It’s day 604 of the war in Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin has visited the Russian military headquarters in the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don where he held a meeting with General Staff of Chief Valery Gerasimov.

The head of Russia’s Investigative Committee has proposed revoking the passports of newly naturalised citizens who refuse to fight in Ukraine.

A lawmaker from Tatarstan apologised after voicing rare public criticism of Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov.

Novaya-Europe’s news roundup will brief you on the main developments overnight.

Putin visits Russia’s Southern Military District headquarters in Rostov-on-Don

Russian President Vladimir Putin visited the headquarters of Russia’s Southern Military District in the city of Rostov-on-Don Thursday overnight, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov announced.

Peskov said that Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces Valery Gerasimov “reported to the president on the course of the special military operation”. In addition, Putin also held talks with other high-ranking officers from the Russian Defence Ministry.

Putin’s visit to the strategically important city, from which logistics for the military’s ongoing war in Ukraine are directed, is significant as the military headquarters in Rostov-on-Don were briefly taken over by the Wagner Group in their uprising in June.

Pressure grows to strip newly naturalised Russians of passports unless they fight in Ukraine

The head of Russia’s Investigative Committee has suggested stripping newly naturalised Russians of their citizenship if they refuse to serve in the Russian military in Ukraine.

Alexander Bastrykin said that even new citizens “should be involved” in the war in Ukraine, adding that “if you are not ready to fulfil your military obligations, decisions must be made to strip this person of citizenship”.

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree in May 2023 that simplified the procedure of obtaining Russian citizenship for any foreign nationals who signed up to fight in the Russian Armed Forces in Ukraine.

Tatarstan lawmaker apologises after publicly criticising Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov

Azat Khamayev, a regional lawmaker from the Muslim majority republic of Tatarstan in central Russia, has apologised for criticising Chechen head Ramzan Kadyrov at a session of Tatarstan’s legislative assembly, regional news agency Tatar-Inform reported on Friday.

The rare public criticism of the powerful Chechen leader from a member of the ruling United Russia party and a fellow Muslim came after Kadyrov made his 15-year-old son a Hero of Chechnya for beating up a defenceless 19-year-old prisoner who was being held in pretrial detention for burning a Quran.

Speaking at a legislative session on Thursday, Khamaev said: “The first question I asked myself was this: what legal dimension are we living in?” before casting doubt on Kadyrov’s claim that his son was “a hero for all Muslims”.