The Real Russia. Today. What nuances in state-media reporting Putin’s shirtless vacations inspire; behold Gazprom’s national security threat; and Alexey Navalny finally wins a case (sorta)

You call this potable? When you watch the footage of a drainage pipe spewing black liquid into the waves washing ashore, your first thought isn’t likely “That looks like good drinking water.” City officials in the Russian resort town of Sochi beg to differ, however. When an underground stormwater drain started belching out sludge into Chkalovskiy beach on August 4, locals basking in the summer sun weren’t sure what to make of the foul-smelling substance. Some beachgoers got out of the water, others waded in, and some ran for their cameras. “The release of the drinkable water poses no threat to the environment,” a spokesperson for the city wrote on a local news portal. In comments on the website, multiple Internet users have responded by inviting city officials to drink the supposedly “potable” black sludge. Story in English

Russian state media displays its fantastic grasp of nuance. Vladimir Putin’s recent shirtless fishing trip napalmed the Internet over the weekend, winning such intense coverage from Russian state media outlets that news agencies like RIA Novosti even reported such trifling nuances as the kind of twig Putin stuffed into his pocket at one point during the vacation. Story in English

Folks need better funerals. Vladimir Putin has instructed his cabinet to increase access to funeral services. The Kremlin is reportedly working on amendments to legislation that would allow for the creation of commercial cemeteries to address problems associated with “paid reservations” at existing cemeteries. According to the newspaper Kommersant, Putin has also ordered the government to simplify the paperwork required for burials. In recent years, Russia’s Housing and Development Ministry has repeatedly advocated the legalization of private cemeteries. Story in Russian

Gazprom’s national security threat. A Russian National Security Council commission held in early July reportedly advised the government to “liberalize” federal laws on natural gas exports, taking aim at the monopoly enjoyed by the state gas company Gazprom. According to the newspaper Vedomosti, two means of liberalizing Russia’s gas exports would be limiting Gazprom’s monopoly on gas pipelines used to supply foreign consumers, and expanding Russia’s exports of liquefied natural gas. Gazprom representatives were reportedly absent at the meeting. The company could lose $6.5 billion if independent gas producers were granted access to Russia’s export pipelines, according to one estimate. Story in Russian

More good news for Rosneft, and more bad news for Sistema. A Russian commercial appellate court has dismissed a lawsuit by the conglomerate Sistema, which wanted the court to lift an order seizing its 186-billion-ruble ($3.1-billion) shares in the mobile operator MTS. On June 23, a commercial court seized Sistema’s shares as part of a lawsuit by Rosneft, Bashneft, and the Republic of Bashkiria, which argue that Sistema siphoned off assets. Sistema representatives say they will take their appeal to a higher court. Story in Russian

Navalny finally wins a case (by not losing). A Moscow judge has rejected a defamation lawsuit by businessman Sergey Mikhailov against opposition politician Alexey Navalny. Mikhailov demanded the retraction of allegations that he is a mafia boss. Lawyers for Navalny and his Anti-Corruption Foundation argued that Navalny never explicitly named Mikhailov in his 2015 investigative film reviewing the supposedly corrupt business ties of Russian Attorney General Yuri Chaika’s family. Story in Russian