From the editor
The Kremlin continues to arrest and sentence anti-war critics at an ever-increasing pace, but unsurprisingly that is doing nothing to improve Russia’s chances in the war. This week saw aircraft falling out of the sky in Bryansk Oblast, a barrage of missiles being shot down over Kyiv, and another train being derailed in occupied Crimea. Meanwhile those who want the war to be conducted more efficiently such as Yevgeny Prigozhin and Igor Strelkov/Girkin have come out with more diatribes. Girkin, who was convicted in The Hague last November in absentia for his role in shooting down MH17 in 2014, has said in a video, “The fact that Gerasimov and Shoigu are moral freaks and complete slackers, everyone at the front knows it… The fact that they are thieves is known not only at the front, but many places. The fact that they are morons, probably the whole country knows.”
A Mi-8 helicopter crashes in Bryansk Oblast on a day when four aircraft were lost
How long Prigozhin and Girkin will last is anyone’s guess, but those who advocate for peace usually suffer much swifter retribution. On Wednesday longtime Moscow Solidarity group activist Mikhail Kriger, 63, was sentenced to seven years in prison after being arrested last November on charges of terrorism and inciting hatred for his anti-war pickets and social media posts. Kriger had been campaigning in support of Ukraine since Russia first invaded in 2014 and sang Ukrainian folk song Chervona Kalyna during a hearing on Tuesday. After the verdict he commented, “I don’t think the KGB twerp will stay there for seven years.”
Yesterday morning masked police with crowbars broke open the door of the flat of Mikhail Lobanov, an assistant professor at Moscow State University who ran for the Duma in September 2021 and lost to TV propagandist Yevgeny Popov. A giant “Z” appeared to have been spray-painted on Lobanov’s door. Similar raids reportedly took place in several other Russian regions, including at the homes of Yabloko activists Galina Filchenko and Nodari Khananashvili. Authorities claim that all are linked to exiled politician Ilya Ponomarev, who fled to Ukraine after voting against the annexation of Crimea.
On Saturday two Mi-8 helicopters, one Su-34 bomber plane and one Su-35 bomber plane crashed in Bryansk Oblast. All the crew members – nine people in total - were killed, and a woman on the ground was injured. It was not clear if Ukrainians had succeeded in shooting down aircraft that were attempting to attack or if they had been shot down by friendly fire. On Sunday the Russian Defence Minister said two senior officers, Col. Vyacheslav Makarov and Col. Yevgeny Brovko, had been killed in the battle for Bakhmut. In the early hours of Tuesday morning numerous missiles of various types were shot down over Kyiv by Ukrainian air defences. And on Thursday a train derailed near Simferopol, reportedly as a result of an explosion. Occupying authorities blamed “Ukrainian Nazis”.
The UK’s hosting of the Eurovision Song Contest on Saturday night on behalf of Ukraine, which won the event last year, demonstrated how much love most countries have for the heroic nation. Russia’s actions and rhetoric reinforce that every day. When the dust finally settles some Russians are going to be very surprised to find that they themselves are the real Nazis.
You can receive this newsletter once a month for free, or sign up here for a weekly subscription for just £3.99 ($5) a month or £45 a year. I’m keen to hear what you’re interested in, so if you have tips or questions please contact me at sarahnhurst@gmail.com. You can follow me on Twitter at @XSovietNews.
American volunteer killed in Bakhmut
Retired Army Staff Sgt. Nicholas Maimer, 45, from Boise, Idaho, has been killed in Bakhmut, where he was training Ukrainian forces through a non-profit group. Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin claimed that Maimer had been fighting for Ukraine and showed his body and ID documents on a video. “These people want the exact same thing that your average American wants,” Maimer said of Ukrainians in an NBC News interview in February. “They want to raise a family, enjoy life, have a good quality of life and have the chance for prosperity - a better future for their kids. They want exactly the same thing. It’s not somebody else, somewhere else. It could just as easily be America.” Maimer retired from the US military in 2018 after more than 20 years of service, during which time he was awarded numerous medals.
Two more sentenced for anti-war activities
A court in Tolyatti has sentenced Alexei Arbuzenko to six years in prison for defacing pro-war banners. Arbuzenko was convicted of vandalism with a motive of political or ideological hatred and discrediting the Russian armed forces. He had been in jail awaiting trial since last August, when he was arrested after allegedly writing offensive slogans on banners with images of Russian troops on them.
In Moscow a court has sentenced Colombian citizen Alberto Enrique Giraldo Saray to five years and two months in prison for “spreading fakes” for allegedly working with accomplices outside Russia to send mass text messages about Russia’s atrocities against civilians in Ukraine. Giraldo Saray had lived in Russia for 20 years and had written on Facebook about Ukrainians being “neo-Nazis”. He was alleged to have sent the text messages in return for payment in cryptocurrency.
Novosibirsk physicist arrested for treason
Valery Zvegintsev, the head of the aerodynamics lab of the Institute of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics in Novosibirsk, has been jailed to await trial on a treason charge. He joins his colleagues Anatoly Maslov and Alexander Shiplyuk, who were arrested previously. All worked on hypersonic missile research. Zvegintsev is reportedly accused of publishing an article on gas dynamics in a foreign scientific journal. Many Russian scientists have been jailed for treason in recent years as a result of their contacts with foreign colleagues and sharing of publicly available information.