Notices by Meduza in English (meduza_en@masto.ai)

Former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder met Globus employees in Moscow after recently becoming head of the retailer's Russian supervisory board. Globus is among the few foreign retailers that have continued operating in Russia since 2022. https://meduza.io/en/news/2026/10/07/former-german-chancellor-gerhard-schroder-visits-moscow-and-meets-globus-employees-after-becoming-head-of-the-hypermarket-chain-s-supervisory-board

From late 2021 to late 2025, Spain added 44,000 Russian residence-permit holders, while Latvia lost 15,000 and Estonia 9,000. Across the EU, the total number of Russians with permits rose 14%, to 877,000. https://meduza.io/en/news/2026/10/06/number-of-russians-with-residence-permits-rose-61-in-spain-after-2021-while-falling-in-latvia-estonia-and-czechia

After 27 years in Ukraine, businessman Oleg Varyukhin returned to Russia to renew his documents — and was arrested. Mediazona reports that he now faces treason charges over a mandatory Ukrainian military levy he paid while living there. https://meduza.io/en/news/2026/10/05/russia-has-brought-its-first-known-treason-case-based-on-tax-payments-to-ukraine

A Canadian farmer who relocated to Russia for its “traditional values” and later brought his wife and 8 children says his family no longer recommends the move: it turns out he needs to sign a Defense Ministry contract to get permanent residency. https://meduza.io/en/news/2026/10/02/canadian-who-moved-his-family-to-russia-for-traditional-values-says-he-no-longer-recommends-it-permanent-residency-would-require-signing-a-defense-ministry-contract

Russia’s military spending continues to rise, but several regions are cutting compensation for families of soldiers killed in Ukraine. Ulyanovsk reduced its payment 20-fold this year, while Saratov cut its benefit tenfold. https://meduza.io/en/feature/2026/10/01/russian-war-spending-keeps-rising-while-some-regions-slash-death-benefits-for-soldiers-families-by-up-to-95

Russia struck Kyiv’s Southern Bridge with drones for the first time in the war as a subway train crossed. No passengers were hurt, but subway and bus traffic over the bridge was suspended while crews assessed the damage. https://meduza.io/en/feature/2026/10/01/russian-drones-strike-kyiv-s-southern-bridge-in-first-drone-attack-on-a-kyiv-bridge-since-the-full-scale-invasion-a-subway-train-was-crossing-it-at-the-time

EU sanctions on Russian money-transfer service Golden Crown sharply disrupted cross-border payments. August transfers from Russia to Kazakhstan fell nearly 12-fold, and those to Georgia hit an over-20-year low, regulator data show. https://meduza.io/en/news/2026/10/01/money-transfers-between-russia-and-kazakhstan-fall-nearly-12-fold-after-eu-sanctions-on-zolotaya-korona-payment-service

Russia detained an Estonian who had traveled there to visit his wife after she was denied asylum in Estonia. The FSB accuses him of trying to join Ukraine’s armed forces. He faces up to 15 years in prison.
https://meduza.io/en/news/2026/09/24/russia-detained-an-estonian-accusing-him-of-trying-to-join-ukraine-s-armed-forces-he-had-come-to-see-his-wife-whom-estonia-had-denied-asylum

Russia’s preliminary 2026 Duma results show nearly twice as many precincts with suspiciously round numbers as in 2021. The “comet tail” of high-turnout precincts favoring United Russia swelled into a multi-cluster “body,” while the central cluster thinned sharply. https://meduza.io/en/feature/2026/09/25/proof-that-russia-s-2026-state-duma-elections-were-the-dirtiest-parliamentary-elections-of-the-putin-era

The CIA warned Poland of a possible Russian provocation involving undersea telecom cables used by international banking. The U.S. recommended preparing Poland's banking system, Newsweek's Polish edition reports. https://meduza.io/en/news/2026/09/23/newsweek-s-polish-edition-cia-warned-poland-that-russia-could-damage-undersea-cables-between-europe-and-the-u-s

Journalist Angelique Geray spent months posing online as a pro-Putin influencer. Suspected Russian agents contacted her, offered "unspecified assignments," and paid her in Bitcoin. https://meduza.io/en/feature/2026/09/14/an-undercover-german-reporter-posed-as-a-putin-superfan-online-suspected-russian-agents-quickly-offered-her-bitcoin-to-run-local-errands

President Donald Trump said he urged Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to stop striking Russian facilities that produce diesel fuel, claiming that the attacks are causing shortages and raising prices. https://meduza.io/en/news/2026/09/13/with-u-s-diesel-above-6-a-gallon-trump-urges-ukraine-to-stop-targeting-russian-production-facilities

A 24-year-old programmer who worked on the FSB's surveillance system left Russia with an archive of its internal technical documents. Here's what he told iStories.
https://meduza.io/en/feature/2026/09/03/he-helped-build-the-surveillance-system-the-fsb-uses-to-spy-on-russians-then-he-smuggled-out-its-internal-documents-here-s-what-he-told-istories

A trial closed to the public in Moscow is underway against Ivan Semenikhin, a detective who specialized in crimes against children. He was arrested on treason charges in 2025 and has since also been charged with illegally accessing computer information. https://meduza.io/en/news/2026/09/01/a-detective-known-for-solving-crimes-against-children-goes-on-trial-for-treason-in-moscow

Ukraine has launched another round of strikes on Wildberries, hitting warehouses in Russia's Volgograd region and the Republic of Tatarstan.
https://meduza.io/en/news/2026/07/31/ukraine-hits-two-more-wildberries-warehouses-in-russia

Ukraine has launched another strike on a Wildberries warehouse in Russia, this time in Ryazan. See photos and videos from the attack.
https://meduza.io/en/feature/2026/07/29/ukraine-resumes-strikes-on-wildberries-warehouses-in-russia-see-the-attack-on-ryazan

Russia already lets convicts imprisoned for nearly any crime enlist in the army. A new bill would narrow the remaining exceptions further, adding gang membership, nuclear materials theft, and more to the list of crimes that no longer disqualify recruits. https://meduza.io/en/news/2026/07/18/russia-proposes-letting-people-accused-or-convicted-of-gang-activity-nuclear-materials-theft-and-state-secrets-offenses-enlist-in-the-military

Russia's two biggest online marketplaces, Ozon & Wildberries, have rewritten their seller contracts since June to avoid paying for war damage. Today, Ukrainian drones tested that new arrangement by hitting the latter's warehouses. https://meduza.io/en/news/2026/07/18/wildberries-and-ozon-two-of-russia-s-largest-online-marketplaces-wrote-sellers-out-of-compensation-for-war-damage

Mykhailo Fedorov stopped automatically approving the Ukrainian General Staff's procurement requests, replacing them with competitive bidding and audits. Six months later, well... https://meduza.io/en/feature/2026/07/16/ukrainian-defense-minister-mykhailo-fedorov-stopped-rubber-stamping-the-general-staff-s-requests-six-months-in-zelensky-sided-with-the-generals

Georgy Alburov will again run investigations at the Anti-Corruption Foundation, the group founded by the late Alexey Navalny. Maria Pevchikh, who is leaving to pursue a degree at Harvard University, says the handover will last only “for the next year.” https://meduza.io/en/news/2026/07/13/maria-pevchikh-steps-down-as-head-of-investigations-at-alexey-navalny-s-anti-corruption-foundation-to-pursue-harvard-degree