How are the authorities preparing for the Duma elections against the backdrop of war fatigue and bans? We discuss it in the “Facing the Event” program with sociologist Igor Eidman and political scientist Abbas Gallyamov.

Jacob Vorontsov The court in Almaty decided to send the former hieromonk of the Astana and Almaty diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church, Jacob Vorontsov, to a psychiatric hospital for examination. He is known for being one of the few priests of the Russian Orthodox Church who openly condemned the full-scale invasion of Russian troops in Ukraine. Since February, Vorontsov has been in custody in the Almaty pre-trial detention center.

The American nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Nimitz, accompanied by warships, entered the Caribbean Sea, the US Southern Command said after it became known on Wednesday that Washington had brought charges against former Cuban leader Raul Castro and five others. “Welcome to the Caribbean, Carrier Strike Group Nimitz!” reads a post from US command on Platform X. The post is accompanied by a video demonstrating the ship’s capabilities.

In the Simonovsky District Court of Moscow, the trial continues in the case of Jehovah's Witnesses, a religious organization that the Supreme Court of Russia in 2017 declared extremist and banned. There are six people on trial: Zaur Murtuzov, Daria Petrochenko, Oksana Ivanova, Larisa Kislaya, Liliana Korol and Tatyana Levitskaya. The first two are in prison, the rest are under house arrest. All are accused of participating in the activities of an extremist organization.

Syzran, May 21, 2026, photo from social networks Authorities in the Samara region reported on Thursday an attack by Ukrainian drones on Syzran. The governor of the region, Vyacheslav Fedorishchev, wrote on social networks about two dead and several injured. Fedorishchev did not specify which objects in Syzran were attacked. Ukrainian monitoring channels Exilenova+ and Supernova+ write about a fire that broke out at the Syzran Oil Refinery.

Kestutis Budrys Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kestutis Budrys accused the Russian military of deliberately changing the course of Ukrainian drones towards the Baltic countries using electronic warfare equipment. The minister's words were quoted by LRT on Thursday.

17-year-old and 18-year-old conscripts in Russia are forced to sign contracts with the Ministry of Defense by force, their relatives say. According to them, soldiers are beaten, hastily transported from region to region so that parents do not have time to arrive at the unit, and those who refuse to sign documents are still sent to the Rostov region - closer to the war.

Marco Rubio US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Washington sees “positive signals” about a possible agreement with Iran to end the war. His words are quoted by Sky News. At the same time, Rubio emphasized that he “does not want to be overly optimistic.” According to the head of the State Department, any agreement will become impossible if Tehran tries to charge fees for the passage of ships through the Strait of Hormuz. "Nobody in the world supports a toll system. It can't happen.

Illustrative photo The 2nd Western District Military Court, at an off-site hearing in Nizhny Novgorod, sentenced 35-year-old design engineer Mikhail Guryanov. As Mediazona reports, citing the press service of the court, he was sentenced to 20 years in prison on a combination of charges, including high treason, financing terrorism and escape. The convicted person will spend the first five years of his sentence in prison, the remaining part in a maximum security colony.

The Kirov region remains the leader in the Volga region in the number of deaths in the war against Ukraine per 10 thousand male population (80.4 men) aged 18 to 66 years. This is evidenced by the calculations of “Idel.Realii” as of May 21, 2026, based on data from the database of deceased natives of the Volga region since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. In second place in the Volga region is Bashkortostan: 78.8 men per 10 thousand adult male population died there.

Russian authorities may postpone the introduction of an additional fee for international mobile traffic in excess of 15 gigabytes per month. Sources on the television market told RBC about this. According to the publication’s interlocutors, they are discussing postponing the launch of the new rules until closer to the fall or even until after the State Duma elections, which will be held on September 18–20.

17-year-old and 18-year-old conscripts in Russia are forced to sign contracts with the Ministry of Defense by force, their relatives say. According to them, soldiers are beaten, hastily transported from region to region so that parents do not have time to arrive at the unit, and those who refuse to sign documents are still sent to the Rostov region - closer to the war.

Former Cuban President Raul Castro Information digest "Time of Freedom with Andrei Sharogradsky." Thursday, May 21 01:06 The Ukrainian Armed Forces attacked a Russian military facility in the city of Snezhnoye in the Donbass, 90 kilometers from the front 10:42 Report from Kramatorsk by front-line correspondent of “Current Time” Andrey Kuzakov 15:18 Impact of the strengthening of the ruble in recent months on the Russian economy 20:38 Scandal surrounding Israeli Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir

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