https://novayagazeta.eu Говорим как есть. Пишем о происходящем в России, Украине и Европе. Новости, аналитика, мнения экспертов, специальные репортажи и журналистские расследования. en Tue, 27 Oct 2026 16:41:08 +0000 https://novayagazeta.eu/articles/2026/10/27/putin-orders-search-engines-to-prioritise-social-support-sites-when-users-look-up-abortion-en-news https://novayagazeta.eu/articles/2026/10/27/putin-orders-search-engines-to-prioritise-social-support-sites-when-users-look-up-abortion-en-news Novosti · Obshchestvo Evropa Novaya gazeta Vladimir Putin has ordered the Russian government to change how search engines rank results for abortion-related queries, according to a list of instructions issued after a meeting of the country’s Presidential Council for the Implementation of State Demographic and Family Policy.
Under Putin’s plan, searches about abortions would first return the websites of organisations dedicated to helping women decide whether to have one in the first place. The government has until 15 December to submit proposals for putting the initiative into effect.
The idea was first floated in May by Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matviyenko, who proposed that users searching for abortion information should see links to “family support resources” before any clinics that perform the procedure.
In October, at the request of prosecutors, a Moscow court banned pages describing medication abortion on the websites of three medical centres. The stated reason for the ban was that the sites allegedly advertised the possibility of getting an abortion immediately after seeing a doctor, without the mandatory waiting period. However, journalists at the outlet Verstka found an explicit reference to same-day abortion only on one of the centres’ websites.
Новая газета. Европа — Read more]]> Tue, 27 Oct 2026 09:11:17 +0000 https://novayagazeta.eu/articles/2026/10/27/people-around-the-world-to-read-names-of-soviet-terror-victims-aloud-in-20th-annual-returning-the-names-event-en-news https://novayagazeta.eu/articles/2026/10/27/people-around-the-world-to-read-names-of-soviet-terror-victims-aloud-in-20th-annual-returning-the-names-event-en-news Novosti · Obshchestvo Evropa Novaya gazeta On 29 October, people in cities around the world will gather to read aloud the names of victims of Soviet state terror as part of Returning the Names, an annual remembrance event, organisers have announced.
The initiative includes both large, public events and small gatherings in homes and at memorials.
“We don’t know when circumstances will change and Russian society will be able to talk openly about the state’s crimes,” an activist with Returning the Names said in a press release. “That’s why it’s important to keep doing this work. Every name of a terror victim that is spoken aloud gives agency back to a person whom the state tried to erase from memory.”
Returning the Names has been held every year since 2007, always on 29 October — the eve of the Day of Solidarity with Political Prisoners. Last year, events took place in 150 cities.
This year, Returning the Names will also hold a livestream, featuring around 12 hours of readings from various cities around the world, with historical context and stories interspersed. More information is available on the initiative’s website.
Новая газета. Европа — Read more]]> Tue, 27 Oct 2026 08:15:25 +0000 https://novayagazeta.eu/articles/2026/10/27/serbias-election-winning-student-list-movement-says-it-will-not-impose-sanctions-on-russia-en-news https://novayagazeta.eu/articles/2026/10/27/serbias-election-winning-student-list-movement-says-it-will-not-impose-sanctions-on-russia-en-news Novosti · Mezhdunarodnaya politika Evropa Novaya gazeta The Student List, the protest movement that won Serbia’s parliamentary elections last weekend, does not plan to impose sanctions on Russia, according to movement representative and sociologist Jovo Bakić.
“We respect Russia as a great power and as our historically important partner, and in many cases a protector. There will be no change on this issue. […] Sanctions imposed on Russia by little Serbia would change nothing, but symbolically they would be very bad,” Bakić said on the Russian propaganda outlet RT Balkan.
He said the Student List would focus first on domestic reforms, including overhauls of the Interior Ministry and the education system.
The movement had previously said it opposed sanctions against Russia. Aleksandar Vučić, who has dominated Serbian politics for more than a decade and resigned as president on September 27 to head his party’s list in the parliamentary elections, had claimed that the Student List would reverse its position and impose sanctions on Russia as soon as this spring if it won.
In Serbia’s snap parliamentary elections held on Sunday, the opposition Student List, which grew out of the country’s mass protests, is projected to have won approximately 140 of the 250 seats in parliament. Vučić’s Serbian Progressive Party is projected to have won around 105.]]> Mon, 26 Oct 2026 13:45:36 +0000 https://novayagazeta.eu/articles/2026/10/26/russia-proposes-putting-data-centres-underground-to-protect-them-from-ukrainian-drones-en-news https://novayagazeta.eu/articles/2026/10/26/russia-proposes-putting-data-centres-underground-to-protect-them-from-ukrainian-drones-en-news Novosti · Voyna v Ukraine Evropa Novaya gazeta Russia’s Digital Development Ministry has approved recommendations urging data centre operators to build facilities underground, camouflage them from the air and equip them with anti-drone defences, business daily Kommersant reported on Sunday.
The guidelines apply to existing, under-construction and planned data centres. They sort facilities into three categories based on importance: strategic sites necessary for government systems to work; facilities that support systems important to regional economies or to specific industries; and corporate data centres.
To protect the infrastructure, the recommendations call for underground placement, engineered barriers, anti-drone netting and electronic warfare systems. Buildings should also be protected against blast waves and shrapnel, and critical data and services should be backed up with redundant systems, according to Kommersant.
Companies that run data centres are also advised to coordinate with Russia’s Defense Ministry, Emergency Situations Ministry and National Guard.
Experts told Kommersant that the added security measures could raise data centre service prices by roughly 10%.
The recommendations were approved by an industry task force set up under the ministry. The ministry announced the task force, which is meant to protect communications infrastructure, after Ukrainian drones attacked five data centres belonging to Yandex, Sber and VK in several regions of Russia in recent weeks.
Новая газета. Европа — Read more]]> Mon, 26 Oct 2026 11:02:23 +0000 https://novayagazeta.eu/articles/2026/10/26/around-100-people-in-russias-far-east-attend-protest-calling-for-fair-elections-en-news https://novayagazeta.eu/articles/2026/10/26/around-100-people-in-russias-far-east-attend-protest-calling-for-fair-elections-en-news Novosti · Obshchestvo Evropa Novaya gazeta Roughly 100 people attended a rally in the city of Ulan-Ude in Russia's Far East organised by the Communist Party (KPRF) on Sunday to protest violations in the country’s most recent elections, independent outlet 7x7 reported.
Deputies of the People’s Khural, the regional legislature of Buryatia, and candidates in the recent elections accused the authorities of using administrative resources, falsifying turnout and results, bribing voters, and pressuring election monitors.
“Every district head, every mayor, every village head was involved in these efforts,” said deputy Bair Tsyrenov. “What’s more, according to our sources, competitions were organised within individual districts, with settlement heads promised cash rewards in some places and other forms of incentives in others if they delivered the best results for United Russia.”
Deputy Timur Nimaev said violations took place throughout the three days of voting. “There wasn’t a single polling station without violations,” he said. “You can assess them differently — some were extreme, some were minor — but a violation of the law is a violation of the law. And the law prescribes penalties for them.”
The rally was originally planned for 4 October in Ulan-Ude’s Yubileiny Park, but city authorities refused to approve the date and location, citing conflicting municipal events. Organisers were instead offered 25 October in a less central area. Tsyrenov tried to challenge the relocation, but a court sided with the city.
A few days before the rally, police officers came to Tsyrenov’s workplace and handed him a warning about the “impermissibility of violating the law on public events”. The deputy said the officers confirmed that the rally had been approved. He characterised the visit as psychological pressure.
Telegram]]> Fri, 23 Oct 2026 14:09:45 +0000 https://novayagazeta.eu/articles/2026/10/23/russia-and-ukraine-agreed-to-ceasefire-in-occupied-oleshky-white-house-says-en-news https://novayagazeta.eu/articles/2026/10/23/russia-and-ukraine-agreed-to-ceasefire-in-occupied-oleshky-white-house-says-en-news Novosti · Voyna v Ukraine Evropa Novaya gazeta Moscow and Kyiv have agreed to a localised ceasefire in the occupied Ukrainian city of Oleshky, where dire conditions and a severe food shortage have sparked an international outcry in recent months, the White House announced on Friday.
Under the agreement, which the White House says was brokered by US First Lady Melania Trump, fighting will be suspended to allow humanitarian aid to reach the isolated city and enable a civilian evacuation.
Residents of Oleshky have been pleading for an evacuation for more than a year. The city is almost completely cut off from the outside world, with no electricity and dwindling food and medicine. Volunteers have reported deaths from starvation. About 2,000 people remain in the city, including nearly 50 children.
Russian authorities have blamed Ukraine for the crisis. Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakarov attributed the occupied city’s supply problems to the proximity of Ukrainian positions and to artillery and drone strikes.
Ukrainian Human Rights Commissioner Dmytro Lubinets said earlier that Moscow and Kyiv were finalising the details of an evacuation of Oleshky’s residents, along with residents of six nearby settlements.
The European Commission and Pope Leo XIV have both called on Russia to allow humanitarian aid into Oleshky and to let residents evacuate.
Новая газета. Европа — Read more]]> Thu, 22 Oct 2026 15:02:18 +0000 https://novayagazeta.eu/articles/2026/10/22/russian-man-who-murdered-and-dismembered-his-eight-month-old-daughter-dies-in-war-in-ukraine-en-news https://novayagazeta.eu/articles/2026/10/22/russian-man-who-murdered-and-dismembered-his-eight-month-old-daughter-dies-in-war-in-ukraine-en-news Novosti · Voyna v Ukraine Evropa Novaya gazeta Yakov Mayboroda, a Russian man who had been sentenced to 15 years in prison for murdering his eight-month-old daughter before destroying her body using a meat grinder, has died in the war in Ukraine, independent outlet Post- reported in October, citing the man’s uncle.
According to his relative, Mayboroda died in 2025 during an assault operation.
Mayboroda and his wife, Anastasia, were convicted in 2024 for the murder of their daughter. The couple dismembered the child’s body, processed the remains through a meat grinder, and hid them in a freezer. Afterward, Anastasia called the police, claiming that the girl had been abducted by intruders. During a search, law enforcement discovered the remains and sent them for forensic analysis.
In court, the couple blamed each other. Anastasia claimed that her husband, who intended to divorce her, killed their daughter after she had threatened to demand child support. She alleged that he then threatened to kill her as well, though she ultimately assisted in dismembering the child’s body.
Mayboroda, meanwhile, denied any involvement in the crime, claiming he was not at home when the murder took place. Previously, however, he had provided a different account, stating that he had accidentally struck his daughter with his foot and had participated in the dismemberment.
Ultimately, Anastasia was sentenced to 13 years in a penal colony, while her husband received a 15-year sentence.
According to Post-, Mayboroda chose to sign a military contract with the Russian Defence Ministry in 2025, nullifying his prison term in exchange for going to fight in Ukraine.
Новая газета. Европа — Read more]]> Thu, 22 Oct 2026 12:41:19 +0000 https://novayagazeta.eu/articles/2026/10/22/this-isnt-our-war-en https://novayagazeta.eu/articles/2026/10/22/this-isnt-our-war-en Syuzhety · Obshchestvo Talanova Darya With freedom of speech hamstrung in Russia for years now, ordinary people have learned to stick to a narrow set of phrases when talking about the war in Ukraine. But in Russia’s national republics like Tatarstan, Buryatia, and Bashkortostan, residents have found a workaround: their own native languages. Novaya Gazeta Europe analysed hundreds of thousands of social media comments in Russia’s major minority languages. In them, users discuss the war in ways that rarely surface in Russian-language comments on the same threads: they curse it, pray for peace, yearn for their countrymen to come home, and mourn the dead. Below is an English-language summary of the main takeaways.
In October 2024, Artur Gadelshin, a musician from Russia’s Republic of Bashkortostan, died in the full-scale war in Ukraine. Soon after, his song “Sons of Bashkortostan” became an anthem among soldiers from the republic. A regional social media group posted a video obituary showing Artur standing in uniform, rifle in hand, as the song plays.
While the post itself is in Russian, almost all the comments underneath it are in Bashkir. For example:
“Such a shame. Decent guys dying for nothing. May their souls be in heaven.”

“We’re running out of men. The generation of 20-year-olds has started laying down their lives in a needless war, and nobody will say a word against it.”

“Oh, when will this bloodshed end?”

“This cursed war is taking our noblest boys… Artur was a man born, heart and soul, to work with children… And the love he had for his homeland!”

“We’ve lost a son, a hero, in this cursed war.”

Russia’s minority languages have given their speakers a way to talk about the war free of officialese. Users of VKontakte and Telegram in Bashkortostan, Tatarstan, Tuva, Yakutia, and Buryatia — regions where people actively use their national languages — use the word “war”, wish for it to end soon, pray for their neighbours to return, and grieve their deaths.
Novaya Europe analysed comments from over 21,700 groups and channels in the republics where minority languages are most widely used. These include public pages for classified ads, news and dating; pages run by state agencies; and the channels of regional governors. Although 98% of the 53.2 million comments are in Russian, non-Russian comments makes up more than 10% in some regions (Chechnya and Tuva) and between 2.4% and 3% in others (North Ossetia, Yakutia, Bashkortostan, and Tatarstan).
Since the war began, reports of local deaths have become a fixture of regional news feeds. Nearly one in 10 comments in Tatar, Bashkir, Yakut, Buryat, Tuvan, and Ossetian appears under a post about the war and its casualties.
In these republics, users are on average three times more likely to comment in their native language under obituaries than under other posts.
Calling the war a war
From the first days of the invasion, the Russian authorities have presented the war as a “common cause” for all of Russia’s diverse citizenry. In early March 2022, in a speech honouring the “heroism” of a killed Dagestani soldier, Vladimir Putin declared that he himself was “a Lak, a Dagestani, a Chechen, an Ingush, a Russian, a Tatar, a Jew, a Mordvin, an Ossetian.”
Military units from Russia’s national republics often carry names in their national languages. Tatarstan has battalions called “Alga” (“Forward”), “Timer” (“Iron”) and “Batyr” (“Hero”). Bashkortostan has “Vatan” (“Homeland”) and the drone unit “Aigir” (“Stallion”). Yakutia has the “Bootur” (“Hero”) detachment.
The authorities also use these languages to lure people into the war, with minority-language signs and online posts advertising military recruitment contracts.
To tailor their message to local audiences, state media have even tried to translate the chief euphemism for “war”, the “special military operation”. A photo from one broadcast of a Buryat TV studio shows a sign in front of the hosts that reads, in Buryat: “We are forbidden to say war, we say SPECIAL OPERATION”. Media and officials use similar euphemisms in Tatar, Bashkir, Tuvan, and Yakut.
But none of these translations has caught on. In everyday speech, residents most often just use their language’s word for “war” when talking about the invasion of Ukraine.
Only in Yakutia and Tuva do people actively use the Russian abbreviation “SVO” (“Special military operation”) in comments in their own languages. Even there, “war” remains the most common term, and people use the word two to three times more often in their own language than in Russian.
“Neologisms like ‘special military operation’ appeared in the native languages after calling a war a war became off-limits. Buryat, Kalmyk, and Chuvash newspapers rolled out their own versions right away,” says a sociolinguist who specialises in minority languages and asked to remain anonymous. “But local media still prefer to write about the war in Russian. Wishing a fellow villager a happy 80th birthday goes in the native language, while news about the ‘SVO’ goes in Russian.”
‘May the war end’
People in Russia’s national republics don’t just call the war a war — they speak about it in ways Russian speakers don’t. In Bashkir and Tatar, users call it “cursed” and “senseless”. In Tuvan, they call it “black”, “ruinous”, “terrifying” and “cruel”. In Buryat, they call it “vile”, and in Buryat and Sakha alike, it’s a “war-calamity”. None of the comments analysed used comparable expressions in Russian.
Often people simply wish for the war to end. Novaya Europe’s analysis found hundreds of comments in minority languages with nearly identical wording — “May the war end” — and no comparable formulations in Russian.
Some commenters wrote about how senseless the war is:
“Boys are dying for nothing. When will this war end?” (Bashkir)

“Oh Allah, it wrenches the soul. Children are dying in this war.” (Tatar)

Others warn their neighbours:
“Young guys, why would you go to war? Be careful, don’t go.” (Yakut)

And some say outright that the war is “not our war”:
“It’s a shame. When will the war finally end? There aren’t many of us Tuvans as it is.” (Tuvan)

“Don’t fight for someone else’s world. This isn’t our war, we need freedom.” (Bashkir)

‘Come back unharmed’
One of the main themes is people wishing their countrymen a safe return home. Phrases like “May they return healthy” and “Come back unharmed” turn up in comments in every language, but in Russian they appear dozens of times less often.
The theme of coming home alive runs through both Tatar and Tuvan comment threads. In Bashkir, waiting for soldiers to return is the single most common topic, making up 8% of comments.
The toll of the war is felt more acutely in Russia’s ethnic republics than in other regions. According to calculations by Mediazona and the BBC, Tuva has had the highest death rate per capita of any region, followed by Buryatia.
In the Buryatian village of Chika, near the Mongolian border, 10 people have died out of 525 residents, almost 2% of the population. In Komsomolskoye, also in Buryatia, the figure is 9 out of 525. Ethnic Buryats make up 2.3% of Russia’s dead, even though they are just 0.34% of Russia’s population, while ethnic Russians account for 70.6% of the dead against 80.9% of the population. The republics also lead in absolute losses, with Bashkortostan and Tatarstan at the top. A Muscovite is 25 times less likely to die in the war in Ukraine than a resident of Chukotka or Tuva. According to economic media outlet The Bell, a region’s death toll correlates directly with its poverty rate.
Новая газета. Европа — Read more]]> Thu, 22 Oct 2026 08:31:49 +0000 https://novayagazeta.eu/articles/2026/10/22/prigozhins-former-lawyer-says-mercenary-boss-discussed-land-corridor-to-kaliningrad-after-wagner-mutiny-en-news https://novayagazeta.eu/articles/2026/10/22/prigozhins-former-lawyer-says-mercenary-boss-discussed-land-corridor-to-kaliningrad-after-wagner-mutiny-en-news Novosti · Voyna v Ukraine Evropa Novaya gazeta The late Russian mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin discussed creating a land corridor to Russia’s Kaliningrad exclave through the Suwałki Gap — the narrow piece of land connecting Poland and Lithuania — after Wagner Group’s mutiny in June 2023, according to his former lawyer, Igor Eliseev.
“It wasn’t for nothing that we discussed a land corridor to Kaliningrad with the boss after the march, and we would have done it if we’d been given the green light from above,” Eliseev wrote.
He did not say who else took part in the discussions or how detailed the plans were.
After the 2023 mutiny, part of Wagner’s forces were relocated to Belarus. In July 2023, Andrey Kartapolov, then head of the Russian State Duma's defence committee, said the Wagner fighters would be capable of taking over the Suwałki Gap “in a matter of hours”. Later that month, Poland’s then-prime minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, said around 100 mercenaries had moved toward the corridor. A week later, a deputy Polish foreign minister said Wagner fighters had tried to infiltrate Poland.
The Suwałki Gap sits between Kaliningrad and Belarus and is the only land link between the Baltic states and the rest of NATO.
Eliseev worked for Prigozhin from 2016 until his death. In his book Wagner’s Empire, he wrote about helping Wagner Group recruit prisoners to fight in Ukraine. In an interview with the outlet Fontanka, he also claimed to have acted as an intermediary between Wagner Group, the Putin administration, Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB), and other state bodies.
Новая газета. Европа — Read more]]> Wed, 21 Oct 2026 14:44:01 +0000 https://novayagazeta.eu/articles/2026/10/21/russia-says-it-detained-german-citizen-suspected-of-fighting-for-ukraine-en-news https://novayagazeta.eu/articles/2026/10/21/russia-says-it-detained-german-citizen-suspected-of-fighting-for-ukraine-en-news Novosti · Voyna v Ukraine Evropa Novaya gazeta Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) said it has detained a German citizen suspected of serving as a sniper in the Ukrainian army, state media outlet TASS reported on Wednesday, citing the agency’s press service.
The FSB did not say when or where the man was detained, and it did not name him. According to the agency, he fought in Afghanistan, Somalia and Syria, and from 2016 to 2018 served as a sniper in a Ukrainian territorial defence unit.
“In November 2025, the mercenary, motivated by money, returned to Ukraine and signed a three-year contract to serve in the Armed Forces of Ukraine,” the FSB said in a statement. It also said that from 5 December 2025, he served as a sniper in Ukraine’s 91st Anti-Tank Battalion but deserted after not receiving the pay he had been promised.
In a published video of the interrogation, the man said he was born in 1976 in Frechen, North Rhine-Westphalia. He said he was promised 100,000 hryvnias (€2,000) for his service that he did not receive.
Telegram — The video of the interrogation
He did not say when he deserted, and he did not give his name in the video. The FSB is now deciding whether to open a criminal case against him for mercenary activity.
Новая газета. Европа — Read more]]> Wed, 21 Oct 2026 12:41:21 +0000 https://novayagazeta.eu/articles/2026/10/21/russias-supreme-court-overturns-order-for-father-to-return-daughter-to-mother-in-france-citing-eu-and-nato-membership-en-news https://novayagazeta.eu/articles/2026/10/21/russias-supreme-court-overturns-order-for-father-to-return-daughter-to-mother-in-france-citing-eu-and-nato-membership-en-news Novosti · Obshchestvo Evropa Novaya gazeta Russia’s Supreme Court has ruled that a Russian man does not have to return his daughter to her mother, a Ukrainian citizen living in France, after he brought her to Russia without her mother’s permission, state media reported on Wednesday.
According to Russian business daily Kommersant, Alexey Yermakov and Veronika Tyshkova were married in 2018. After their divorce, their daughter moved with her mother to France. In March 2025, Yermakov took their daughter to Turkey and Slovakia for an agreed-upon vacation, promising to return her to France after two weeks. That April, however, he took her to Russia, where she later became a citizen.
Three months later, Tyshkova filed a lawsuit with Novosibirsk’s Central District Court seeking the return of her daughter. In October 2025, the court granted the claim, and the appeals and cassation courts upheld the mother’s position. Yermakov then appealed the case to the Supreme Court.
One of the Supreme Court’s arguments was that France is on the Russian government’s list of “unfriendly” countries and is a member of NATO and the EU. According to the court, this creates risks for the child.
Новая газета. Европа — Read more]]> Wed, 21 Oct 2026 11:17:27 +0000 https://novayagazeta.eu/articles/2026/10/21/kaliningrad-man-convicted-over-anti-war-posts-says-he-was-denied-asylum-request-after-swimming-to-lithuania-en-news https://novayagazeta.eu/articles/2026/10/21/kaliningrad-man-convicted-over-anti-war-posts-says-he-was-denied-asylum-request-after-swimming-to-lithuania-en-news Novosti · Obshchestvo Evropa Novaya gazeta A 68-year-old man from Russia’s Kaliningrad exclave facing a six-year prison sentence says Lithuanian authorities refused to let him file a written asylum request after he swam across the Neman River to reach the EU country.
Igor Odintsov made the claim in a letter from a Russian jail that was published by journalist Alena Dergacheva.
“Then, closer to 6pm, I was driven to Panemunė and handed over to Russian border guards on the bridge,” Odintsov wrote. “…During my entire time at the border post, I was not given the opportunity to make a written statement.”
Odintsov says he told Lithuanian border patrol officers that he was seeking political asylum because he was being prosecuted in Russia on charges of “justifying terrorism”. By his own account, he was wearing only swimming trunks at the time.
He says he was taken to a border post, where he was given a blanket, then a T-shirt, and eventually boots and jeans. He was questioned, but for a long time the guards couldn’t determine when he had crossed the border. They told him nothing about his asylum request, he said.
On 30 September, Russia’s Baltic Fleet Military Court sentenced Odintsov to six years in prison for allegedly calling for terrorism online. Investigators said he had written in a messaging app that the “ideology of terrorism” was “correct and worthy of emulation.”
The hearings had been suspended on 17 September after Odintsov disappeared. On 21 September, after five hours of questioning in Lithuania, he was sent back to Kaliningrad and detained. Lithuanian Interior Minister Martynas Katelynas said Odintsov had applied for asylum.
Lithuania’s border service later said it was unsure whether his statement, which it described as not “clear and understandable,” amounted to a request for protection. The agency added that Odintsov changed his mind once the procedure was explained to him.
Новая газета. Европа — Read more]]>