Euro surpasses 100 rubles, journalists report on Putin’s armoured train, Egyptian man detained in Russia for desecration of Quran. Novaya-Europe’s round-up

Photo: aftermath of the shelling of Lviv

The war in Ukraine has been raging for 498 days. In the early hours of 6 July, Russian troops shelled the Lviv region of Ukraine. At least four people were killed and nine injured in the city of Lviv. The exchange rate for the dollar rose up to 92 Russian rubles on MOEX, while the euro surpassed 100 Russian rubles. The US State Department protested against the Anglo-American School of Moscow being declared a “foreign agent”. Journalists for the Dossier Centre reported on what’s inside Vladimir Putin’s armoured train estimated to cost at least 6.8 mln rubles. In the Ulyanovsk region of Russia, an Egyptian national was detained over charges of desecration of the Quran.

Read our top headlines about the events that unfolded in the early hours of 6 July in Novaya Gazeta Europe’s round-up.

Four people killed in Lviv following Russian shelling

At least four people were killed and nine injured in an attack on a residential building in the city of Lviv carried out by the Russian army, as per Ukraine’s Ministry of Internal Affairs. Mayor of Lviv Andriy Sadovyi called this attack “the biggest since the start of the full-scale Russian invasion”.

US State Department protests designation of Anglo-American School of Moscow a ‘foreign agent’

The corresponding declaration was posted on the department’s website. “It is troubling that the Russian government would single out — without legitimate cause — an established, trusted, and professional educational institution in this manner,” the statement reads.

The department notes that the two countries recognised their mutual interest in ensuring both sides’ dependent children were able to access educational opportunities without unnecessary disruption or harassment for 74 years. “The Russian government’s recent actions directly undermined this principle,” the statement concludes.

Dossier Centre reports on what’s inside Purin’s armoured train valued at 6.8 mln rubles

The Dossier Centre, together with CNN, Süddeutsche Zeitung, Westdeutscher Rundfunk, and Norddeutscher Rundfunk, published an investigation on the make up of Vladimir Putin’s special armoured train.

Photo: a gym in Putin’s train

The journalists found out that the train had cost the budget at least 6.8 mln rubles. It has, for example, a special sports and health car, with a gym and hammam inside. There is a ventilator, aspirator, defibrillator, infusion pump, and patient monitor in the cosmetologist room.

The room is protected from wiretapping. Dossier reports that there are 22 cars in total in the special train, but not all of them are used simultaneously.

Foreigner detained over desecration of Quran

The governor of the Ulyanovsk region of Russia Alexey Russkyh says in a Telegram post that a foreigner was detained over charges of desecrating the Quran.

“A video appeared online in which a foreign national commits sacrilegious acts in regards to the holy book of Muslims, the Quran. According to the initial reports, the provocateur was in Ulyanovsk at the time,” the message reads.

The governor added that “disrespect towards the Quran is a repugnant crime in Russia”.

The Assembly of Russia’s Peoples claims that the detainee is Egyptian national Syed Abu Mustafa who resides in Ulyanovsk. Inkazan.ru reports that the video shows the man dancing on the Quran on a pedestrian bridge in Ulyanovsk, then throwing it away and dousing it in an unknown liquid.