About 20 telecom companies that own communication channels between Russia and Europe have agreed on a moratorium on their expansion. We are talking about leasing and commissioning new capacities for transmitting foreign traffic. RBC reports this with reference to its sources in the market. According to them, the decision was discussed at a meeting with the head of the Ministry of Digital Development, Maksut Shadayev, and is associated with the authorities’ increasing struggle with VPN services.

On the night of April 16, the Krasnodar region was subjected to a drone attack; in particular, Tuapse came under attack. A fire broke out in the city at a local oil refinery. The governor of the region, Veniamin Kondratiev, said that two children, 5 and 14 years old, were killed as a result of the attack on residential buildings in the city. At least two victims are also known.

Scientists have been able to establish the exact location of the estate of the English poet and playwright William Shakespeare in the capital of Great Britain. It was known earlier that he owned property in London, but where exactly it was located was not previously clear. The opening was reported by the press service of King's College London. The exact location of the house was established by a specialist in the works of William Shakespeare, Professor Lucy Munro from King's College London.

The Dnipropetrovsk Region also came under attack . Five people are known to have been killed and at least 34 people were injured, according to reports by local authorities. Four others were wounded in overnight strikes on Kharkiv and the surrounding region. Russian attacks continued to cause casualties in frontline areas, with six people wounded in strikes in the eastern Donetsk Region, governor Vadym Filashkin said April 16.

Seaborne oil exports from Russia in mid-April fell to their lowest levels since the summer of 2024, and by the end of the month they could drop to a level not seen since 2023. Kommersant writes about this with reference to data from the Center for Price Indexes (CPI). The decrease is directly related to the consequences of Ukrainian attacks on key port facilities.

Asian economies are more exposed than other regions to the risks of an energy shock due to their dependence on fuel supplies from the Middle East. This was stated by the director of the Asia-Pacific Department of the International Monetary Fund, Krishna Srinivasan, in an interview with Reuters.

Europe has about six weeks of aviation kerosene supplies left, and flight cancellations could soon begin if oil supplies continue to be blocked by the war in Iran. The director of the International Energy Agency, Fatih Birol, said this in an interview with the Associated Press, describing the situation as the largest energy crisis in history. According to him, news will soon appear that flights between individual cities in Europe are being canceled due to lack of fuel.

The Bank of England is conducting scenario analysis to assess the range of possible macroeconomic and market outcomes from investment in artificial intelligence, its development and implementation, and the associated risks to financial stability. This is stated in the Bank's response to the report of the British Parliamentary Treasury Committee. The letter was signed by Deputy Governor for Financial Stability Sarah Breeden. The simulations are carried out jointly with international partners.

The key event of the war in Iran was the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, which immediately affected the world economy. Narrow strips of water, which look almost random on a map, have determined the fate of empires for centuries, provoked wars and changed the balance of power in the world. From the Danish tariffs at the Sound to the Allied failure at Gallipoli, from the Russian plans to seize the Bosporus to the Suez Crisis, the same mechanism is repeated in these stories.

It is planned to oblige Russian hosting providers not to provide computing power to sites and information systems through which users gain access to content blocked in the country. This provision is contained in the amendments to the second reading of the Antifraud 2.0 bill, the text of which was reviewed by Kommersant.

The report states that the oil spill could have formed as a result of attacks by Ukrainian drones in the Black and Azov Seas. Under the influence of the wind, the spot moved from the open sea in the direction of the Anapa-Vityazevo coastline. The rainbow film was treated with biosorbent, 45 kg of materials were used and booms were installed.

The Basmanny District Court of Moscow arrested the Deputy General Director of the Maxim Gorky Moscow Art Theater Artur Gezerov in an embezzlement case. This was reported by the press service of the courts of general jurisdiction of the city of Moscow. Gezerov was sent to a pre-trial detention center until June 8, 2026.

The Donald Trump administration launched a sanctions operation on Iran called Economic Fury. US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced this at a briefing at the Pentagon on April 16.

US President Donald Trump said the leaders of Israel and Lebanon will hold talks on April 16. “I’m trying to reduce the tension between Israel and Lebanon a little. The leaders have not spoken for a very long time - about 34 years. It will happen tomorrow. Great!" Trump wrote on Truth Social. It is unclear from the message which leaders are being referred to and where the negotiations will take place.

According to the prosecution, Flaczek arrived in Ukraine in September 2024, where he underwent training and was supplied with weapons, ammunition, and military gear. He then took part in combat operations on the side of Ukrainian forces. Russian investigators claim he did so in exchange for monetary compensation.