A growing number of Russians living overseas who return to the country temporarily are reporting psychological pressure and mobile-phone searches at the Russian border. These inspections can result in consequences far more severe than travel delays, including criminal charges and incarceration. Understanding your personal risk and exactly how to prepare your devices for the trip can be difficult, as the internet is full of fragmented and conflicting advice.

Russian forces struck the Kyiv region on the evening of August 28. A fire broke out in the Bucha district, triggering a series of secondary explosions. The Kyiv-Chop highway was temporarily closed between the 15- and 32-kilometer markers, Tymur Tkachenko, head of the Kyiv Regional Military Administration, reported . Tkachenko said the attack set warehouse facilities on fire. Russian military bloggers reported that an ammunition depot near Kyiv was attacked.

We’re constantly asking you for money. And for those who can’t support us, we suggest asking a friend to make a donation “on your behalf.” This time, we played that game among ourselves. Here are the arguments Meduza staffers have tried on their own friends (aside from the universal “I love my job,” of course) to persuade them to donate. You can donate to Meduza here .

European officials are confident that there is no evidence to suggest Russia is preparing for a conventional attack on NATO or a Baltic state, sources told Bloomberg. They doubt the issue was the main focus of CIA Director John Ratcliffe’s August 25 visit to Moscow. Bloomberg’s sources said the topics most likely raised included ending the war between Russia and Ukraine, reaffirming NATO’s Article 5 commitments in the face of a potential attack, and the war in Iran.

Antidepressant sales in Russia have been growing steadily, a trend the media covers regularly . We decided to look at what may be behind it — and at what people who are about to start taking antidepressants, or to stop, need to know. Not necessarily. Specialists say several factors are at work here. It may in fact be that more people are developing depression: the events of recent years have contributed to that.

Russian troops attacked the Kyiv region on the evening of August 28. A fire broke out in the Buchansky district, followed by detonation. The Kiev-Chop highway in the section from 15 to 32 kilometers was temporarily blocked, said the head of the Kiev Regional Military Administration Timur Tkachenko. According to him, as a result of the attack, the warehouses caught fire. Russian “military correspondents” write that an ammunition depot was attacked near Kiev.

European officials are confident that there is no evidence indicating that Russia is preparing to attack NATO or the Baltic states, Bloomberg sources say. They doubt that this issue could have been the main topic of CIA Director John Ratcliffe's visit to Moscow on August 25.

VK Video cut off a livestream by the Yabloko party, called Peaceful Stream . The broadcast, featuring Yabloko chairman Nikolai Rybakov, was interrupted one hour and 51 minutes after it began. Why the stream cut out remains unknown. Yabloko continued streaming on YouTube. The stream’s description said the broadcast’s main purpose was to raise money for Yabloko’s election campaign.

Aluminum producer Rusal plans to temporarily mothball part of its raw materials production in Russia, the business daily Kommersant said, citing a letter seen by journalists that the company sent to Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin. The plan includes the Pikalyovo Alumina Refinery (PGLZ), the Severouralsk Bauxite Mine (SUBR), and the alumina-producing Bogoslovsk and Ural plants, according to Kommersant.

Russia’s Prosecutor General’s Office declared the Faculty of Liberal Arts and Sciences in Montenegro an “undesirable” organization, according to Russian Justice Ministry data found by Mediazona. Former instructors at the Moscow School of Social and Economic Sciences — known as Shaninka — founded the Faculty of Liberal Arts and Sciences (FLAS) in 2023. The faculty received government accreditation in Montenegro in 2024.

Elena Morgunova, the wife of Russian performance artist Pavel Krisevich, was detained and sentenced to 10 days of administrative arrest for disobeying police orders, the projects “Zona Svobody” and “Slovo Zashchite” said, citing those close to her. Police detained Morgunova in Skopin, a town in Russia’s Ryazan region, on August 28. According to “Slovo Zashchite,” she had returned to Russia temporarily from France, where she and her husband have lived since leaving the country in December 2025.

The VK Video service turned off the broadcast of the Yabloko party called “Peaceful Stream”. The broadcast with party chairman Nikolai Rybakov was interrupted 1 hour 51 minutes after the start. The reason for the shutdown is unknown. “Apple” continued streaming on YouTube. The description of the broadcast said that its main goal was to raise funds for the Yabloko election campaign.

Moscow’s Khoroshevsky District Court sentenced Oleg Gazmanov’s former manager Dmitry Tsarenko to seven years in a penal colony. Tsarenko was accused of fraud. According to Kommersant, the Russian business daily, investigators found that he funneled proceeds from the singer’s concerts through his own sole proprietorship rather than through Gazmanov’s company, OMG-Promo.

Update: A Kaliningrad court has removed Yabloko from the ballot for the region’s election, the project Slovo Zashchite (“A Word to the Defense”) said . A court in Russia’s Sverdlovsk region has sided with LDPR in a lawsuit, revoking Yabloko’s list for the region’s legislative assembly election, Yabloko’s press service said on August 28.

Former Ukrainian Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov met with Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto and thanked him for his support and for the offer to serve as an advisor on defense innovation. “In this role, I will assist Italy in adopting modern warfare technologies, enhancing its defense sector, and adapting to emerging global security challenges,” he said in a social media post. But Fedorov said his main focus remains unchanged.