Referendums and amendments to the Criminal Code on mobilization. What happened and what does it mean @ Photo: http://duma.gov.ru Apparently, this week in the DPR, LPR, as well as in Zaporozhye and Kherson, referendums about joining Russia will be held. The authorities of these regions have already called the dates of voting: September 23–27. Against the backdrop of rapidly developing events, the Kremlin’s silence looked strange today.

By the end of Tuesday, Vladimir Putin may make a statement about "referenda" in the occupied territories of Ukraine. There is no official confirmation yet. On September 20, Vladimir Putin can express his attitude to the “referendums” in the territory of the LPR, DPR, Kherson and Zaporozhye regions, said three interlocutors of RBC, close to the presidential administration, . What exactly the head of state will say is unknown to the sources.

The police received a statement with a request to check Alla Pugacheva under the article on "discrediting" the army, they report, citing sources "Caution, news" and "RIA Novosti" . The reason for this was the post of the singer, in which she asked to be recognized as a "foreign agent" after her husband Maxim Galkin. As the Telegram channel “Caution, news” clarifies, a resident of the Moscow region complained about Pugacheva.

The Sakharovo migration center on the territory of the new Moscow will become the base for the admission of foreign citizens to military service in the Russian Armed Forces, said . Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin The fact is that Russian citizenship "without a long wait and other bureaucratic obstacles" in accordance with the new law can be obtained by foreigners who have signed an annual contract for service in the Russian Armed Forces.

The Mosbirzhi index on Tuesday fell sharply at the moment by almost 10%, below 2200 points, around 15:10 Moscow time, but soon grew to 2300 points. At 15:45 Moscow time, the fall corrected to 4.5%. The fall was frontal. It took place against the backdrop of news about the adoption of a bill criminalizing looting, desertion and disobeying the orders of commanders, as well as referendums on joining the DPR, LPR and Kherson region to Russia on September 23-27.

The referendum on the entry of the "LPR" into Russia will be held from 23 to 27 September. In the "DNR", following the "LNR", they named similar terms. According to Meduza (recognized as a foreign agent in Russia), referendums will be held at the same time in the territories of the Kherson and Zaporozhye regions of Ukraine. Denis Miroshnichenko, chairman of the People's Council of the LPR , said that a referendum on reunification with Russia would begin this week.

After February 24, the Russians lost the opportunity to pay their Visa and MasterCard cards abroad and in foreign services. This led to the emergence of “card tourism” - trips to the so -called “friendly” countries for the design of international bank cards. But it seems that this time comes to an end. In this issue, we will talk about the difficulties that the Russians began to face banks in the “friendly” countries. This material was written specifically for the weekly newsletter of Bell.

Apple's new iPhone — the iPhone 14 — went on sale in U.S. stores Friday. Even though the company’s flagship product is not officially available in Russia, it will still reach the country via the so-called parallel imports scheme. Moreover, a strong ruble means there has reportedly been a significant uptick in pre-orders of the iPhone 14. Officially, Apple has ceased its operations in Russia and does not supply products to the country.

The exit of Visa and Mastercard from Russia in the wake of the Ukraine invasion means Russians with cards issued by them can no longer use them overseas. Now, it looks like Russia’s Mir alternative is also being targeted by the West. Mir cards can still be used in some countries where Russians frequently travel, including Turkey and Egypt. However, this week it emerged that several hotels in Turkey have stopped accepting payments via Mir. It is possible that this is due to pressure from the U.S.

The Russian authorities and supporters of the Ukraine invasion spent much of last week trying to make sense of the Armed Forces’ heaviest defeat since the spring. State-owned media studiously ignored the fact that Russia was almost entirely driven out of Kharkiv region, focusing instead on military successes announced by the Defense Ministry. At the same time, there was a public discussion of the possibility of a partial mobilization, something the authorities are obviously reluctant to attempt.

Hello! This week our top story is about state-owned Russian media ignoring the successful Ukrainian advance near Kharkiv and some top politicians raising the issue of mobilization. We also look at how Russia’s domestic payments system is threatened by sanctions and why the new iPhone will be both cheap and freely available in Russia.

A bill on amendments to the Criminal Code has been submitted to the State Duma, introducing criminal liability for voluntary surrender and looting. Thus, as lawyer Pavel Chikov (head of the human rights group Agora, recognized as a foreign agent), notes , deputies introduce the concepts of “mobilization,” “martial law,” and “wartime” into the Criminal Code.

After Joe Biden's words about the end of the coronavirus pandemic, companies specializing in vaccines lost more than $10 billion in capitalization, writes the Financial Times. Such a statement by the President of the United States, according to Politico, was not prepared in advance. The fall in quotations of those companies that rose only on pandemics (Moderna, BioNTech and Novavax) reached 9%, while Pfizer, whose portfolio is much wider, fell by 2%.

The government has figured out how to cover the budget deficit: additional withdrawals await commodity exporters, but some will be taken from domestic gas consumers out where the government found an additional 3 trillion rubles for the federal budget of 2023-2025 found Kommersant . Today the proposals will be considered by the commission on budgetary projections. The main "affected" will be the gas industry.

The Swedish retailer H&M will start winding down its business in Russia by closing stores beyond the Urals. The vacated space in the shopping center can be occupied by local brands. the details of H&M's plan to leave Russia found out Kommersant . The first, according to the interlocutors of the newspaper in the real estate market, the retailer plans to close stores in Siberia and the Far East until the end of October.