Vladimir Rozanskij

There are places where there has been no bread for over a month. The police must intervene to disperse the beggars from the streets. Often violent street fights between young people and little children over a piece of bread.

The Siberian section of the Russian Academy of Sciences has decided not to make public the results on pollution in the region. Waterways 80% polluted; children already born with leukaemia; cancer diseases widespread among population. Justification for the silence: "Avoid alarmism" and "to avoid fomenting smear campaigns against Russia". The population revolts.

Preventive arrests, a block on communications fail to stop the rally. Several participants arrested in other cities. Nazerbaev charged with giving "the Chinese whatever they ask for". Request for the release of Aron Atabek, poet and dissident sentenced to 18 years in prison.

At the National University, the museum has exhibits on the childhood, youth, political commitment and the travels of the "eternal" leader. Press heap praise on initiative to further their career. The new form of divinization is "in favor of the younger generations". The official title of the president is "Founder of Peace and National Unity - Leader of the Nation". By law, this title cannot be abbreviated or summarized, under penalty of severe fines and punishments.

Demonstrations in many cities in memory of the Belarus declaration of independence, later engulfed by Soviet Russia. Police and security forces occupy the city centers with soldiers and trucks. The Catholic Vicar of Minsk, Jurij Kosobutsky: We pray for our suffering people, and for an end to political repression.

The "Freedom for Naval'nyj!" Campaign launched on social media. As soon as it hits 500,000 in membership, it will invoke with peaceful protests. Putin’s opponent in prison is not allowed to meet his lawyers and suffers from untreated pain. In Belarus, demonstrations start again today. Svetlana Tikhanovskaja: We have to take responsibility for the victory.

Comments after the meeting of foreign ministers Sergej Lavrov and Wang Yi in Guilin. Cooperation between Moscow and Beijing on Iran, North Korea, Afghanistan. Suspicion of Western support for Naval'nyj, the Belarusian opposition, the Hong Kong protests. Economic and strategic cooperation against the dollar. No to a military alliance. Putin and Xi Jinping are drafting a joint statement.

Putin’s holiday in the Siberian taiga seems to put to rest rumours about his poor health. Alexey Navalny speaks about what he loves the most in a penal colony in Pokrov, namely the national anthem and the inmates’ march.

Agreement drafted ahead of US troops withdrawal after 20 years. Those present include former President Hamid Karzai and Mullah Abdul Gani Baradar. The agreement was signed by the four countries, but not by Kabul and the Taliban. Concerns about drug trafficking and the push towards an Islamic emirate. In 40 years, at least 1.5 million deaths.

The annexation of the Crimean Peninsula seven years ago is celebrated with great fanfare. Some 80,000 people crammed Moscow’s Luzhniki Stadium, almost all without a mask. Health regulations were temporarily suspended to “revive the population” depressed by COVID-19 and the economic crisis. Polls suggest that the people of Crimea believe they were better off under Ukraine. There is a shortage of water pipes.

Putin’s remarks about the US president are a clear sign that the Russians are happy to be back to the war atmosphere of Soviet times. Mutual accusations are an acknowledgement of each other’s “strong man” status. Russia is celebrated as the only people with the truth against the degradations of the West and the world. Putin strangely appears motionless.

The church of Saints Peter and Paul was built in 1893, but closed by the Bolsheviks in 1933, who tuned it into a cinema. The presence of Catholics in Novgorod dates back to the 9th century. New legal obligations: ministers of worship who study abroad must undergo "re-education" upon returning home. Concerns among Buddhists, Protestants and Catholics. Educational institutions must also receive a special "educational certificate" from state bodies.