Update : Irina Volk, Russian Interior Ministry spokeswoman, denied reports that police officers were ordered to “identify” everyone bringing flowers to memorials honoring Alexey Navalny. Human rights activists also expressed their doubts about the authenticity of the document showing the order.

Between December 2023 and February 2024, the Estonian Internal Security Service (ISS) detained 10 people who were suspected of participating in a “hybrid operation” against the security of Estonia and coordinated by Russian special services, according to an ISS press release .

Two members of the Spanish Civil Guard, familiar with the investigation into the murder of Russian military pilot Maxim Kuzminov, confirmed to The New York Times that the body found in the city of La Villajoyosa belongs to him. A representative of the Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine (GUR), Andrei Chernyak, also told the newspaper that he could “confirm the fact of death” of Kuzminov, but did not specify the circumstances of his murder.

During the retreat of the Ukrainian Armed Forces from Avdiivka, Donetsk region, up to a thousand soldiers of the Ukrainian Armed Forces could be captured, writes The New York Times, citing assessments of the military themselves and senior Western officials. Estimates of the number of captured and missing Ukrainian soldiers vary. Two soldiers The New York Times spoke with gave figures ranging from 850 to 1,000. Western officials, as the NYT writes, find this assessment accurate.

From prison, Russian dissident Vladimir Kara-Murza comments on Alexey Navalny’s death Robin Utrecht / Shutterstock / Vida Press Russian opposition politician Vladimir Kara-Murza, who is serving a 25-year sentence in a maximum-security prison for opposing Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, has commented on the death of Alexey Navalny. In a statement posted on X (formerly Twitter) on February 20, Kara-Murza said that he heard about Navalny’s death “in passing” on the radio last Friday.

Sberbank confirmed that its MegaMarket marketplace has withdrawn from sale books listed in the list of books banned in connection with “LGBT propaganda,” which was previously published by journalist Alexander Plyushchev. Sberbank’s press service told Kommersant that “the specified list of books does indeed exist,” but it was compiled, according to the company, more than a year ago.

Journalist Christo Grozev on how he plans to investigate Navalny’s death Evgeny Feldman On Monday, officials from Russia’s Investigative Committee told Alexey Navalny’s mother that the cause of her son’s death had still “not been established” — and that his body will not be handed over to his family until it has undergone a 14-day “chemical examination.” Navalny’s associates fear that this long delay will allow the authorities to erase valuable evidence of the politician’s true cause of death,

The Polish Foreign Ministry summoned Russian Ambassador Sergei Andreev in connection with the death of Alexei Navalny, the department said in a statement. The ministry called on the Russian authorities to take responsibility for the death of the politician and conduct a “full and transparent investigation” to establish the circumstances and causes of his death.

What is Putin really talking about when he rails against the West? Natalia Kolesnikova / AFP / Scanpix / LETA TOPSHOT - Russian President and presidential candidate Vladimir Putin meets with his confidants ahead of the upcoming presidential election in Moscow on January 31, 2024. The election will be held over a three-day period from March 15 to 17.

The head of the “Walk through the Forest” project, Grigory Sverdlin, published an order from the Moscow Ministry of Internal Affairs, in which police officers are obliged to establish a round-the-clock vigil at two monuments to victims of political repression from February 17 and to “identify” everyone who brings flowers to them. The duty was to be established, as follows from the order, at the Solovetsky stone on Lubyanka and at the “wall of sorrow.” For what period is not specified.

Opposition politician Ilya Yashin writes about Alexey Navalny from prison Sefa Karacan / Anadolu Agency / ABACAPRESS / ddp images / Vida Press Opposition politician Ilya Yashin’s Telegram channel has published a post about Alexey Navalny. Yashin himself was sentenced to eight and a half years in prison for spreading “fakes” about the Russian army.

The White House will announce a major package of sanctions against Russia on February 23 in connection with the death of Alexei Navalny and the two-year anniversary of the war in Ukraine, US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said, as quoted by Reuters. "Whatever story the Russian government decides to tell the world, it is clear that President Putin and his government are responsible for Navalny's death," Kirby said .

Updated. The Defense Forces of Southern Ukraine called the report about the “cleansing” of Krynok a manipulation and falsification of facts due to the fact that Russian troops “did not succeed” in the assaults on the left bank of the Dnieper, and stated that Ukrainian forces continue to hold their positions.

From December 2023 to February 2024, the Estonian Security Police (KaPo) detained 10 people suspected of participating in a “hybrid operation” directed against the security of the Republic of Estonia and coordinated by Russian intelligence services.

Russia’s Justice Ministry has added Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) to its registry of “undesirable organizations,” according to the agency’s website . The registry shows that the Prosecutor General’s Office decision to designate RFE/RL as “undesirable” is dated February 2, 2024.