The Real Russia. Today. Special report on Russia’s self-made child porn explosion; power politics rages in Crimea; and Moscow follows through on diplomatic retaliation threats against the U.S.

Meduza’s latest special report

Loosely policed social networks and poverty fuel Russia’s self-made child porn explosion. In a growing trend on social networks and instant messengers in Russia, minors are creating their own erotica and pornography, and selling it online to make a quick buck, aware that they face no penalties under Russia’s Criminal Code for such actions. The explicit content is distributed in communities populated by thousands of clients and resellers, giving rise to a whole subculture with its own slang and even its own songs. In a special report for Meduza, Pavel Merzlikin explains the architecture of this illegal industry, and looks at how much money minors themselves are earning making child pornography. Special report in English

Power politics in Crimea

Crimeans suffer because of Russia’s weather. Crimea suffered a 90-minute peninsula-wide power outage on Friday due to “abnormally high” air temperatures in the Krasnodar region on mainland Russia, which supplies Crimea with its electricity, according the Russia’s Federal Energy Ministry. Deputy Energy Minister Andrey Cherezov told the news agency Interfax that the power supply to Crimea automatically shut off when the emergency situation was triggered in the Krasnodar region, insisting that there are no problems with the so-called energy bridge that connects Crimea to the Russian mainland’s power grid. Story in English

Turbine tumult. Electricity turbines manufactured by Siemens for the Krasnodar region were in fact modified and delivered to Crimea, says Rostec subsidiary Technopromexport, which partnered with Siemens on the project. Technopromexport representatives previously acknowledged upgrades to the German turbines, without specifying where they were ultimately installed. Earlier this month, Siemens announced that four of its turbines had been illegally transferred to Crimea, in violation of European Union sanctions barring EU firms from supplying the occupied peninsula with energy technology. The German company has threatened to break it licensing agreements to supply equipment to Russian power plants and said it might suspend all deliveries to state-controlled Russian businesses. Siemens has proposed annulling its contract with Technopromexport and buying back its electricity turbines, and Rostec’s subsidiary has expressed willingness to discuss the sale. Story in Russian

Just don’t call it Cold War 2.0

Your move, Mr. President. The U.S. Senate on Thursday passed sweeping legislation slapping new sanctions on Russia and rebuking President Donald Trump in a bill that now will head to the president’s desk. The bill, which gives Congress new powers to block Trump from easing sanctions against Moscow, passed the Senate 98-2. It passed the House on Tuesday 419-3. Story at CNN

Fed up with waiting for Trump’s detente. Moscow has given the United States until September 1 to reduce the number of its diplomatic and technical staff in Russia to 455 people — the same number of people currently working at Russia’s diplomatic facilities in the U.S., according to the Russian Foreign Ministry. Effective August 1, the Russian government will also suspend the U.S. embassy’s access to all storage space at Dorognaya Street in Moscow and a summer home in Serebryany Bor. Story in English

• Context: On December 29, 2016, the United States imposed sanctions on Russia for Moscow’s alleged interference in the U.S. presidential election. Washington expelled 35 Russian diplomats, accusing them of playing a role in Russia’s supposed meddling. Two embassy properties were also closed down and seized by American officials.

Bad news for Moscow expats

Cinema beloved by expats loses projectors in blaze. The Moscow movie theater “35 mm,” known for showing arthouse and foreign films in their original languages, suffered a fire early on July 28 that resulted in the destruction of most of its equipment. The fire reportedly started in a neighboring building currently being remodeled, the movie theater’s director told the website Snob. The water used by firefighters to extinguish the blaze is apparently what wrecked the equipment, which was not insured. Story in Russian