approaching, Russian authorities have opened nine criminal cases and 51 misdemeanor investigations against independent candidates and perceived rivals, the Net Freedoms Project reported on Monday, August 15. Net Freedoms counted 85 cases of election-related persecution in total. This includes 53 criminal and administrative proceedings initiated in Moscow, where municipal elections are set to take place on Russia’s “single voting day,” September 11.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, by his decree, introduced the title of "Mother Heroine" in the country. The decree was published on the official Internet portal of legal information. The title will be awarded to Russian citizens who have given birth to and raised 10 or more children who are Russian citizens. It will be awarded when the tenth child reaches the age of one year and provided that all the other nine children are alive by that time.

Russia’s military command is relocating to the left bank of the Dnipro River, according to Natalia Gumenyuk, the spokesperson for Ukraine’s southern command. As a result, Russia will no longer have command centers in the city of Kherson.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz opposes the idea of ​​banning Russian citizens from receiving tourist Schengen visas because it would make it more difficult for those who disagree with the government to leave the country. Scholz said this following a meeting with Scandinavian leaders in Oslo, Der Spiegel and Reuters report.

Journalists identified four Russian soldiers accused of crimes against civilians. Two of them agreed to speak. Sergei Supinsky / AFP / Scanpix / LETA The body of a civilian who was buried in a courtyard in Andriivka, a village in Ukraine’s Kyiv region, is exhumed. April 11, 2022 Abridged translation by Sam Breazeale . At the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russian troops launched an assault on the Kyiv region.

The court of the self-proclaimed DPR announced charges against five more foreigners who allegedly participated in the war on the side of Ukraine, RIA Novosti reports. Three of the five foreigners – Swedish citizen Mathias Gustavsson, Croatian citizen Vjekoslav Prebeg and British citizen John Harding – are accused of “participating in military actions as a mercenary and training for the violent seizure of power.” They face the death penalty.

ALI KHARA / Reuters / Scanpix / Leta Moverean "Taliban" on the bridge in Kabul. August 6, 2022 August 15, 2021 - exactly a year ago - the militants of the Taliban movement occupied Kabul. Two weeks later, the United States announced the end of the withdrawal of its troops from Afghanistan. In early September, the Taliban captured the latest the country's province, which was not controlled by him and announced the end of the war, which lasted 20 years.

A British RC-135 radio reconnaissance and electronic warfare aircraft violated the Russian state border, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced. The violation occurred in the area of ​​Cape Svyatoy Nos on the eastern coast of the Kola Peninsula, separating the Barents and White Seas. “To suppress violations of the state border, a MiG-31BM fighter was raised from the air defense forces on duty,” the Ministry of Defense said.

The Swedish furniture company IKEA has completed the final online sale in Russia. A message about this appeared on the Russian version of the IKEA website. “We have completed the online sale of IKEA products for our customers, as well as for corporate customers. The shopping cart, shopping list and personal account on the site are not available. It also says that the brand's stores will only work for the issuance of orders, as well as the return and exchange of goods.

The Russian military command in occupied Kherson is moving from the right to the left bank of the Dnieper, thus leaving the city. This was announced by the representative of the operational command "South" of the Ground Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Natalya Gumenyuk during a briefing at the Media Center Ukraine.

Ukrainian forces destroy Wagner Group headquarters in Luhansk region after pro-Kremlin war reporter reveals its location Sergey Sreda on Telegram Pro-Kremlin war correspondent Sergey Sreda with purported Wagner Group mercenaries at the headquarters in Popasna. This photo was posted on Sreda’s Telegram channel, but has since been deleted.

Your Browser Does Not Support the Audio Element. Trump again wants to become president and has already begun an election campaign. Does he have a chance? And who is against him - is Biden? On August 8, searches were held at the estate of former US President Donald Trump in Florida. The FBI agents, allegedly, seized 11 sets of secret documents from the politician, which he took with him when leaving the White House.

Explosions were heard in the Russian-occupied city of Energodar, Zaporozhye region, where the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant is located. This was stated by the mayor of the city Dmitry Orlov. “In Energodar, in the area of ​​the stele and prayer house, the sounds of explosions are heard. Be very careful and get off the streets!" — he wrote in his telegram channel.

Deputy Chairman of the Civic Chamber of the Altai Territory Yevgeny Novikov was identified among those killed in the shelling of the Shakhtyorsky district in the self-proclaimed DPR. This was announced to TASS on Monday by the chairman of the Public Chamber of the Altai Territory, Yuri Shamkov. Information is confirmed that Yevgeny Alexandrovich died in the DPR. He left in early July on a volunteer mission. On July 10, they came under fire, it was in the Shakhtyorsky district.

Before the September elections in Russia, nine criminal and 51 administrative cases were opened against independent candidates and those whom the authorities consider potential opponents in the elections, the Network Freedoms project reports . In total, the project participants counted 85 episodes of administrative and criminal prosecution. 53 of them were in Moscow.