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Meduza’s latest daily newsletter: Thursday, August 8, 2024 A dispute about Chechnya’s prized fighting force, Putin signs dozens of new (many repressive) laws, and the Russian authorities celebrate six ‘victories’ in Ukraine’s incursion

Source: Meduza

The Kursk incursion

  • 🪖 Please, please, it’s too much winning: Over three days of fighting in the Kursk region, the Russian authorities have declared “victory” over the Ukrainian incursion force at least six times, reported Agentstvo Media. The outlet’s journalists flagged claims from the region’s acting governor, the Federal Security Service, the Defense Ministry, and the chairman of Russia’s Joint Chiefs of Staff.
  • 🪖 Hundreds of new POWs: An adviser to President Volodymyr Zelensky, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told The Washington Post that Ukrainian troops advancing into Russia’s Kursk region have taken “hundreds of prisoners and captured a gas-metering station that Russia uses for energy transactions with Hungary and Slovakia.”
  • 💰 Putin promises payouts to displaced Kursk locals: In a video call with acting Kursk Governor Alexey Smirnov, President Putin announced payments of 10,000 rubles ($115) to residents forced to flee their homes because of the Ukrainian military’s incursion into the region. Putin also stressed the need for “allocating resources” to the loss of property and housing in Ukraine’s attack. 
  • 🏳️ Russian border guards filmed surrendering: The Ukrainian battalion “Nachtigall” has released footage purportedly showing dozens of Russian border guards surrendering to the Ukrainian Armed Forces at the “Sudzha” checkpoint in Russia’s Kursk region. It’s unclear exactly how many Russian personnel laid down their arms, but estimates on social media indicate that it was between 20 and 50 men. The Russian authorities have not commented on the apparent mass surrender.

🪖 Ukrainian army gains foothold in Russia’s Kursk region on day three of unprecedented cross-border offensive (9-min read)

Ukraine’s raid into Russia’s Kursk region has stretched into a third day. While pro-Ukraine militia groups like the Freedom of Russia Legion and the Russian Volunteer Corps have carried out small-scale operations on Russian territory in the past, this is the first time the Ukrainian Armed Forces have launched this kind of cross-border offensive. Videos from eyewitnesses suggest that Ukrainian forces have reached the outskirts of Sudzha and are focusing their efforts on capturing the town in full. Here’s what we know as of Thursday evening.

📺 The Kremlin needed more than two days to draw up ‘guidelines’ for news coverage of Ukraine’s surprise incursion. Here’s what Putin’s policy team finally decided. (3-min read)

Vladimir Putin’s domestic policy team has instructed the pro-Kremlin and state-run media to “avoid sensationalizing” coverage of the Ukrainian military’s incursion into the Kursk region, Meduza has learned from two people who work in the industry. The Putin administration’s “urgent recommendations” also caution against discussions of a “new front” opening in the so-called special military operation. Instead (somewhat confusingly, given the directive to abstain from sensationalism), reporters have been encouraged to compare the ongoing fighting in the Kursk region to the World War II Battle of Kursk — the single largest battle in the history of warfare and a turning point in the USSR’s fight against Nazi Germany. Additionally, the president’s policy team has told the media not to mention the potential advance of Ukrainian troops toward the city of Kurchatov, which is home to the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant — in order to prevent a public panic about a “nuclear threat.” Meduza reviews what we know about the Kremlin’s instructions to reporters.

🪖 A dispute about whether Chechnya’s prized fighting force ran from battle with Ukrainian troops

A dispute is playing out on social media between pro-invasion bloggers and Apti Alaudinov, the commander of Chechnya’s “Akhmat” Special Forces, over the latter’s failure to stop advancing Ukrainian troops at the border in Russia’s Kursk region. In a video shared on his Telegram channel, Alaudinov said Ukraine’s incursion force bypassed the Akhmat soldiers’ positions at the border and attacked from the rear. 

However, according to Yuri Kotenok and other self-described “war correspondents,” the Akhmat Special Forces abandoned the border checkpoint without mounting any defense. The Telegram channel VChK-OGPU reported that Chechen fighters stationed in the area scattered soon after coming into contact with Ukrainian troops. Alaudinov also said he personally visited the Kursk region with an Akhmat unit, but Z-bloggers say this unit is, in fact, made up primarily of former Wagner Private Military Company veterans, not Chechen fighters.

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Russian domestic affairs

📺 YouTube has suddenly stopped working in Russia. Meduza’s readers describe how they’re handling the loss of the world’s most popular video streaming service.

For more than a week now, the Russian authorities have been throttling YouTube playback nationwide. Officials have attributed the slowdown to the supposedly failing and neglected servers Google abandoned in Russia when it withdrew from the country after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, but evidence shows that the federal agency Roskomnadzor is, in fact, responsible for the sudden access issues. Earlier this week, a source in Russia’s telecom industry told Meduza that the government censor recently decided to reduce YouTube data transfer speeds to 128 kilobits per second on home Internet connections, making it possible to listen to audio but not stream videos except at very low resolutions. Despite these restrictions, however, YouTube’s traffic in Russia held steady. That could change on Thursday, however, following reports from across Russia on the morning of August 8 that Google’s streaming service has stopped openly entirely — not only on desktop computers but also on mobile devices. At the time of this writing, it’s still unclear if Russia is now blocking YouTube outright and how long this might last.

✍️ A presidential signing bonanza

Vladimir Putin signed into law on Thursday more than 50 laws on Thursday, including several new prohibitions and expansions of the state’s repressive powers. Thanks to the president's approval, these eight pieces of legislation are now set to become the law of the land.

  • Jailing soldiers (without court orders) for using smartphones: Unit commanders now have the authority to lock up their soldiers for up to 10 days (or 15 days for repeat offenses) if they catch them using banned personal gadgets, such as smartphones. This act previously required transporting the suspects to a garrison court for a formal ruling.
  • An expanded definition of ‘undesirability’: The authorities can now designate any organization in Russia as “undesirable” if foreign state entities played any role in the organization’s foundation or have even participated in its operations. State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin said the law is necessary to close a “loophole” that prohibited the government from designating local, Russian organizations, not just foreign groups.
  • No more selling energy drinks to kids: Effective March 2025, Russian vendors are prohibited from selling non-alcoholic tonic drinks, including energy drinks, to minors. The new restriction is intended as a public health measure.
  • Legalized cryptocurrency mining: Russia will introduce a special registry to issue permits for individuals and legal entities to “mine” cryptocurrency — the electricity-demanding process of using computer power to solve the complex mathematical problems needed to validate and secure transactions on a blockchain, earning digital currency as a reward. In mid-July, Putin expressed concerns about falling behind in cryptocurrency regulations. The new legislation also reserves some regional authorities’ right to ban crypto-mining where energy shortages are a concern.
  • The Dude can no longer abide: Effective September 1, 2025, “propagating drug use in art and literature” without warnings will be punishable by steep fines. The new restrictions exempt all works released before August 1, 1990, and content “where drugs are an integral part of the artistic concept justified by the genre.” The new censorship also does not apply to “materials related to investigative activities, scientific, educational, medical, or pharmaceutical publications.”
  • More deportation powers for the police: Internal Affairs Ministry officials will now have the authority to expel foreigners from the country without court oversight for certain misdemeanors. The list of administrative offenses includes illegal drug use, the public consumption of alcohol, and disseminating so-called “gay propaganda” (though officers must “directly witness signs of violations” in this last case). Deported foreigners will also be added to a registry that bans them from registering businesses in Russia, getting married, buying and registering property, opening bank accounts, and obtaining or renewing a driver’s license. 
  • ‘Trash-streams’ banned: In Russia, “trash streams” usually feature bloggers abusing drugs and alcohol or performing humiliating or violent acts in return for donations from viewers. The new law prohibits the distribution of “trash stream” content, and crimes committed during these broadcasts can be prosecuted as aggravated offenses under 10 different felony statutes. Convicted “trash streamers” will face steep fines and the possible confiscation of their electronic equipment.
  • Naturalized citizenship revoked for refusing military registration: The Internal Affairs Ministry will now be required to provide records about all men approved for receiving Russian citizenship. Lawmakers who sponsored the bill said the new condition for maintaining naturalized citizenship is needed to address “widespread public outrage” against immigrants who get a passport and then evade military duty.
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