A former freelance correspondent for Radio Liberty was detained in Transbaikalia on charges of treason, the FSB reported . According to security officials, he joined a telegram channel controlled by the SBU.

Yuriy Dud interviewed Pavel Gubarev, one of the leaders of pro-Russian separatists in southeastern Ukraine, who in 2014 declared himself the “People’s Governor of Donbass.” However, he never held real political positions. Until 2014, Gubarev was a businessman and from the very beginning of the conflict provided financial support to the separatist movement. Since 2022, he has participated in Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine as an anti-aircraft gunner.

In early April, the Ukrainian Main Intelligence Directorate accused seven Russian archaeologists of excavations in the occupied territories. A few months earlier, archaeologist Alexander Butyagin was detained in Warsaw at the request of Ukraine in the case of illegal excavations in annexed Crimea. These and many other cases signal a wider problem with Ukraine's archaeological heritage damaged during the Russian invasion.

In the city of Thessaloniki in Greece, a 55-year-old man was detained suspected of preparing a double murder in Lithuania. This was reported by the Lithuanian publication Delfi. The suspect was detained on February 10 under a European arrest warrant, the material says. According to the Greek publication Voria, the man is an ethnic Greek from Georgia. A court in Thessaloniki authorized the extradition of the suspect to Lithuania, but he filed an appeal to the Supreme Court in Greece.

On April 12, Hungarians will go to the polls to decide the fate of one of the EU’s most Russia-friendly leaders. The vote comes amid a wave of bombshell reports detailing secret communications between Russian and Hungarian officials, leaving little doubt that Budapest's efforts to impede EU sanctions in recent years were made at Moscow's direct behest.

The Supreme Court of Russia recognized the “international public movement “Memorial” as “extremist,” reports “Caution, News.” The lawyer was not allowed to participate in the trial, Slovo Zashchita reported . The Ministry of Justice demanded that the “international public movement “Memorial”” be recognized as an “extremist” organization on March 27. “International Memorial” and the human rights center “Memorial” were registered in Russia, but in 2022 they were liquidated by a court decision.

Photo: EPA/SERGEI ILNITSKY Russia's Supreme Court applied an “ extremist” designation to the Nobel Prize-winning human rights group Memorial on Thursday, making any cooperation with the organisation punishable by imprisonment. The specific entity named in the case, the “Memorial International Public Movement”, does not formally exist. Russian authorities previously dissolved Memorial’s legal entities in the country, Memorial International and the Memorial Human Rights Centre, in early 2022.

On April 9, the Supreme Court recognized the “international public movement “Memorial”” as an “extremist” organization and banned its activities in the country. The claim was considered on the initiative of the Ministry of Justice. The meeting was held behind closed doors, and the case was classified as classified.

The frigate Admiral Grigorovich in St. Petersburg, Russia, 27 July 2025. Photo: EPA/ALEXANDER KAZAKOV / SPUTNIK / KREMLIN POOL KREMLIN POOL / MANDATORY CREDIT Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday that Russia had “the right … to defend its interests” against what he termed “piracy”, in response to British reports that a Russian warship had escorted sanctioned tankers through the English Channel.

A former correspondent for the American state-funded media organisation Radio Free Europe has been arrested on suspicion of treason in Russia's Far Eastern Zabaykalsky region, according to a statement from Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) published Thursday. The FSB claims the man joined a Telegram group controlled by the Security Service of Ukraine “with the goal of assisting the Ukrainian side”.

Photo: Gleb Shchelkunov / Kommersant / Sipa USA / Vida Press The editorial office of Novaya Gazeta in Moscow is being searched. Special services officers came to the office at about 12 noon and began investigative actions, the publication reported . “We don’t know the reason - the editor’s lawyers are not allowed into the office on Potapovsky, where some of the employees are also located,” the publication reported.

On April 3, the Tver court arrested the former and current owners and managers of the IT company Sprut-Inform, which developed a solution for monitoring and searching for “extremist” materials on Telegram, New Europe found out. In particular, Dmitry Razuvaev, Andrei and Elena Shlein, as well as Sergei Ineshin were arrested. The Shleins now own and manage Sprut-Inform, Razuvaev and Ineshin are the former owners of the company.

Photo: Novaya Gazeta Security forces raided the Moscow newsroom of Novaya Gazeta on Thursday, the Russian newspaper said. Masked officers arrived around noon and began carrying out searches, the outlet reported on Telegram. "We don't know the reason — our lawyers are being refused entry to the office, where some of our staff are also present," it said. According to attorney Kaloy Akhilgov, the search at Novaya is being conducted by Moscow's Investigative Committee.