(C) Meduza This story was originally published by Meduza and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . The Real Russia. Today. Monday, May 6, 2024 — Meduza [1] [] Date: 2024-05-07 The war in Ukraine 🪖 Prisoner-recruit turns on fellow soldiers after Russia bombs his mother: Russia’s border regions with Ukraine are searching for a prisoner-recruit soldier who killed six fellow servicemen in occupied Donetsk and fled the army. The 57-year-old man reportedly signed a service contract in February. According to Telegram channels, his surname is Galushko and he was born in the Kharkiv region, though he’s now a Russian citizen. Comments from his ex-wife suggest that his sympathies may have turned after Russia bombed his mother in Kharkiv, causing her to have a stroke. Galushko is believed to be armed with a silenced AK-12 and likely hopes to flee into Ukraine’s Kharkiv region. Russia’s border regions with Ukraine are searching for a prisoner-recruit soldier who killed six fellow servicemen in occupied Donetsk and fled the army. The 57-year-old man reportedly signed a service contract in February. According to Telegram channels, his surname is Galushko and he was born in the Kharkiv region, though he’s now a Russian citizen. Comments from his ex-wife suggest that his sympathies may have turned after Russia bombed his mother in Kharkiv, causing her to have a stroke. Galushko is believed to be armed with a silenced AK-12 and likely hopes to flee into Ukraine’s Kharkiv region. 🚀 Moscow says missile production once banned under INF Treaty is moving ahead: Russian diplomats say the country is “intensifying the refinement and commencing the production” of ground-based missile systems with medium and short-range missiles that were previously banned under the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty. Moscow made the announcement on Monday in connection with the news about preparations for drills with tactical nuclear weapons. The Foreign Ministry also tied its announcement to “recent bellicose statements by Western officials,” as well as the West’s supply of increasingly advanced weapons to Ukraine and the supposed involvement of the “Kyiv regime” in terrorism against Russia. Moscow also accused Washington of deploying identical missile systems for exercises in Europe and the Asia-Pacific region. Additionally, Russia’s Foreign Ministry warned that it views American F-16 fighter jets in Ukraine as potential carriers of nuclear weapons. Russian diplomats say the country is “intensifying the refinement and commencing the production” of ground-based missile systems with medium and short-range missiles that were previously banned under the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty. Moscow made the announcement on Monday in connection with the news about preparations for drills with tactical nuclear weapons. The Foreign Ministry also tied its announcement to “recent bellicose statements by Western officials,” as well as the West’s supply of increasingly advanced weapons to Ukraine and the supposed involvement of the “Kyiv regime” in terrorism against Russia. Moscow also accused Washington of deploying identical missile systems for exercises in Europe and the Asia-Pacific region. Additionally, Russia’s Foreign Ministry warned that it views American F-16 fighter jets in Ukraine as potential carriers of nuclear weapons. 🎖️ Applause for sex offender: Russia reportedly awards convicted pedophile a medal and pardon for fighting in Ukraine In mid-April, just weeks after lowering the conscription age from 27 to 25, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky signed a law tightening the country’s mobilization procedures. Shortly after, the U.S. approved nearly $61 billion worth of economic and military aid for Ukraine. However, even Ukrainian officials admit that this long-awaited aid package won’t be enough to solve all the army’s problems on the front lines. Journalist Wiktoria Bieliaszyn, who covers Eastern Europe for the Polish newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza, traveled to Kyiv to see how politicians, experts, and ordinary Ukrainians are coping amid the third year of all-out war with Russia. On May 6, Russia’s Defense Ministry announced that it was beginning preparations for exercises ordered by President Putin to “enhance the combat readiness of Russia’s non-strategic nuclear forces." Moscow says these drills are a response to “provocative statements and threats” against Russia “from certain Western officials.” Putin’s spokesman later clarified that the administration has in mind comments by French President Emmanuel Macron about the potential deployment of NATO troops inside Ukraine, as well as statements on the same topic by members of the U.S. Congress and “British representatives.” Meduza breaks down this escalation over the past few months. Roman Pilipey / AFP / Scanpix / LETA On Sunday, Ukraine marked its third Easter since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion. As Ukrainians celebrated the holiday, Russian forces bombed Kharkiv, wounding more than a dozen people. The Russian Defense Ministry, meanwhile, announced that its forces in the Donetsk region had captured the village of Ocheretyne (or rather, what’s left of it). Meduza shares snapshots taken across Ukraine on Orthodox Easter. We got The Beet. Don’t miss Meduza’s weekly newsletter (separate from the one you’re reading here)! Russian politics and human rights 🗳️ Another nail in the ‘foreign agent’ coffin: State Duma lawmakers adopted the second and third reading of legislation that will prohibit designated “foreign agents” from seeking elected office. The new law will require anyone seeking candidacy in elections to complete the arduous process of delisting themselves from the Justice Ministry’s “foreign agent” registry before filing paperwork with election officials. The law will also give current “foreign agents” in elected positions 180 days to clear themselves or they’ll lose their public positions. The legislation also bans “foreign agents” from serving as election monitors, candidate proxies, or electoral association representatives. State Duma lawmakers adopted the second and third reading of legislation that will prohibit designated “foreign agents” from seeking elected office. The new law will require anyone seeking candidacy in elections to complete the arduous process of delisting themselves from the Justice Ministry’s “foreign agent” registry before filing paperwork with election officials. The law will also give current “foreign agents” in elected positions 180 days to clear themselves or they’ll lose their public positions. The legislation also bans “foreign agents” from serving as election monitors, candidate proxies, or electoral association representatives. ⚖️ Another journalist arrested for speech offenses: A journalist named Nadezhda Kevorkova has been arrested and charged with “justifying terrorism” due to two posts on Telegram. First, she shared an article in 2018 written by her colleague Orkhan Dzhemal (who was killed in Africa earlier that year) about the 2005 terrorist attack in Nalchik. Kevorkova’s other offending Telegram post reportedly defended the activities of the Taliban in Afghanistan, which Russia’s Supreme Court banned as a terrorist group in 2003 (though Moscow has been working to repair this relationship since the U.S. withdrawal). A joint investigation from the Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK) and Proekt has revealed new developments in Vladimir Putin’s so-called “palace” on the Black Sea coast near Gelendzhik, in Russia’s Krasnodar region. The construction of the Italianate palace complex first came to the public’s attention in 2010 through an open letter sent to then-President Dmitry Medvedev from whistleblower Sergey Kolesnikov. In January 2021, Alexey Navalny and his Anti-Corruption Foundation returned the billion-dollar property to the spotlight in a documentary film that has now been viewed on YouTube more than 132 million times. For its latest report, FBK obtained four hours of hidden-cam videos recorded inside the palace by “our brave agent,” the foundation says. The new footage reveals never-before-seen details inside the complex and several remodeling changes carried out after Navalny’s bombshell investigation three years ago. Sources close to the Putin administration told Andrey Perstev, Meduza’s resident Kremlin whisperer, that officials are “tense but not nervous” ahead of Putin’s inauguration on Tuesday when the president will renew his cabinet. Amid hopes and fears of promotions and demotions, the consensus view appears to be that First Deputy Prime Minister Adnrey Belousov will step down, perhaps to trade places with State Development Corporation VEB.RF chairman Igor Shuvalov or to make way for former Economic Development Minister Maxim Oreshkin. Additionally, there are reportedly several senior regional officials who hope to trade in their current duties for roles in Moscow. Sources told Meduza that there’s some extra scrambling for cabinet positions this year due to anticipation that the next six years could be the last term for 71-year-old Putin. Despite rumors to the contrary, Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu is expected to keep his job. Meduza’s sources say any cabinet shuffle will lead to more of the same from Moscow: “conservatism, squeezing out all dissenters, a turn to the East, war, and a very likely victory.” As the world turns 🇺🇸 Korea-to-Vladivostok proves to be a bad itinerary: Russia arrests U.S. soldier on theft charges 🇪🇪 Estonia cracks down on Russian Orthodox Church: The Estonian Parliament has declared the Russian Orthodox Church to be “an organization supporting the military aggression of the Russian Federation.” Internal Affairs Minister Lauri Laanemets initiated this process in April to grant his agency the power to ban the church’s activities and sever its ties with the Estonian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate. Metropolitan Eugene of Tallinn and All Estonia and the primate of the Estonian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (secular name: Valery Reshetnikov) left Estonia in February 2024 after local officials refused on national security grounds to renew his residence permit. No country can be free without independent media. In January 2023, the Russian authorities outlawed Meduza, banning our work in the country our colleagues call home. Just supporting Meduza carries the risk of criminal prosecution for Russian nationals, which is why we’re turning to our international audience for help. Your assistance makes it possible for thousands of people in Russia to read Meduza and stay informed. Consider a small but recurring contribution to provide the most effective support. Donate here. 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