Maxim Konstantinov / SOPA Images / LightRocket / Getty Images The “Russia 25” team during a game against Kazakhstan at the Channel One Cup. December 17, 2023 The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has ordered the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) to allow Russia’s national teams to return to international tournaments immediately. The ruling surprised everyone — including the Russian team itself.

Vladimir Astapkovich / RIA Novosti / Sputnik / Profimedia The Russian State Library, also known as the Leninka, hosted “LitRAVE” overnight from October 31 to November 1. The publishing group Eksmo-AST and the library jointly organized the event. About 3,000 people gathered in the reading rooms on three dance floors playing techno, electronic pop, and ambient music, according to Eksmo-AST. The news outlet Sota reported that pro-war poet Anna Revyakina opened the event.

Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine’s Defense Ministry / Khartiia Corps The Atlantic and The New York Times published reports in October on clashes between Ukrainian and Russian forces in underground tunnels beneath the front line. Soldiers travel long distances through gas pipelines to evade drone strikes and catch the enemy off guard. Meduza summarizes the key points from these reports.

Andrey Ivanov / Getty Images A demonstrator with a Serbian flag in central Belgrade, with an Alta Bank branch in the background. October 26, 2026 Many Alta customers lost access to their money after the National Bank of Serbia revoked the bank’s license. Alta was one of the few local banks that opened accounts for Russians who had emigrated. Customers’ salaries, savings, and money for monthly expenses are frozen.

In mid-October 2026, Moscow hosted a conference on HIV research and clinical practice. Doctors specializing in HIV discussed the situation in Russia. The news, unfortunately, wasn’t good.

Russian space companies are selling Chinese satellite imagery as images from their own spacecraft. Bart Hendrickx, a researcher who studies Russia’s space program, uncovered the practice and published his findings in The Space Review. Meduza explains how he discovered it and whether Chinese satellites have been passed off as Russian before. What kinds of satellites and images are we talking about? A particular type of Earth observation satellite: radar satellites, also known as SAR satellites.

Several dozen people gathered outside a house in the village of Petropavlivska Borshchahivka in Ukraine’s Kyiv region on the evening of November 2, saying people were being held inside and that their captors “are torturing” them. Hromadske , Interfax-Ukraine , and other Ukrainian news outlets reported the incident.

St. Petersburg authorities have cut the city-funded one-time payment for people who sign contracts with the Defense Ministry to 400,000 rubles, Fontanka reported. Journalists were given that figure at several military service information centers and through the general hotline. “It’s 400 [thousand] from the city, 400 thousand from the Defense Ministry. There’s a chance of another 600 thousand [if you sign up as a drone operator], but I can’t guarantee that yet.

Ukraine could receive 500 missiles for Patriot air defense systems from the United States between the fourth quarter of 2030 and the fourth quarter of 2033, European Pravda and CNN correspondent Jennifer Hansler reported, citing a State Department representative. The department previously approved the sale. The agreement to purchase the interceptor missiles is expected to be signed after Congress approves the sale. Congress has 30 days to do so.

Shamil Zhumatov / Reuters / Scanpix / LETA On October 31, the U.S. Embassy in Moscow warned on its website of a possible terrorist attack at the Tsaritsyno museum and park complex. Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) confirmed that it had received a warning from the United States, after which the complex closed “for technical reasons.” No attack occurred. The following day, the FSB said it had detained a teenager who was the source of the information about a planned attack.

In early August 2024, Ukraine invaded Russia’s Kursk region. Despite officials’ promises to drive Ukrainian forces out within months or even days, a substantial part of the region remained under Ukrainian control until the following spring. Russia had not experienced occupation since World War II, and life in the Kursk region still has not returned to normal. Refugees remain, and the border villages where some — though not many — are trying to return are uninhabitable.

Ukraine will be able to receive from the United States 500 missiles for the Patriot complexes, the sale of which was previously approved by the State Department, from the fourth quarter of 2030 to the fourth quarter of 2033. This was reported with reference to a State Department representative , "European Truth" and CNN correspondent Jennifer Hansler .

The authorities of St. Petersburg have reduced the one-time payment from the city budget to 400 thousand rubles for those who enter into a contract with the Ministry of Defense, Fontanka reports. This amount was given to journalists at several information points on the issue of military service, as well as at the general hotline number. “The amount is 400 [thousand] for the city, 400 thousand for the Ministry of Defense.

Several dozen people gathered on the evening of November 2 near one of the houses in the village of Petropavlovskaya Borshchagovka in the Kyiv region, they claimed that people were being held and “tortured” there. This was reported by Hromadske , Interfax-Ukraine and other Ukrainian media. According to residents, several men were kept in a private house who could have left the military unit without permission, as well as military personnel from one of the units of the National Guard of Ukraine.

Russian forces bombed the village of Komyshuvakha in Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region, killing 18 people and injuring five others, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said. The strikes hit a school used “for humanitarian purposes,” where local residents received aid, he said. “After the first aerial bomb strike, there was a double-tap strike with nine more bombs, specifically targeting the shelter where people were taking cover,” Zelensky wrote.