The St Petersburg International Economic Forum, personally conceived by Vladimir Putin, was the usual arena for proclaiming the “bright future” of the Russian economy. Alongside Kremlin bureaucrats, this year's event was notable for the presence of Putin's daughters and other relatives, as well as other high-ranking officials. Rather than heirs to top positions, they appeared to be influencers for the younger audience.

First established in Poland in 1885, the “new convent” eventually found a home in Normandy in 1950 after a long wandering. Its history and profile attract many Russians abroad, who intend to preserve their tradition without involvement in the war-patriotic initiatives of Patriarch Kirill and other Russian Orthodox hierarchs.

Some hostile words towards Islam uttered by Hegumen Gavriil seem to have given voice to widespread discontent among the most intransigent Orthodox Christians, who see the ‘Muslim army’ as a danger. Controversy reveals a crack in the “Eurasian” course of Russia's state and religious policy today

The Estonian authorities have repeatedly stated that ‘Russia remains the greatest threat to our security’ and have announced their intention to open a new military base in Narva, the city divided in half by the river of the same name, one of the most sensitive points. But among the European population there is a growing conviction that ‘NATO defence on the border with Russia is inappropriate’, a view also supported by Donald Trump's administration.

Pentecost and ‘Russia Day’ fell just a few days apart. ‘Where are you, my Church?’ asked Father Andrej Misjuk bitterly, calling for a return to a faith that ‘does not tolerate lies, does not bless those who cannot be blessed, and once again sets out on the path that leads from Jerusalem to the Eternal.’ Meanwhile, in his new ‘Fable,’ Vladimir Sorokin recounts a post-apocalyptic world.

In Bishkek, notices are circulating promising earnings of up to ,000 a week, twice the average monthly salary of a Kyrgyz worker, for “jobs” that are actually recruitment for drug couriers. Drug trafficking charges in Russia can carry a sentence of 20 years to life imprisonment. Many prisoners are sent directly to the front lines in Ukraine.