Available in English The Kremlin network of bots “Matryoshka” distributes videos and pictures disguised as content from Western media, in which it intimidates readers with the upcoming hantavirus pandemic, which caused an outbreak of the disease on the cruise ship MV Hondius. The Bot Blocker project ( antibot4navalny ) told The Insider about this. Epidemiologists assess the risk of an epidemic, and especially a hantavirus pandemic, as low and very low.

The head of the US Border Patrol, a federal armed police force that protects state borders and subordinate to US Customs and Border Protection, Michael Banks unexpectedly resigned on Thursday, May 14. This was reported by Reuters, citing an anonymous source. Banks himself later confirmed this in an interview with Fox News, explaining his departure by saying that “it was just time.” Banks was appointed to this position by President Donald Trump in early 2025.

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on uniform basic measures to support participants in the war against Ukraine and members of their families. The document was published on the official legal information portal. According to the decree, Russian regions are recommended to establish a minimum set of benefits for such categories of citizens, regardless of the date and place of conclusion of contracts and other agreements.

The Kuzminsky District Court of Moscow sentenced nine managers of gas industry enterprises in the Krasnodar Territory to terms ranging from 8 to 21 years in prison in the case of an organized criminal community and bribes amounting to more than 166 million rubles. This was reported on the portal of the courts of general jurisdiction of Moscow.

2424 The Insider Podcasts May 15, 2026 In the new issue of “Guns or Butter,” The Insider economic commentator Ekaterina Mereminskaya and economist Sergei Aleksashenko discussed how much the Russian state is spending on May 9 celebrations, the record price of Russian oil and oil budget revenues, a deficit of almost 6 trillion rubles and rumors about a possible freeze on deposits. Ekaterina Mereminskaya: Hello everyone!

The Telegram channel “From Mariupol to the Carpathians,” according to Ukrainian media, is run by Alexander Sheptura, a native of Donetsk, a former employee of Ukrainian law enforcement agencies, who after the events of 2014 defected to the “DPR” side. After February 24, 2022, he also took part in hostilities, including in the Kherson region. At the beginning of 2023, Sheptura was seriously wounded, became disabled and was discharged for health reasons.

It was during the Midas investigation that detectives established that one of the conversations between the defendants in the case referred to the construction of a cooperative near Kiev. Against the background of the resonance that arose because of the case, Ermak had to write a letter of resignation. As Ukrayinska Pravda wrote , Ermak did not believe until recently that he would be dismissed.

Journalist Masha Slonim wrote on her Facebook page that her cousin, scientist and human rights activist Nina Litvinova committed suicide. Slonim quotes Litvinova’s suicide note, where she wrote about despair over the war and the inability to help political prisoners: “Today RIA Novosti, according to law enforcement agencies, reported that our sister Nina Litvinova committed suicide.

Now it has become clear that the woman died not due to a strike by the Ukrainian Armed Forces, but as a result of being hit by a Russian missile from the Pantsir-S1 air defense system. This is stated in the decision of the Karachevsky District Court of the Bryansk Region, which is at the disposal of the Ukrainian OSINT project CyberBoroshno .

The level of approval of Vladimir Putin's activities, according to VTsIOM, increased by 1.2 percentage points from 65.6 to 66.8%. The level of trust increased from 71 to 72.1%. This follows from a survey published on May 15. As Meduza noted , the increase in indicators occurred after VTsIOM changed its research methodology and began conducting not only telephone but also door-to-door surveys.

The nationalist Russian Community movement, whose members stage raids against migrants, LGBT people and nightclub-goers, receives funding through charities linked to pro-Kremlin political scientist Sergei Mikheev and billionaire Igor Khudokormov, BBC Eye has found . As financial documents show, one of the sponsors of the movement is a fund associated with the owner of the Prodimex agricultural holding, Igor Khudokormov.

Since the end of April, the Central District Military Court in Yekaterinburg has stopped allowing listeners and journalists to political trials with charges under “terrorist” articles. Some sessions are closed by judges, in other cases bailiffs simply do not allow people into the courthouse, although the trials formally remain open, The Insider found out.

Photo: sisters Ekaterina and Valentina Kornienko, supplying humanitarian aid to the Russian military / Channel One Among Russian military bloggers, the case of Colonel Igor Puzik (call sign “Evil”), the commander of one of the units of the Russian army, who was accused of sending subordinates in “meat assaults” for criticizing himself, protecting drug trafficking and theft, continues to be actively discussed.

Africa is experiencing economic growth, but it has not been accompanied by a reduction in poverty or an increase in employment opportunities. According to the International Labour Organization, while the average unemployment rate stands at 6.3%, the measure of inadequate access to decent work reaches 17.4%. Youth unemployment in sub-Saharan Africa remains at 8.9%, and the region accounts for 71% of the world’s population living in extreme poverty.

Türkiye has proposed building a $1.2 billion (€1 billion) military fuel pipeline to supply NATO allies on Europe's eastern flank. Bloomberg reports this, citing sources familiar with the discussion of the project. We are talking about a pipeline from Turkey to Romania through the territory of Bulgaria. According to the agency, Ankara expects to receive support from allies before or during the July NATO summit, which will be held in Turkey.