The Real Russia. Today. A stateless former head of state? Moscow could threaten symmetrical and asymmetrical retaliation against U.S. sanctions; and the Bolshoi Theater scrambles to make good

A second fall from grace. Former Odessa Governor Mikheil Saakashvili has been stripped of his Ukrainian citizenship, apparently leaving him stateless, according to a statement by Ukrainian migration officials. Kiev says Saakashvili falsely claimed that he wasn’t under investigation in Ukraine or any foreign state when he was granted Ukrainian citizenship in 2015. At the time, however, Georgian police had issued a warrant for his arrest. Story in English

Reuters says Russia used Facebook to try to spy on Macron campaign. Russian intelligence agents attempted to spy on President Emmanuel Macron's election campaign earlier this year by creating phony Facebook personas, according to a U.S. congressman and two other people briefed on the effort. About two dozen Facebook accounts were created to conduct surveillance on Macron campaign officials and others close to the centrist former financier as he sought to defeat far-right nationalist Marine Le Pen and other opponents in the two-round election, the sources told Reuters. Story in English

Quote of the day

• “Trump ‘may sign the sanctions… or he may... negotiate an even tougher deal against the Russians.’” ~ Anthony Scaramucci, senior advisor to President Trump

Moscow’s maybe symmetrical and asymmetrical retaliation. Russia’s Foreign Ministry is considering retaliatory measures against the United States in response to the latest sanctions now working their way through the U.S. legislature. Two unnamed sources told the newspaper Kommersant that Moscow might limit the number of American diplomatic staff in Russia to the number of Russian diplomats allowed into the United States. Officials could also seize a U.S. diplomatic complex at Serebryany Bor in Moscow. According to Kommersant, the Kremlin is also considering several asymmetrical responses to the latest U.S. sanctions. Story in English

Brezhnev's secret pledge. Putin’s covert support for Donald Trump wasn’t the first time Russia aspired to influence an American presidential election, writes Jan M. Lodal, a fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Brent Scowcroft Center on International Security. “Forty-two years ago, a Russian leader privately pledged his government’s support for a president’s reelection: ‘We for our part will do everything we can to make that happen,’ Leonid Brezhnev said to Gerald Ford. I know, because I’m the last surviving participant in those events,” Lodal writes. Story in The Atlantic

“Nureyev” could happen after all? A ballet based on the life of Rudolf Nureyev, directed by Kirill Serebrennikov and choreographed by Yuri Posokhov, might reach the Bolshoi Theater’s stage by the end of the year, following a controversial decision to postpone the show’s premiere amid rumors that Russian officials object to the play’s supposed “gay propaganda.” The theater’s director previously stated that the show wouldn’t open until May 2018 at the soonest. Unnamed sources told the newspaper Kommersant that the Bolshoi Theater’s board of trustees, particularly oligarch Roman Abramovich, reportedly have reportedly insisted on staging the Nureyev as soon as possible. Story in Russian

• Context: On July 8, three days before the planned premiere of “Nureyev,” Bolshoi Theater director Vladimir Urin suddenly announced that the show’s opening was being postponed. “The performance turned out to be much more difficult than we expected,” Urin explained. Kirill Serebrennikov, the ballet’s director, set designer, and author, has refused to comment on the show’s postponement. In late May, Russian police questioned Serebrennikov as a witness in a fraud investigation that has resulted in several arrests.

For the trees have no tongues. Officials in Volgograd have chopped down the last remaining trees in Memorial Park. They had been planted by locals in 1965 at the foot of Mamayev Kurgan, the site of the 279-foot-tall Motherland Calls monument, which overlooks the city. In place of the trees, Volgograd will build new parking spaces meant to accommodate soccer fans attending games at a nearby stadium during the 2018 FIFA World Cup. Officials will also build restrooms and cafes in the area. After the soccer tournament, the area will host an exhibition of military equipment. The space will also be made available to bicyclists and rollerbladers. City officials have rejected claims that they’re demolishing a site founded by “Stalingrad’s widows.” Story in Russian