Second Mass Rally Participant Dies in Russia’s Bashkortostan – Reports

Activists in Russia’s republic of Bashkortostan have confirmed the passing of a local man who faced criminal investigation over the mass protests that erupted in the republic last month, the SOTA media outlet reported Thursday.  Minniyar Bayguskarov, 65, was buried in his native village of Kaskinovo in the region’s southwestern Kugarchinsky district on Tuesday, according to local…

‘Alcoholics and Criminals’ Dominate Russian Army Recruits, Says Siberian City MP

Prisoners, homeless people and other socially disadvantaged individuals made up the majority of military recruits in the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk over the past year, a local assemblyman has said. “Over the last year our contract soldiers were mostly alcoholics, homeless people, derelicts, prisoners and others,” the local news website ngs24.ru quoted Krasnoyarsk city council member Vyacheslav Dyukov as…

Black Sea Fleet Commander Sacked Over Warship’s Sinking, Russian Pro-War Bloggers Say

The commander of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet has been sacked after Ukraine said it had destroyed another Russian warship, according to unconfirmed reports by pro-war bloggers. Ukrainian military intelligence said Wednesday its naval drones attacked and sank the Caesar Kunikov landing ship off the coast of the Moscow-annexed Crimean peninsula. Rybar, an influential Telegram channel…

Russia Launches Supply Rocket to ISS

Russia on Thursday launched a supply rocket to the International Space Station, one of the rare Russia-U.S. projects kept alive since Russia’s offensive against Ukraine. A Soyuz-2 rocket carrying the Progress MS-26 cargo ship was launched at the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan, Russia’s space agency said on its Telegram channel, showing a video of…