Photo: Arkady Budnitsky / EPA A steep fall in Russia’s prison population since 2021 is partly due to recruitment efforts for the war in Ukraine, Federal Penitentiary Service (FSIN) Director Arkady Gostev said on Thursday. At a press briefing in Moscow, Gostev told state media that the number of inmates in Russian penal colonies and pre-trial detention centres had fallen from 465,000 in late 2021 to 282,000, a drop of nearly 40%.

Russia and Ukraine exchanged prisoners of war according to the formula “205 for 205,” Irina Krynina, leader of the public movement “Our Way Out,” told Novaya-Europe. This is the first stage of a large-scale exchange “1000 for 1000,” noted President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky. According to him, most of the Ukrainians who returned home have been in captivity since 2022.

Nina Litvinova. Photo: Daria Kornilova / Facebook Human rights activist and dissident Nina Litvinova committed suicide because of the war in Ukraine and the inability to help political prisoners in Russia. This follows from her suicide note, a fragment of which was published by the human rights activist’s cousin, journalist Maria Slonim. “I have to leave, I can’t bear to live.

Photo: “Russian Community” / Telegram The nationalist organization “Russian Community” is financed by the foundations of political scientist Sergei Mikheev and billionaire Igor Khudokormov, according to an investigation by BBC Eye and the BBC Russian Service. 🔵 Political scientist Sergei Mikheev regularly appears in the programs of propagandist Vladimir Solovyov. According to The Insider, Mikheev is closely connected with the Kremlin.

EPA/STRINGER In recent days, information has appeared on Russian and Ukrainian telegram channels about an attack by the Ukrainian Armed Forces on the Crimean Bridge using an unmanned boat - a sea drone. Presumably it happened on April 30. A few days later, the telegram channels “ VChK-OGPU ” and “ Crimean Wind ” published a photo of the obituary of eight FSB border service officers who allegedly died in this attack.

Nina Litvinova. Photo: Darya Karnilova Human rights activist Nina Litvinova has committed suicide because of the war in Ukraine and her inability to help political prisoners, as stated in her suicide note, an excerpt from which was published by her cousin, journalist Maria Slonim, on Friday. “I have to leave; life is unbearable.

Source: Zelensky telegram channel Attacks on Ukrainian political centers. Ukrainian intelligence has received evidence that Russia is preparing a new missile and drone attack, including on “decision-making centers.” This was stated by President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky following a meeting with the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, intelligence and the SBU. According to Zelensky, about 20 political centers and military points could come under attack.

High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina Christian Schmidt, Sarajevo, 10 October 2023. Photo: Antonio Bronic / Reuters / Scanpix / LETA Washington forced the resignation of the High Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina On 11 May 2026, the High Representative of the International Community in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Christian Schmidt, announced his resignation while in New York, where he presented his annual report to the UN Security Council.

Photo: social networks The 1st Western District Military Court in St. Petersburg sentenced Nikita Krasilnikov and Rinat Ilyin to 16 and 15 years in a maximum security colony. They were found guilty of participation in a terrorist organization (Part 2 of Article 205.5 of the Criminal Code), attempted terrorism (Part 3 of Article 30, paragraph “a” of Part 3 of Article 205 of the Criminal Code) and treason (Article 275 of the Criminal Code). Mediazona reports this.

Photo: Novaya Gazeta Europe Pioneer Summer sparked a wave of censorship in Russia. Now it’s part of a growing literary resistance. This piece was supported by the Pulitzer Center. In the winter of 2021, Kateryna Sylvanova and Elena Malisova were touring bookstores in St. Petersburg, Russia, signing copies of their best-selling young-adult novel, Pioneer Summer .

Thick smoke above the oil refinery and marine terminal in Tuapse after a drone attack, May 2, 2026. Photo: Maria Semenova / Sipa / Scanpix / LETA Ukrainian Armed Forces drones stopped about 16% of gasoline production. Is a new fuel crisis starting in Russia? Over the past two months, the Ukrainian army has carried out dozens of attacks on Russian oil infrastructure.

Metropolitan Hilarion (Alfeev). Photo from personal telegram channel Hungary has stopped searching for cell attendant George Suzuki. Probably, the metropolitan, whom he accuses of harassment, will have to flee the EU The trial between Metropolitan Hilarion (Alfeev), one of the most influential hierarchs of the Russian Orthodox Church in the past, and his former cell attendant, an Orthodox clergyman from Japan Georgy Suzuki, which has not yet reached the court, has taken a new turn.

Photo: EPA/YURI KOCHETKOV Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) claimed on Friday that growing discontent with the Kremlin among pro-war bloggers was due to a Ukrainian campaign to “purchase Russian military and patriotic Telegram channels”. In a press release, the SVR alleged that the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) had begun purchasing Russian pro-war channels in late April 2026, using fake accounts under the names of “public figures who are opinion leaders”.

Spectators greet the participants in the second semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest in Vienna, Austria, May 14, 2026 Photo: Hannibal Hanschke / EPA How another front of ideological battles opened at the “European Pop Championship” On May 16, Vienna will host the final of Eurovision, a competition that every year becomes more and more loud, not in a musical sense.