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Novaya Gazeta. Europe

April 2026

‘What’s there to be afraid of at home? They don’t hit houses’. Novaya Gazeta Europe reports from Primorsk and Ust-Luga in the aftermath of drone attacks on Russia’s Baltic Sea ports

Residents of the towns of Primorsk and Ust-Luga, meanwhile, are still dealing with drones and damage from falling debris

The ‘outsiders’ are crowding us out left and right,
We are Russians, God is with us.”... Everything fell apart in the 1990s,
When there’s an air raid alert in the Leningrad region, they all rush out of the port and come here,
Actually, there’s a criminal statute that says not to disclose, film, or talk about [the drone strikes].”
There was a bomb shelter there, by the way,
There are no alerts, so I keep an eye on the port,
Or rather, it was set up to make announcements over a megaphone, but it’s not connected,
There’s a Dagestani license plate, do you see it?”
The whole country is like this now,
The roof was slightly damaged, but the owners were paid compensation,

Minsk says Russians can no longer avoid draft by fleeing via Belarus

The confirmation comes after a Russian man was prevented from boarding two flights in Minsk earlier in April because he had received a conscription notice from the Russian military

‘Breathing oil’. After three drone attacks on a Russian refinery in two weeks, Tuapse residents say authorities are ignoring the public health fallout

Drone strikes have sparked fires at Russia’s Tuapse oil refinery three times in recent weeks, most recently on 28 April

People are breathing oil, cars are coated in black slime, we’re afraid to let the children outside — and they’re trying to silence us,
There’s no shelter in the city and fostering capacity is exhausted,
There are animals dying, sea creatures, children, pregnant women out there,

Russian regional official responsible for controversial livestock culls reportedly found dead

Tur’s department was responsible for the culling of livestock from residents in several districts where authorities claimed outbreaks of pasteurellosis had occurred

This is connected to his work — directly connected,

Poland hands over Russian archaeologist detained for illegal Crimea excavations in prisoner swap

Petersburg, was detained in Poland in early December at Ukraine's request

VPN downloads in Russia surge 14-fold amid Kremlin’s internet restrictions

The months with the most downloads were January–March 2026, which saw 21.27 million downloads

‘The dog lay down and died too’. In occupied Oleshky, a humanitarian disaster is unfolding as residents fall prey to shelling, landmines, and starvation

Following the destruction of the Kakhovka dam in June 2023, Oleshky experienced devastating floods

And then there’s the old men in the Russian army, walking with canes. Some warriors they are,
They have no food or medical care, and no way to leave the city,
Sometimes, the soldiers would take townspeople away somewhere early in the morning, and nothing more would be heard of them,
I didn’t manage to leave in the fall, and in the winter, in the cold, it was terrifying to set out on a long journey,
The blast waves often shattered windows, and shrapnel pierced the roof. My house is all patched up with plywood and plastic,
Kseniia Arkhypovathe information
The same thing happened two weeks earlier: a drone dropped explosives on an ambulance carrying pension cheques for Oleshky residents who had taken Russian passports — three million rubles worth [€34,000],
The road was blocked, and supplies of food and medicine were cut off,
There are no funeral services or coffins in the city. People are buried in polyethylene bags,
Kseniia Arkhypovathe information
Volunteers usually only evacuate people from Skadovsk, and only if they have a Russian passport,
Kseniia Arkhypovathe information
We have nothing to eat, nothing to feed the dogs and cats.”

North Korea unveils memorial complex for soldiers killed fighting for Russia

The inauguration was followed by a burial ceremony for fallen soldiers, as well as a memorial concert entitled “Stars of the Motherland” during which Russian and North Korean patriotic songs were performed for attendees, including family members of the deceased

No safe harbor. Moscow has targeted more than 120 anti-war Russians abroad since 2022. Here’s who is most at risk

Since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the Kremlin has pursued its critics not only at home but across the globe

Anastasia Burakovalawyer
In 2022, immediately after the invasion, many countries — including CIS members — adopted a wait-and-see posture, trying to weigh the political benefits and gauge the war's outcome,
Russian authorities are economical with repression,

Italy summons Russian ambassador after TV propagandist calls Meloni ‘fascist scum’

He then switched to Russian, calling her “fascist scum who betrayed her voters … and betrayed Trump”

Putin renames Russia’s spy academy after founder of Soviet secret police

The move restores a name carried by the institution from 1962 until 1992, when it was known as the “F. E. Dzerzhinsky Higher School of the KGB” in honour of the ruthless revolutionary who led the Soviet secret police organisations until his death in 1926

Security forces raid Russia's largest publisher and detain its CEO in ‘LGBT propaganda’ case

Mash reports that a total of three senior Eksmo managers were detained on Tuesday, including Aleksandra Shipetina, director of the publisher's fiction imprint

Russian authorities detain dozens of Israeli citizens at Moscow airport, invoking Iran war in interrogations

The detainees were held for approximately five hours without access to water, food, or bathroom facilities

Russian officials and business leaders reportedly frustrated with internet restrictions but afraid to tell Putin

But despite the discontent, the sources said there is little appetite within the government to challenge the FSB’s influence directly, and no one dared to raise the issue with Vladimir Putin

Everyone is against [the internet restrictions and messenger app block], except for one agency,

‘The Motherland will discard you in the end’. Russia spends billions of rubles a year to support veterans of the war in Ukraine. Why are so many of them unable to get help?

Hundreds of thousands of veterans, many with criminal pasts, have come home physically and psychologically broken

Grigory Sverdlinrussian activist
It's strange that people expected anything different,
Grigory Sverdlinrussian activist
An annual budget of 42 billion rubles (€472.8 million) is several times larger than that of any charitable foundation in Russia — including ones like the Vladimir Potanin Foundation (around 6 billion rubles, or €65.7 million, for 2025) or foundations set up by oil companies. Independent NGOs don't come anywhere close to that kind of money,
I was promised I'd serve in a hospital, and that the contract would last three months,... Instead, I ended up at the front, with a motorized rifle unit."... What am I supposed to do with you?”
The foundation has two revenue streams: the budget and donations. For the second, you can lean on our businessmen — tell them, 'Come on, guys, put some money in.' It's essentially a ready-made mechanism for shaking down entrepreneurs to serve state ends,

Kremlin says it won't congratulate Hungary's new leader due to ‘unfriendly country’ status

We don't send congratulations to unfriendly countries. Hungary is an unfriendly country — it supports sanctions against us,
I don't think this has any bearing on the prospects for the Russian-Ukrainian conflict,
We had a dialogue with him."