(C) Meduza This story was originally published by Meduza and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . The Real Russia. Today. Thursday, June 27, 2024 — Meduza [1] [] Date: 2024-06-27 The war in Ukraine In February 2022, French-American writer Jonathan Littell, who won France’s most prestigious literary award in 2006 for a novel narrated by a former SS officer, finished the manuscript of another book about Nazi crimes: a work of literary nonfiction about the 1941 Babi Yar massacre in Ukraine. Two days later, Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and less than two months after that, another place in the Kyiv region became synonymous with an invading power’s atrocities against civilians: Bucha. Littell soon returned to his manuscript to update it for a world in which war crimes are not just a horrific chapter in Ukraine’s history but part of its daily reality. The result, titled An Inconvenient Place, was published in French in late 2023 and features photographs by Antoine d’Agata. Now, Meduza has published the book’s first-ever Russian-language translation. To mark its release, journalist Dmitry Kartsev spoke to Littell about the difficulty of drawing parallels between wars, the bureaucratic nature of authoritarian regimes, and reckoning with the complexities of Ukrainian history. You can purchase the Russian-language edition of An Inconvenient Place here. Speaking at the St. Petersburg International Legal Forum on Thursday, Russian Investigative Committee head Alexander Bastrykin said that the Russian authorities have identified more than 30,000 recently naturalized citizens who failed to register for military service. “[We’ve] already sent about 10,000 of them to the special military operation zone,” he said, using the Kremlin’s official euphemism for the full-scale war in Ukraine. Bastrykin said that these citizens were assigned to rear units and tasked with “digging trenches and building fortifications.” We got The Beet. Don’t miss Meduza’s weekly newsletter (separate from the one you’re reading here)! Human rights and the law in Russia Since the start of the full-scale war against Ukraine, Russians have filed at least 3,500 denunciations against their fellow citizens for their statements, posts, books, and websites — sometimes resulting in high-profile criminal cases. However, the consequences of most of these complaints receive little public attention. Furthermore, many of those filing reports are not public figures but ordinary Russians who meet in anonymous Telegram channels. The independent outlet iStories analyzed the most active of these informant channels and interviewed their members to uncover who they are, what they report, and why they choose to participate in state repression. Meduza shares an abridged English-language version of the outlet’s findings. A new report from Amnesty International published on Wednesday details one of the tactics the Russian authorities have been using to punish imprisoned dissidents: denying them contact with their families. Calling this practice “systematic,” the report outlines the “legal loopholes and fabricated pretexts” the Russian government uses to isolate political prisoners from their loved ones, including when defendants are in pre-trial detention. It highlights the treatment of politician Vladimir Kara-Murza, who was arrested in April 2022 for his statements against the invasion of Ukraine, and artist Sasha Skochilenko, who was arrested the same month for protesting the war. Amnesty International Russia Researcher Natalia Prilutskaya notes that visits, phone calls, and letters between the prisoners and family members are “all being curtailed.” As the world turns Georgia’s parliament approved the first reading of a set of bills on Thursday that would greatly curtail the rights of LGBTQ+ people in the country. Sponsored by the country’s ruling Georgia Dream party, the proposed legislation would outlaw gender transitions, prohibit same-sex couples from adopting children, and ban the spread of information about LGBTQ+ people (all restrictions that are currently on the books in Russia). The bill’s second and third readings are scheduled for the upcoming fall. In a letter to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen published by Reuters on Thursday, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia called on the E.U. to provide funding for a new defense line on their borders with Russia and Belarus. New infrastructure along these borders is necessary to “address the dire and urgent need to secure the E.U. from military and hybrid threats,” the countries argued, estimating the cost of the project at about 2.5 billion euros ($2.67 billion). European leaders are discussing the proposal at an E.U. summit in Brussels starting Thursday. 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. [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.meduza.io/en/brief/2024/06/27/the-real-russia-today Published and (C) by Meduza Content appears here under this condition or license: Creative Commons CC BY 4.0. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/meduza/