Russia News Review

Trump’s Iran War Is a Familiar Middle Eastern Folly

Ross Douthat — Sat, 11 Apr 2026 12:00:58 -0400

American power can survive America’s recurring overreach.

With 11 Percent of Its Cargo Cars at Risk of Falling Apart, Russian Rail an Accident Waiting to Happen

paul goble — Sat, 11 Apr 2026 11:06:47 -0400

Paul Goble

Staunton, April 9 – The Moscow Institute on Natural Monopolies says that 11 percent of the cargo cars on Russian railways – 158,000 – are in bad shape and need immediate repairs, a figure that is almost twice as many as last year, a reflection of the fact that the number being repaired each month fell from nearly 40,000 a month in 2024 to 20,000 per month in 2025.

Because the number of cars needing repair is so large, the railways now don’t have the reserves they did to replace cars that should be taken offline immediately. And that in turn means accidents are becoming ever more likely (vedomosti.ru/business/articles/2026/04/09/1188967-na-seti-rzhd-viroslo-chislo-neispravnih-gruzovih-vagonov).

There is little hope for a turnaround anytime soon. Because of reductions in earnings and government subsidies, the number of new cargo wagons coming online to replace the aging ones at risk of accidents was down by almost 50 percent in the first two months of 2026 as compared to the same period a year earlier.

Many but of course far from all of these problems are a direct result of the Kremlin’s shifting of funding from services like railroads to the needs of the Russian military now fighting in Ukraine.

Overlooked No More: Margaret Gipsy Moth, Fearless CNN Camera Operator

Natalie Schachar — Sat, 11 Apr 2026 10:48:51 -0400

She covered conflicts across the globe, joking after she was injured in Sarajevo that she would be returning to find her missing teeth.

Iran Has Been Consistent in War. Will It Be Consistent in Peace Talks?

Neil MacFarquhar — Sat, 11 Apr 2026 10:22:30 -0400

While President Trump’s war aims have changed by the moment, Iran has stuck to firm demands. The question is whether it will compromise in peace negotiations.

Vilnius Stepping Up Pressure on Russian Orthodox Church There, Moscow Commentator Says

paul goble — Sat, 11 Apr 2026 08:53:41 -0400

Paul Goble

Staunton, April 10 – Relations between the Lithuanian government and the Russian Orthodox Church in Lithuania have been far less fraught than those between the Estonian and Latvian governments and Orthodox hierarchies in those two Baltic countries, at least in part because the share of Lithuanians who are Orthodox is so small, less than five percent.

But since the start of Putin’s expanded war in Ukraine, relations between the state and the Orthodox Church in Lithuania have deteriorated, at least in part because the church remains canonically linked to the Moscow Patriarchate and its leaders usually but not always follow that patriarchate’s line.

(That has led some Orthodox priests there to appeal to the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Constantinople to form an alternative Orthodox see in Lithuania and take them under its protection. On that, see windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2023/04/vilnius-expects-constantinople-to.html and windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2023/02/lithuania-may-soon-have-two-orthodox.html.)

Now, the situation in Lithuania may becoming more tense. Earlier this year, the Lithuanian government’s Department of State Security issued a report identifying the Orthodox church in that country to be “a national security threat,” a statement that was somewhat softened by other officials but has provoked a sharp response by the Orthodox Church there.

On March 17, the Diocese of Vilnius and Lithuania declared that statements like those of Lithuanian officials “foster a negative attitude toward Lithuania’s second-largest traditional religious community” and ignores that the church’s links with Moscow “do not “hinder use from remaining law-abiding citizens and patriots of Lithuania.”

In reporting this development, Moscow commentator Vsevolod Shimov says that this exchange suggests that tensions between the state and the Orthodox Church in Lithuania are nonetheless likely to deteriorate (fondsk.ru/news/2026/04/10/litovskie-vlasti-obvinyayut-pravoslavnuyu-cerkov-v-ugrozakh-nacionalnoy).

Ever More Russia’s Federal Subjects Imposing Fines on Firms that Don’t Hire Enough Veterans of Putin’s War

paul goble — Sat, 11 Apr 2026 08:10:28 -0400

Paul Goble

Staunton, April 8 – In yet another sign of how difficult it is going to be to reintegrate veterans of Putin’s war in Ukraine into the Russian economy, firms across the country are refusing to hire enough veterans to meet Moscow-set quotas; and ten regions so far have responded by announcing plans to impose fines on companies that don’t hire enough veterans.

Such measures are now at the stage of discussion but many appear to be near passage in many of the regions including Moscow, predominantly ethnic Russian regions and krays and in the Altai and Tatarstan republics (ru.themoscowtimes.com/2026/04/08/10-i-rossiiskii-region-nachnet-shtrafovat-biznes-za-otkaz-brat-na-rabotu-uchastnikov-svo-a192109).

Most of these proposed laws require firms with more than 100 employees to reserve up to two percent of their vacancies for veterans of the war in Ukraine. That such legislation is necessary reflects the fact that many firms don’t want to take these veterans on, with the push to do so coming not from the center but the regions.

That is presumably because the Kremlin does not want to advertise either resistance to such measures, resistance that undercuts its line about broad support for the war and for helping veterans, and so thus sets the quotas but then expects the federal subjects to take the actions necessary to try to meet them.

U.K. Puts Chagos Islands Deal on Hold Following Criticism From Trump

Stephen Castle — Sat, 11 Apr 2026 08:01:55 -0400

The plan to give Mauritius formal control of the islands, home to a U.S.-British military base, was called “an act of great stupidity” by President Trump.

Interest in Rare Earths Transforming Central Asia and South Caucasus from Periphery to Center of International System

paul goble — Sat, 11 Apr 2026 07:29:41 -0400

Paul Goble

Staunton, April 9 – Just as oil transformed the Arab countries from an international backwater to the c of geoeconomics and geopolitics in the 20^th century, so too growing interest in rare earth minerals is now transforming Central Asia and the South Caucasus into the center of international competition and transformation in the 21^st.

The critical role of rare earths in the world economy and the reserves of many of them in Central Asia and the South Caucasus is attracting ever more attention to these regions and concern there about how to respond so that they don’t simply become raw material suppliers to others (eurasiatoday.ru/redkozemelnaya-revolyutsiya-pochemu-tsa-i-kavkaz-stanovyatsya-novym-tsentrom-mirovoj-sily/).

Experts and officials across the region are now focusing on how to use the interest of the West and of China in these reserves as the way to transform the economies of their countries so that they will be able to compete at the top level with other states rather than remaining backwaters.

Both the interest of foreign powers in their rare earth reserves and concerns about how to use that interest to promote development are now fueling regional cooperation efforts in both areas so that the countries are not played off against each other but rather work together to boost their regions, according to an Azerbaijani commentator (minval.az/news/124525157).

Kazakhstan, which has the largest proved reserves in this part of the world according to the US Geological Survey, has taken the lead, something that will help Astana become a regional leader and also ensure that Central Asia and the South Caucasus in this area at least will work more closely together than many now expect.

Gorbachev Wanted to Block Denunciation of Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact's Secret Protocols, Tsipko Says New Memoir Shows

paul goble — Sat, 11 Apr 2026 06:54:02 -0400

Paul Goble

Staunton, April 9 – In his recent memoirs, Igor Smirnov, who in 1985-1990 worked as an aide to Vadim Medvedev on the staff of the CPSU Central Committee, says that Mikhail Gorbachev wanted to block the denunciation of the secret protocols of the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact but was blocked by Medvedev from doing so.

As senior Russian commentator Aleksandr Tsipko, who worked with all three, writes in a new article on the way in which perestroika evolved, says the key role Medvedev played was something the latter did not stress in his own 2015 memoirs but that is now coming to light thanks to Smirnov’s (ng.ru/ideas/2026-04-09/7_9472_leader.html).

Tsipko points out that as Smirnov now recounts, “it was not Gorbachev but rather Vadim Medvedev who initiated the condemnation by the USSR Council of Peoples’ Deputies in 1989 of the secret protocols to the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact” which partitioned Eastern Europe between the two dictatorships.

According to Tsipko, the most unexpected aspect of this for him is the fact that “Medvedev has to argue with Gorbachev for the right of the Congress of Peoples’ Deputies to condemn these secret protocols” because “Gorbachev was categorically opposed to accusing Stalin of collaborating with Hitler and did everything he could to conceal the originals of the protocols.” (On their eventual publication, see windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2019/06/for-first-time-moscow-publishes.html.)

And the Russian commentator quotes Smirnov: “Valery Boldin—who at the time served as head of the General Department of the CPSU Central Committee (and later as Chief of Staff to the President of the USSR)—recalls how, at Gorbachev’s request, he effortlessly located the originals of the secret protocols within the archives of the CPSU Central Committee Politburo.”

“Upon seeing them -- along with a map of a Poland divided into two parts, bearing Stalin’s characteristic three-letter signature, ‘I. St.’—Gorbachev remarked: ‘There is no need to show anything to anyone. I will personally inform those who need to know.’ Later, he demanded that they be destroyed; Boldin, however, refused to do so without a specific official directive.”

According to Tsipko who is relying in this case both on Smirnov’s memoirs and his own recollections, “a similar story unfolded regarding the public disclosure of the decision made by Stalin and members of the CPSU Central Committee Politburo to organize the execution of Polish prisoner-of-war officers in Katyn.”

Kazakhstan to Modernize and Expand Highway Network to Support Domestic and International Trade

paul goble — Sat, 11 Apr 2026 06:05:10 -0400

Paul Goble

Staunton, April 7 – Kazakhstan has announced plans to modernize and expand its highway network both to integrate that Central Asia country more completely and to play a key role in international trade both east-west between China and Europe and north-south between Russia and the Indian Ocean.

Most of the countries in the former Soviet space have focused on railways and to a lesser extent on air routes. In this, they have followed the pattern of the Russian Federation which relative to the size of the country has the most under-developed highway system of any country on earth.

But Kazakhstan has adopted a different approach, one driven both by its own domestic needs and by its recognition of the problems of intermodal trade that have slowed Russian routes where the requirement to change the gage of railways from international standards to Russian ones remains a serious bottleneck.

Last month, Astana announced that it plans to widen existing roads from two lane to four lane and to ensure that all of them have regular service stations and internet connectivity and to build new roads to connect existing ones (ritmeurasia.ru/news--2026-03-19--kazahstan-usilivaet-pozicii-na-karte-evrazijskoj-logistiki-novyj-plan-razvitija-avtodorog-do-2028-goda-86558).

Russian commentators are impressed, an indication that Moscow too may increase the role of highways in domestic integration and international transit, thus reversing a situation in which roads like fools are two of that country’s greatest problems (ritmeurasia.ru/news--2026-04-07--kazahstan-zapuskaet-novyj-plan-razvitija-avtodorog-radi-usilenija-evrazijskoj-logistiki-86913).

One of the most impressive features of Kazakhstan’s plans is its intention to upgrade and build highways with concrete rather than macadem and to ensure that the ground under the roads is far more compacted than the Soviet and Russian approach had used. If Astana succeeds, its roads will carry heavier loads and last longer than their Russian counterparts.

Explosives found near pipeline ‘likely a Russian provocation’, says military expert

Dan Sabbagh Defence and security editor — Sat, 11 Apr 2026 05:36:01 -0400

Former Ukrainian major general says 4kg of material found in Serbia was attempt to influence Hungary’s election

Hungary elections explainer

The amount of explosives discovered in Serbia last week would not have been enough to destroy the Balkan Stream gas pipeline, prompting an expert to conclude it was probably a Russian intelligence plot aimed at influencing Hungary’s impending election.

A former Ukrainian major general and a munitions specialist told the Guardian calculations made by his company showed the 4kg of explosives recovered by Serbia’s military security agency in Kanjiža could not have seriously ruptured the pipe.

Moscow Faces Serious Problems in Using Drones to Compensate for Lack of Transportation Infrastructure in Siberia and Far East

paul goble — Sat, 11 Apr 2026 05:17:01 -0400

Paul Goble

Staunton, April 7 – The rise of drone technology has encouraged many Russian officials and businessmen, especially in Siberia and the Far East, that such aircraft can help their country to compensate for the lack of other kinds of transportation infrastructure in that region. But while optimism remains, problems of doing so are mounting.

While drones have proven successful in fighting fires and identifying problems in roads and railways, they have yet to expand much beyond that to deliver cargo to distant population sites; and officials involved concede that drone technology is not nearly as cost-effective as originally thought (eastrussia.ru/material/bespilote-iz-budushchego/).

While the costs of per-hour travel of drones are much lower than the costs of airplanes, that benefit, much trumpeted by some, disappears given the need to develop a network of stations to allow the drones to operate effectively and of a large number of operators who can control them and especially insurance rates that remain astronomically high.

The image of one drone operator controlling dozens of drone flights is still something out of science fiction and is likely to remain there for some time to come, Russian analysts concede; and thus there is going to have to be a large commitment to building ground support for drones before they will become effective in the air.

Until those bottlenecks can be overcome, the age of the drone in Russia east of the Urals that some Russian writers have projected is not going to arrive, although eventually all of these problems could be addressed when veterans of Russian drone warfare against Ukraine return home and start looking for work.

Komis Declining in Number but Increasing Share of Their Republic’s Population

paul goble — Sat, 11 Apr 2026 04:49:54 -0400

Paul Goble

Staunton, April 9 – In the current demographic situation of the Russian Federation where most national groups are declining in numbers because of birthrates below replacement level, those who decline less rapidly than others who may be leaving their homelands as well may actually see their percentage in their republics increase.

That is happening in the Finno-Ugric Komi Republic where since 1989, the total population has fallen from 1.25 million to 715,000, but where over the same period, the share of Komis in the republic’s population has risen from 23 percent to 33 percent, not because the Komis have not declined but because others, predominantly Russian, have declined more.

That does not mean that the Komis are about to become dominant, but it suggests that this Finno-Ugric nation has at least one reason to be more optimistic about its future than statistics about declining language use and the number of people declaring Komi as their native language might suggest (mariuver.eu/2026/04/09/procent-komi-rastet/).

More immediately, the Komi Republic which has been among the most active in defending its environment against Moscow’s encroachment and calling for the restoration of the rights of republics may become even more active, a pattern that may also take place in other republics where the exodus of ethnic Russians makes the titular nation more important.

This demographic pattern, which might be called a race to the bottom, is found in many Finno-Ugric areas and in some other non-Russian ones and may provide a basis for optimism at a time when the Kremlin is working so hard to destroy the non-Russians and when other statistics provide little encouragement about the future.

Growing List of Orban Loyalists Defecting Before Critical Election

Andrew Higgins and Lili Rutai — Sat, 11 Apr 2026 04:21:04 -0400

With Prime Minister Viktor Orban seeming vulnerable before Sunday’s vote, criticism is growing from within institutions his party once counted on for support.

An environmental disaster in Moldova has Russia’s fingerprints all over it | Paula Erizanu

Paula Erizanu — Sat, 11 Apr 2026 00:00:37 -0400

The Ukraine war on our doorstep is a constant threat. Contaminated drinking water is a dangerous new twist

In the second week of March, the nature vlogger Ilie Cojocari went out to film the arrival of spring on the Nistru (Dniester) river, 70 metres away from his home in Naslavcea, a village bordering Ukraine on the northernmost point of Moldova. But as he approached the river he could smell the stench of oil rising up from the water and see dark spots floating on its surface. Something was wrong.

Two days earlier, Russia had attacked Ukraine’s Novodnistrovsk hydropower complex 15 miles upriver. Cojocari had been kept awake all night by the sound of shelling. “No one slept in the [Moldovan] district of Ocniţa that night,” he told me.

Paula Erizanu is a Moldovan journalist and writer based in Chișinău

Zelensky Sees Small Window for Peace

Andrew E. Kramer — Fri, 10 Apr 2026 21:51:00 -0400

Talks to end the war in Ukraine could resume soon, said President Volodymyr Zelensky as he expressed skepticism about a breakthrough.

Ukraine war briefing: doubts linger in Kyiv over Moscow’s promise to uphold Orthodox Easter ceasefire

Guardian staff and agencies — Fri, 10 Apr 2026 20:30:04 -0400

Kremlin orders temporary truce from Saturday afternoon until Sunday, a 32-hour period during which Russia would stop fighting ‘in all directions’. What we know on day 1,508

Ukrainians on Friday were wary of Russia’s pledge to pause fighting for an Orthodox Easter ceasefire – first proposed by Kyiv – this weekend. The Kremlin said it had ordered a temporary truce to be in effect from Saturday afternoon until the end of Sunday, a 32-hour period during which Russia would stop fighting “in all directions”. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy – who has repeatedly called for a ceasefire in the four-year war – said Kyiv was willing to reciprocate.

But in Kyiv there was scepticism over whether Moscow would keep to its promise. “No one believes in these fairytales anymore,” Yevgeniy Lamakh, an IT specialist, told AFP in central Kyiv. “The Russian military lie a lot, usually, as history shows. And in general, they say one thing, but in fact do something completely different,” the 29-year-old said. “Even today... Shaheds, missiles are flying at Ukraine. Well, come on then, start the ceasefire,” Dmytro Sova, a 42-year-old actor, told AFP in Kyiv on Friday.

Just hours before the Orthodox Easter truce, two night-time Russian attacks in Ukraine left one dead and 15 injured, authorities said. The fatal attacks included an “enemy drone attack” on a store and a cafe in the central town of Poltava, killing one person and injuring another, the regional head of the military administration, Vitalii Diakivnych, posted on Telegram. In the north-eastern region of Sumy, bordering Russia, drone strikes on residential areas wounded 14 people including a 14-year-old boy and an 87-year-old woman, according to Oleg Grygorov, head of the regional military administration there, via Telegram.

Moscow has rejected calls for a longer-term unconditional ceasefire, something that Kyiv has called for, saying it is instead pushing for a final peace settlement. Negotiations between the two sides, brokered by the United States, have stalled over the fate of Ukraine’s eastern regions, partly occupied by Russia and that Moscow wants Kyiv to cede. The two sides also held a ceasefire for the Orthodox Easter last year. But the respite comes amid deadlocked efforts to halt Russia’s invasion, with US attention now focused on the Middle East war.

US president Donald Trump’s administration is likely to extend as soon as Friday a waiver allowing countries to buy some sanctioned Russian oil and petroleum products, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters. The US treasury department has allowed purchases of Russian oil and products at sea since mid-March with a 30-day waiver that expires on 11 April, part of efforts to control global energy prices during the US-Israeli war with Iran. The waivers have been criticised by politicians in the US and abroad as they could complicate the West’s efforts to deprive Russia of revenue for its war in Ukraine and put Washington at odds with its allies.

A Russian court on Friday placed a journalist from the independent Novaya Gazeta newspaper in pre-trial detention until 10 May, a day after police raided the paper’s Moscow headquarters. Oleg Roldugin was arrested on Thursday. He had reported on alleged corruption among top Russian officials including former president Dmitry Medvedev and Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov. Russia has waged a crackdown on independent news outlets since launching its offensive on Ukraine in February 2022.

Nato member Estonia will refrain from detaining Russia’s “shadow fleet” vessels in the Baltic Sea, worried that seizing oil tankers and other ships sanctioned by the West could lead Moscow to defend them militarily, a senior commander said on Friday. Britain and other European nations, including France, Belgium and Sweden, have stepped up efforts to detain ageing tankers used by Moscow to secure vital funding for its four-year war against Ukraine. But Estonia, the northernmost Baltic state located close to Russia’s main oil and fuel export facilities in the Gulf of Finland, is practicing restraint after an unsuccessful attempt to board a Russian vessel last year.

European Airports Warn of Jet Fuel Shortages if Strait of Hormuz Remains Shut

Niraj Chokshi — Fri, 10 Apr 2026 20:23:00 -0400

An association of airports told European Union officials that fuel shipments through the Strait of Hormuz had to restart within three weeks to avoid a “systemic” shortage.

Trump Is Racing to Redefine ‘America First’ in a Time of War

Anton Troianovski — Fri, 10 Apr 2026 17:54:49 -0400

Washington has been debating the thrust of Mr. Trump’s foreign policy for more than a decade, with the only consensus being that “America First” means whatever the president says it does.

Prince Harry Is Sued for Libel by a Charity He Founded

Michael D. Shear — Fri, 10 Apr 2026 17:46:05 -0400

Sentebale filed a defamation lawsuit against the Duke of Sussex, who resigned as patron last year after a clash between the board of trustees and the board’s chair.

Fuel Protests Cause Transport Chaos in Ireland as Iran War Spikes Prices

Megan Specia — Fri, 10 Apr 2026 16:43:35 -0400

The Irish government said it had called in the army after protesters blocked highways, ports and an oil refinery, causing widespread disruption.

Trump Officials Push Allies to Pursue Antifa and Far Left as Terrorist Threats

Jack Nicas, Alan Feuer, Matina Stevis-Gridneff, Edward Wong and Jim Tankersley — Fri, 10 Apr 2026 15:02:21 -0400

The Trump administration aims to deploy counterterrorism tools against far-left groups, even as it has offered little evidence they present a dire threat.

Should Churches Remove Art by a Priest Accused of Sexual Abuse?

Elisabetta Povoledo — Fri, 10 Apr 2026 14:30:57 -0400

The Rev. Marko Ivan Rupnik has installed mosaics across the Roman Catholic world, including at the Vatican. After nuns accused him of abuse, some want his work removed.

For Putin, Iran Is Something Close to Irreplaceable

Nicole Grajewski — Fri, 10 Apr 2026 13:13:46 -0400

Vladimir Putin has spent years building a coalition of the discontented on the premise that authoritarian states can outlast Western pressure. Iran is his proof of concept.

‘I’m Fed Up.’ Frustrated With Trump, Starmer Embraces Other Allies.

Michael D. Shear — Fri, 10 Apr 2026 12:32:01 -0400

Prime Minister Keir Starmer of Britain is strengthening ties in Europe and the Middle East as the once-special relationship with America sours.

Some Belarusian Leaders Wanted Kaliningrad to Be Part of Their Republic but Stalin Ensured It Became Part of Russia, Dmitriyev Says

paul goble — Fri, 10 Apr 2026 08:53:58 -0400

Paul Goble

Staunton, April 7 – On the 80^th anniversary of the annexation of East Prussia by the USSR in April 1946, a German region that had been under Soviet control since German forces were driven out in April 1945, numerous articles have appeared about the complicated history of how this absorption took place.

Among them is one by journalist Andrey Dmitriyev who makes a variety of points, all of which have echoes to this day (apn-spb.ru/publications/article39655.htm). He talks about how the German population was displaced by Russians, Belarusians and Ukrainians over time and in particular about how Belarusian communists wanted it to pass to them.

Had that happened, Dmitriyev says, the geopolitics of the region now would be completely different. Belarus would have had ports on the Baltic, there would be no talk about a Suwalki corridor and Russia would have lost much of its leverage over the Baltic republics and Eastern Europe more generally.

Dmitriyev says that stories about Belarusian interest in gaining control over the former German territory are “fakes” even though current Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka has often talked about how much better it would have been if his country had its own port, something that the annexation of Kaliningrad would have made or would make possible.

The reason the contemporary writer is so sure that stories about Belarusian interest in gaining control of Kaliningrad are not true is that Stalin made it very clear not only at international conferences but in Politburo meetings that he wanted this German region to become part of Russia.

That argument certainly fits in with Putin’s current effort to boost the former Soviet dictator and talk about “the genocide of the Soviet people.” But it is uncertain even at the end of his rule that Stalin was as obsessed with boosting Russia at the expense of the USSR; and it is far more likely that he wanted Moscow to control Kaliningrad directly by being part of the RSFSR.

Rising Utility Bills Hitting Some Russian Federal Subjects Ten Times as Much as Others

paul goble — Fri, 10 Apr 2026 08:18:58 -0400

Paul Goble

Staunton, April 8 – Moscow promised that utility rates would increase by only 1.7 percent this year; and in some of the country’s more than 80 federal subjects, the actual rate was only slightly more than that. But in others, such as Kemerovo and Mordvinia, it was more than ten times as great, the Govorit NeMoskva portal says.

Rates in Kemerovo Oblast have risen by 21.5 percent since the start of 2026 and by 21.4 percent in the Mordvin Republic over the same period, the portal says (nemoskva.net/2026/04/08/rekordnyj-rost-tarifov-zhkh-v-rossii-2026-v-kakih-regionah-czeny-vyrosli-na-20/).

What that means is that some parts of the Russian Federation are suffering far more than others and that the average figures, while bad, are like what the Russians call “the average temperature in a hospital,” something that sounds meaningful but in fact ignores the reality that many are suffering from high fevers while others are in fact already dead.

Many analysts attribute the increases to the costs of Putin’s war in Ukraine; but the diversity in their level reflects the fact that in some of the more depressed regions, housing is extremely dilapidated and has not been repaired for a long time. And it is there in particular that Russians have taken to social media to complain and to declare themselves unable to pay.

Residents in some of the regions most seriously affected are complaining to their deputies and have even held protest demonstrations in places far from Moscow, like Tobolsk. But “for the time being,” Govorit NeMoskva says, officials aren’t doing anything more than promising to “keep the matter under review.”

Water Levels in Lake Issyk-Kul, Jewel of ‘Water-Surplus’ Kyrgyzstan, Continue to Fall, Threatening Human Use of Northern Shore

paul goble — Fri, 10 Apr 2026 07:58:33 -0400

Paul Goble

Staunton, April 7 – Discussions of water in Central Asia for the past 50 years have invariably focused on the differences between the two “water surplus” countries, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, where there the rivers rise that flow into the three “water shortage” ones, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

Because of that approach, most have assumed that the “water surplus” countries don’t have serious problems while the “water shortage” ones do. But in fact, even the “water surplus” countries are facing increasing difficulties, with the situation in Kyrgyzstan particularly dire not only in the south but around Kyrgyzstan’s famed Lake Issyk-Kul.

The water levels in that lake have been falling for 170 years, Bishkek scholars say; but now the declines are hitting the republic especially hard. That is because the lake has two very different shorelines, in the south where they are in most places steep rocky cliffs while in the north they feature more level land on which resorts have been built.

As the water levels continue to decline, these experts at the country’s Academy of Sciences say, there is a risk that much of the waters of the lake along the northern shore will turn into swamp land, making the adjoining land ever less attractive for human use (turmush.kg/ru/news:2446361, eco.akipress.org/news:2447836 and bugin.info/detail/issyk-kul-otstupaet-ugr/ru).

There is no immediate danger that Issyk Kul will die as has the Aral Sea and as Lake Balkhash in Kazakhstan and the Caspian are now threatened. It is too deep for that, but projected declines in water level underscores a reality few have acknowledged: even the “water surplus” countries face serious problems because of global warming and increased human use.

Lebanon: A Nation Uprooted by War

David Guttenfelder, Diego Ibarra Sanchez and Euan Ward — Fri, 10 Apr 2026 05:05:07 -0400

A million people in Lebanon have fled their homes as Israel clashes anew with Hezbollah. This is what their lives look now.

See You in Pyongyang: Russia Pushes Its People to Embrace North Korea

Valerie Hopkins and Nanna Heitmann — Fri, 10 Apr 2026 05:05:06 -0400

Through art, food, tourism and academics, an increasingly isolated Moscow is seeking to cement lasting ties with Pyongyang.

Why Beauty and Ugliness Go Hand in Hand

Emily LaBarge — Fri, 10 Apr 2026 05:02:45 -0400

A new exhibition explores Renaissance views on what is attractive and what is hideous, and how one can’t exist without the other.

This Hungarian Town Explains Why Orban Could Lose on Sunday

Andrew Higgins and Lili Rutai — Fri, 10 Apr 2026 05:02:30 -0400

Lake Balaton was beloved as a vacation spot. Now, luxury real estate projects serve many friends of Prime Minister Viktor Orban, and the locals are fed up.

Starmer says he is ‘fed up’ with Trump and Putin’s impact on UK energy costs

Raphael Boyd — Fri, 10 Apr 2026 03:55:53 -0400

PM appears to draw comparison between Russian and US leaders and calls for plan to restore shipping through strait of Hormuz

Keir Starmer has said he is “fed up” with the effect that Donald Trump’s actions in the Middle East are having on the British public, while appearing to draw a comparison between the US president to Vladimir Putin.

Speaking to ITV’s Robert Peston on Thursday, the prime minister said: “I’m fed up with the fact that families across the country see their bills go up and down on energy, businesses’ bills go up and down on energy because of the actions of Putin or Trump across the world.”

Putin Announces Orthodox Easter Cease-Fire, but Ukraine Is Skeptical

Valerie Hopkins and Constant Méheut — Fri, 10 Apr 2026 01:32:00 -0400

The cease-fire would be in effect this weekend, but each side accused the other of violating a similar pause announced last year.

Cuban president tells NBC he won’t resign under US pressure, as Russia backs old ally

Guardian staff — Thu, 09 Apr 2026 22:47:23 -0400

In his first television interview with an American broadcaster, Miguel Diaz-Canel says revolutionaries don’t give up and step down

The Cuban president, Miguel Diaz-Canel, said he would not resign under US pressure in his first television interview with an American broadcaster, while Russia insisted it would never abandon or betray its ally.

Diaz-Canel told NBC News on Thursday: “We have a free sovereign state, a free state. We have self-determination and independence, and we are not subjected to the designs of the United States.

White House Secures Foreign Steel for Trump’s Ballroom Project

Ana Swanson and Luke Broadwater — Thu, 09 Apr 2026 20:32:33 -0400

ArcelorMittal, a European steel maker, is donating tens of millions of dollars of foreign steel for President Trump’s new ballroom.

Ukraine war briefing: First official ceasefire agreed after Zelenskyy push succeeds

Warren Murray with Guardian writers and agencies — Thu, 09 Apr 2026 20:32:09 -0400

Vladimir Putin paints Easter pause in fighting as Russia’s idea, but Ukraine’s president made repeated offers. What we know on day 1,507

Ukraine and Russia appeared to be on the brink of what could be their first official theatre-wide ceasefire since the February 2022 full-scale invasion after Vladimir Putin acquiesced to concerted offers by Volodymyr Zelenskyy of a pause in hostilities to mark Orthodox Easter, which is observed this weekend. The 32-hour ceasefire would start on Saturday afternoon.

Zelenskyy responded early on Friday: “Ukraine has repeatedly stated that we are ready for reciprocal steps. We proposed a ceasefire during the Easter holiday this year and will act accordingly … People need an Easter without threats and a real move towards peace, and Russia has a chance not to return to attacks even after Easter.”

The Kremlin attempted to portray the initiative as its own: “We assume that the Ukrainian side will follow the example of the Russian Federation,” said a statement. “Orders have been issued for this period to cease hostilities in all directions.” Russia left itself an opening, though, for continuing armed action: “Troops are to be prepared to counter any possible provocations by the enemy, as well as any aggressive actions,” said the Kremlin statement.

Previously in the full-scale war there have only been unofficial, ill-defined and patchily observed truces; or localised halts to allow for surrenders, the exchange of prisoners, handing over the dead or letting civilians flee the frontline. There was a limited “energy truce” declared in March 2025 that was supposed to halt strikes on oil, gas and electrical facilities as well as sea targets. Moscow – while rejecting numerous previous ceasefire initiatives that were accepted by Ukraine – has also tried to unilaterally declare ceasefires, for example to allow Russia to celebrate the 80th anniversary of Soviet victory in the second world war.

Considering the Trump administration’s repeated and lengthy courting of Putin to no avail over the past year, the Easter truce appeared to come about with minimal US involvement as the US president and his officials remained preoccupied with the Iran war and their own tenuous ceasefire. Zelenskyy did say in recent days that he had transmitted his truce offers to Russia via the US. Reuters said that according to its sources, Putin’s special envoy Kirill Dmitriev was in the US as of Thursday. Putin may be looking for a reprieve as successful strikes by the Ukrainians have dealt a heavy blow to Russia’s oil export industry, which earns revenue for the war; while Ukraine itself has been struggling with the impact of Russian strikes on its civilian energy grid.

Russia’s federal security service (FSB) said on Thursday that a former freelancer for Radio Free Europe had been detained in the city of Chita for treason, the Russian Tass news agency reported. The FSB said the man, whose name was not disclosed, was accused of committing treason by cooperating with Ukraine. In Moscow the independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta said masked security service agents searched its offices on Thursday and barred its lawyers from entering. State news agency RIA quoted law enforcement officials as saying the search was linked to an investigation into the illegal use of personal data.

Britain and allies including Norway sent warships to prevent any attacks on undersea cables and pipelines as Russian submarines prowled around them earlier this year, according to the UK defence minister, John Healey. Britain accused Russia of conducting a covert operation in the High North maritime region, home to key shipping routes and critical infrastructure such as undersea cables.

“To President Putin, I say we see you. We see your activity over our cables and our pipelines, and you should know that any attempt to damage them will not be tolerated and will have serious consequences,” Healey said. Russia’s embassy in London said Healey’s statement was “impossible to either believe or verify … Russia does not threaten undersea infrastructure, which is of critical importance to the UK. Nor do we employ aggressive rhetoric in this regard.”

In Germany’s East, the Far Right Could Soon Take Power. This Is Its Plan.

Jim Tankersley and Christopher F. Schuetze — Thu, 09 Apr 2026 20:14:54 -0400

In the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt, the Alternative for Germany could win control of the government this fall. Once in power, it has a plan to overhaul German society.

Cannes Film Festival Lineup Spotlights Almodóvar and Other Heavyweights

Alex Marshall — Thu, 09 Apr 2026 19:44:51 -0400

The 79th edition of the festival includes films by revered art house directors like Pedro Almodóvar and Pawel Pawlikowski but few Hollywood titles.

Amid Trump’s Threats, NATO Labors to Survive the Iran War

Anton Troianovski — Thu, 09 Apr 2026 19:11:02 -0400

President Trump is citing the unwillingness of European nations to back the United States in the conflict as another reason to scale back or abandon the alliance. And he still wants Greenland.

3 Russian Submarines Detected Near Britain Were Spying, U.K. Says

Michael D. Shear — Thu, 09 Apr 2026 18:57:33 -0400

John Healey, the defense secretary, said the vessels were gathering information about undersea pipelines, and said he believed President Vladimir V. Putin “would want us to be distracted by the Middle East.”

A Newspaper Is Raided and a Rights Group Outlawed Amid Kremlin Crackdown

Valerie Hopkins — Thu, 09 Apr 2026 17:40:06 -0400

As Moscow throttles Russia’s few remaining independent voices, the authorities targeted two of the most prominent, one a Nobel Peace Prize winner and the other headed by a Nobel laureate.

Greece Plans to Block Social Media for Children Under 15

Niki Kitsantonis — Thu, 09 Apr 2026 17:15:56 -0400

Countries including Australia, Spain and others have already passed bans or are working on plans to restrict teenagers’ access to social sites.

Vladimir Putin announces Orthodox Easter ceasefire with Ukraine

Reuters — Thu, 09 Apr 2026 16:23:15 -0400

Kremlin proposes 32-hour ceasefire starting on Saturday afternoon – with Ukraine expected to agree to plan

Vladimir Putin has declared a 32-hour ceasefire in Ukraine over the Orthodox Easter weekend, after an earlier call from Volodymyr Zelenskyy for a pause.

The president’s decree, released by the Kremlin on Thursday, orders Russian forces to observe a ceasefire starting on 4pm Saturday and lasting until the end of Sunday.

A Maker of Pet Toys in Ukraine Turns to Killer Drones

Andrew E. Kramer — Thu, 09 Apr 2026 16:09:35 -0400

An entrepreneur behind drones that make the final strike themselves epitomizes the transformation of Ukraine’s civilian technology industry into a defense powerhouse.

No, Britain Is Not Having a Christian Revival

Lauren Jackson — Thu, 09 Apr 2026 13:58:02 -0400

A study said church attendance had soared among British young people, a trend reversal that excited religious conservatives around the world. Turns out it wasn’t true.

137-Year-Old Piece of Eiffel Tower to Be Auctioned in Paris

Ana Castelain — Thu, 09 Apr 2026 13:49:38 -0400

A section of the landmark’s original staircase will go up for auction next month and could sell for a towering sum.