Over the course of nearly a year of Russia’s full-scale war in Ukraine, by publication iStories’ count, almost 8,000 volunteers and mercenaries in private military companies fighting for Russia have been killed. iStories writes that data from Russia’s Federal Pension Fund show that, as of January 1, 2023, almost a quarter of a million people in Russia had received compensation after losing a family breadwinner. Those numbers have grown significantly since the start of the war.

The Basmanny District Court of Moscow will consider a protocol drawn up against Kirill Martynov, editor-in-chief of Novaya Gazeta Europe, due to the lack of a “foreign agent” label, Mediazona reports. According to the publication, the case was registered on April 6. It is not known when the meeting will take place. The maximum penalty under Part 4 of Article 19.34 provides for a fine of 50,000 rubles.

The United States, Germany and Hungary opposed offering Ukraine a "road map" for joining NATO at the alliance's summer summit, the Financial Times reports , citing its sources. According to the publication, disagreements in the alliance arose in early April at a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Brussels. At this event, the members of the alliance tried to agree on what should be offered to Ukraine at the end of the summit.

On VKontakte, it was forbidden to advertise services related to moving from Russia, Sibir. Realii” with reference to the owner of the service for the relocation of entrepreneurs Alexey Pospekhov. According to a screenshot posted by Pospehov, the social network banned advertising related, among other things, to obtaining citizenship or a residence permit in another country, as well as advertising for studying abroad or services for moving business abroad.

The founder of the Wagner PMC, Yevgeny Prigozhin, has asked the Chairman of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation, Alexander Bastrykin, to initiate a criminal case against the Governor of St. Petersburg, Alexander Beglov, Prigozhin’s press service reports. According to the published statement, Prigozhin is asking that a case be opened against Beglov under the article on the destruction or damage of cultural heritage sites, which provides for up to six years of imprisonment.

For almost a year of full-scale war in Ukraine, about eight thousand Russian volunteers and mercenaries from private military companies have died, according to Important Stories. The publication writes that, according to the Pension Fund, as of January 1, 2023, almost one and a half million people received a survivor's pension in Russia. At the same time, this figure has grown significantly since the beginning of the war.

The State Duma voted to return a bill from 2018 to consideration in a second reading. The draft legislation, if passed, would change the current procedure for conscription for mandatory military service. The bill would allow military enlistment offices to send summonses by registered mail with a receipt.

Patriarch Kirill, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC), has appointed Archpriest Dimitry Vasilenkov, a cleric of the St. Petersburg bishopric, in charge of the ROC military clergy deployed in Ukraine. Vasilenkov has been the head of the ROC’s relations with Cossack communities in the St. Petersburg region. The ROC press service announced his new role, which had been retired from the church hierarchy shortly after the Bolshevik Revolution.

Online voting is the key to Russia’s election rigging, but the next presidential election will require gerrymandering too Sergey Karpukhin / Reuters / Scanpix / LETA The headquarters of Tsentrizberkom, Russia’s state election authority, during the 2018 presidential election The Russian authorities have decided the reduce the number of election polling stations available to voters.

The State Duma voted to return to the second reading the bill changing the procedure for conscription for military service. The relevant information is published on the State Duma website. This bill, introduced to the State Duma in 2018, will allow military registration and enlistment offices to send summonses by registered mail with notification.

The Russian Volunteer Corps (RDK), a group whose members say they are Russians who fight for Ukraine, that it has “paid another visit” to the Bryansk region, according to a post on the group’s Telegram channel. RDK militants say they carried out “combat missions” and communicated with local residents, handing them flyers and urging them to “take cover during combat.” A video attached to the Telegram post shows one RDK fighter speaking to a civilian standing in front of his home.

The Russian ruble, following the results of trading on April 6 on the Moscow Exchange, fell significantly against the dollar and the euro. Thus, by the close of the trading session, the euro was worth 89.15 rubles - 1.85 rubles more than the day before. Above 89 rubles, the euro was previously worth on the Moscow Exchange on April 14, 2022. The dollar rate increased by 1.54 rubles compared to the closing of the previous trading session, to 81.37 rubles.

The mother of a non-verbal teen with autism recounts rescuing her son from a care facility in Crimea Olga Mazur’s personal archive Olga Mazur and her son Sasha Story by Anna Ryzhkova from Verstka Media. Translation by Sam Breazeale. In March, a Ukrainian charity organized the return of 17 Ukrainian children who had been taken from the Kherson and Kharkiv regions and relocated to Russian and occupied territories. One of these children was a 16-year-old from Kherson named Sasha Mazur.

Silvio Berlusconi, former Prime Minister of Italy and leader of the Forza Italia party, has been diagnosed with leukemia. This is reported by BBC News with reference to the statement of the doctors of the San Rafaele clinic in Milan, where the politician was hospitalized on April 5. Edition ANSA writes that 86-year-old Berlusconi began to undergo chemotherapy. Berlusconi is currently in intensive care due to a lung infection. The condition of the former prime minister is assessed as stable.

Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Kirill signed a decree on the appointment of the chief military priest in the zone of the “special military operation” ( SMO ), the press service of the Russian Orthodox Church reports. Archpriest Dimitry Vasilenkov, chairman of the department for interaction with the Cossacks of the St. Petersburg diocese, has been appointed to the post.