A police car near a school in Dobryanka, Perm Territory, where a ninth-grade student fatally stabbed a teacher, April 7, 2026. Photo: Elena Mayorova / Sputnik / Imago Images / Scanpix / LETA "New Europe" studied what security measures were implemented by the end of the school year after a series of attacks in educational institutions Since the beginning of 2026, there have been at least seven confirmed attacks in Russian schools, colleges and other educational institutions.

Photo: Gian Ehrenzeller/EPA From January 2025 to May 2026, drones were reported in the airspace or found in the Baltics on at least 24 occasions. “New Europe” learned about it after analyzing publications in the media and messages from local authorities. Details. Such cases were most often reported in Latvia - New-Europe found at least 12 episodes. At least seven more cases were recorded in Lithuania, five in Estonia.

The court of the Astana International Financial Center (AIFC) in Kazakhstan allowed the forced recovery of assets of the Gazprom company in favor of the Ukrainian Naftogaz for $1.4 billion. The press service of Naftogaz reported this. The essence of the claim. In 2019, Gazprom and Naftogaz entered into an Agreement on organizing the transportation of natural gas through Ukraine. In May 2022, due to hostilities, gas transit through the Sokhranovka station became impossible.

The Russian authorities have decided to postpone the introduction of additional fees for VPN traffic over 15 GB per month. This was reported by RBC and Kommersant , citing sources in the telecom market. According to several of them, such measures will be postponed until the State Duma elections in September this year. Postponement of deadlines. Initially, as Forbes wrote , the Ministry of Digital Development planned to introduce a fee for international traffic before May 1.

Photo: Alexander Kazakov / EPA The Presidential Administration (AP) recommended state and loyal media to use the word “ban” as little as possible in publications. Meduza writes about this with reference to employees of pro-Kremlin publications. Details. Requirements began to arrive from the AP a few days ago.

Photo: Social media Ukrainian drone strikes have taken offline roughly 32% of oil refining in Russia, accounting for around 28% of the country’s gasoline production, according to calculations by Novaya Gazeta Europe. Reuters, citing industry sources, reported that the Ryazan Oil Refining Company fully suspended operations following a drone attack on 15 May. The facility is Russia’s third-largest refinery by throughput, with an annual processing capacity of 17.1 million tonnes.

Photo: Kremlin Ex-Mufti of Karelia Wisam Ali Bardvil was arrested for 15 days under the article of disobedience to the police. The Mufti of Mordovia, member of the Public Chamber of the Republic, Rail-Hazrat Asainov, was detained on suspicion of bribery. What happened? According to security officials, on May 14, at Sheremetyevo airport, Bardvila refused to present documents and resisted arrest. On May 20, the Tagansky Court of Moscow arrested him.

Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir in the Knesset during a meeting on the bill to dissolve the government, Jerusalem, May 20, 2026.

Photo: Cannes Film Festival “Fjord” by Cristina Mungiu from Cannes competition: a controversial film about how tolerant Norwegians torture a Christian family from Romania Winner of the Palme d'Or for Four Months, Three Weeks, Two Days, Romanian director Cristian Mungiu brought his first English-language film to Cannes, starring Hollywood star Sebastian Stan and Cannes favorite Renate Reinsve. “Fjord” has already been purchased for Russian distribution.

Former Cuban leader Raul Castro attends a May Day demonstration in Havana, Cuba, May 1, 2025. Photo: Ernesto Mastrascusa/EPA The United States has charged Raul Castro in the case of the downing of humanitarian mission planes 30 years ago. Nicolás Maduro's problems started the same way. Should we expect a military operation against Cuba?

Raul Castro, photo: Ernesto Mastrascusa / EPA US authorities have accused 94-year-old former Cuban President Raul Castro and five military officers in absentia of plotting to kill American citizens. The defendants could face the death penalty or life imprisonment, the US Department of Justice said . Why Castro is being tried. The charges stem from a 1996 incident in which Cuban fighter jets shot down two planes of the humanitarian organization Brothers to the Rescue.

Photo: social networks The authorities of Abkhazia began to massively kill stray dogs before the start of the tourist season. Animal activist Oksana Kaminskaya, who organized a movement to help dogs on the territory of the unrecognized republic, told RTVI about this. Killing dogs. According to the activist, Abkhaz authorities kill stray dogs every year ahead of the tourist season. Now such events are being carried out near New Athos.

A maternity ward in rural Russia. Photo: Wikimedia The average fertility rate in rural areas of Russia fell to its lowest level since Soviet times last year, independent outlet RusNews reported on Thursday, citing data from state statistics agency Rosstat. The country’s rural total fertility rate (TFR) stood at 1.464 in 2025. For comparison, the rural TFR was 2.6 in 1990, and its most recent peak came in 2014, when it reached 2.272.

Illustration: Rina Lu / “Novaya Gazeta Europe” In Russia, 2,000 cases of medical errors are initiated per year. One in five surgeons or obstetricians-gynecologists may face criminal prosecution during their career Every year, investigators initiate thousands of criminal cases against doctors. Some specialists - obstetricians-gynecologists, surgeons, anesthesiologists - have an abnormally high chance of being persecuted. At the same time, 90% of cases fall apart and do not reach trial.

Photo: Gian Ehrenzeller / EPA Since the start of 2025, drones have been reported in the Baltic states at least 24 times, either entering airspace or being found on the ground. Novaya Gazeta Europe counted 12 such episodes in Latvia, seven in Lithuania , and five in Estonia . Nine incidents were recorded across the three countries in all of 2025, while there have been at least 15 already in 2026. The incidents have increasingly disrupted everyday life in the Baltics.