In the state of Florida in the United States, a grand jury formally charged Russian public figure Alexander Ionov and two FSB officers with running a multi-year campaign of influence in the interests of the Russian authorities, which included interference in elections, and recruiting American citizens for these purposes. This is reported by the US Department of Justice. Since 2014, the defendants have recruited several American citizens to “spread Russian propaganda,” according to prosecutors.

Four jurors in the case of Kaliningrad doctors Elina Sushkevich and Elena Belaya, who were accused of murdering a newborn child, have reported pressure from the presiding judge of the Moscow Regional Court, Andrei Vyunov. This was reported by Medvestnik, citing Sushkevich's lawyer, Kamil Babasov. The jury gave the relevant testimony on April 17 during the consideration of the appeal against the verdict. "The four jurors who participated in the panel were questioned about procedural violations.

Vladimir Kara-Murza, the opposition politician sentenced to 25 years in prison on a slew of charges including high treason, published , on Telegram, a letter to his supporters.

The Russian Foreign Ministry strongly denounced the American, British, and Canadian ambassadors who condemned the conviction of Vladimir Kara-Murza, an opposition politician facing 25 years in prison. The ambassadors were summoned by the Russian Foreign Ministry on April 18.

Politician Vladimir Kara-Murza, sentenced to 25 years in prison, thanked those who supported him during the trial in a special letter. The letter was published in the politician's telegram channel.

The "head" of the annexed part of the Kherson region Vladimir Saldo ordered to seize boats from the population of the region. It is reported by TASS. “Last week, I gave the order to collect the possible number of small boats, boats that our military needs,” said Saldo.

Roman Polanski's wife interviews Samantha Geimer, who the director is accused of raping (she was 13 at the time) Former model Samantha Geimer, who Roman Polanski is accused of raping, gave an interview to the director's wife, actress Emmanuelle Seigner. The interview was published by the French publication Le Point. Samantha Geimer said that she never considered herself a victim, and also spoke skeptically about the #MeToo movement and modern feminism.

At least one person died and two were injured when a grenade exploded in the courtyard of a private house in Belgorod, Belgorod Region Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said. “According to preliminary data, the residents of this house led an asocial lifestyle. The law enforcement agencies are investigating the causes of the incident,” Gladkov said. Mayor Valentin Demidov left for the scene. The Belgorod region borders on Ukraine.

The authorities of Ukraine and Poland agreed to resume the transit of Ukrainian agricultural products through the territory of Poland. Vice-premier, Minister of Economy of Ukraine Yuliya Sviridenko announced this. reported following the results of negotiations in Warsaw, European Truth reports. According to her, the transit will start working on the night of April 21.

Your Browser Does Not Support the Audio Element. Due to the sentence of Kara-Murze, many talk about the "Stalin's deadlines" to the opposition. And if without emotions - how did the Putin system of repression have developed and what is its meaning? On April 17, the Moscow City Court sentenced the policy of Vladimir Kara-Murza to 25 years in prison in a maximum security colony.

The Russian Foreign Ministry expressed strong protest to the ambassadors of the United States, Great Britain and Canada in connection with their comments on the verdict against Vladimir Kara-Murza. All three ambassadors were summoned to the Foreign Ministry on April 18.

In Yekaterinburg, police detained public relations expert Yaroslav Shirshikov. According to a source close to law enforcement, Shirshikov faces charges of justifying terrorism. His detention may be connected to a post he made on Telegram calling the pro-war blogger Vladlen Tatarsky a “scumbag.” Shirshikov had previously met with Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich while he was in Yekaterinburg and was one of the first to raise concern over Gershkovich’s disappearance.

The administration of US President Joe Biden is preparing to announce "unprecedented" measures to limit US companies' investment in China, Politico reports, citing sources. According to the publication, the US authorities will oblige American businesses to notify the government of new investments in Chinese technology companies. In addition, American technology companies will be banned from doing some transactions with China in "critical sectors", including the purchase of microchips.

In South Ossetia, Georgy Siukaev, a former Wagner PMC fighter, was detained on suspicion of killing a local resident. This is reported by the local agency RES. The murder took place in Tskhinvali on the evening of April 17, the deceased was 38-year-old Soslan Valiev, the cause of his death was stab wounds.

The Polish Prime Minister Mariusz Kaminski announced that Poland has begun the construction of a “state-of-the-art” wall along the country’s 199-kilometer (124-mile) land border with Russia.