This was Russia today Monday, November 24, 2025

Howdy, folks. Today, I review the findings from a new joint investigation into the Russian Red Cross’s activities in occupied Ukraine. Read on for news about the premiums Moscow is paying for export-controlled goods, plus a scandal in France involving talk of sacrificing children in a theoretical war with Russia. If you’re enjoying the newsletter’s new approach (or want to complain), please let me know. Yours, Kevin.

New investigation reveals the Russian Red Cross is expanding operations in occupied Ukraine as its international funding grows

Meduza has joined a new investigation into the Russian Red Cross, working with journalists from the Follow the Money project, Paper Trail Media (Germany), Der Standard (Austria), and Delfi (Estonia). We’ll share a full English-language translation soon, but here’s a quick look at the major findings.

In our previous joint investigation, published in February 2024, we revealed that the Russian Red Cross (RRC) has been operating in occupied areas of Ukraine with financial backing from Moscow since at least 2023. We also learned that individuals presenting themselves as RRC staff have abused Ukrainian prisoners of war in the Donetsk region. 

In our follow-up report, we discovered that the RRC has become more deeply enmeshed in Russia’s military and propaganda apparatus, even as it continues to receive millions of euros from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC). According to our investigators’ calculations, the two organizations transferred roughly €6.5 million and €7 million, respectively, in 2024 alone. Combined, this funding accounts for more than a quarter of the RRC’s annual income.

These funds keep flowing, despite evidence that the RRC is working with militaristic pro-Kremlin youth groups to stage events in occupied Ukraine, thereby violating its mandate by operating outside Russia’s internationally recognized borders. For example, the RRC allocated nearly a tenth of its budget last year to first-aid training competitions for children, organized jointly with a patriotic youth movement whose supervisory board is chaired by Vladimir Putin. In recent years, self-proclaimed regional branches of the Russian Red Cross have appeared in occupied Ukraine, including one in Donetsk that has issued certificates signed by RRC President and IFRC Governing Board member Pavel Savchuk.

Remarkably, this means funding from the ICRC and IFRC has doubled since 2022, when Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. At the same time, the European Commission and the governments of Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Slovenia, and the Czech Republic insist that their contributions to the ICRC and the IFRC do not go to the Russian Red Cross. “The Commission funds a clearly defined set of humanitarian programs in specific countries, and Russia is not part of this program,” a representative told journalists.

Ilya Shumanov, the former executive director of Transparency International’s Russian chapter, told journalists that the scale and systemic nature of the Russian Red Cross’s violations could provide grounds for suspending the RRC’s membership — or even expelling it — if the organization fails to restore compliance. Dmytro Lubinets, Ukraine’s human rights commissioner, has endorsed calls for sanctions against the RRC, accusing it of trying to drag children into Russia’s future wars.

The Archive Collection: Nothing can stop Meduza from releasing anniversary merch — even if we have to make it ourselves. Check out our latest drop now!

We have a new tradition here at Meduza: every year on our birthday, we update the merch in our online store, Magaz. In 2025, we turned 11 — and despite the considerable challenges we’ve faced this year, we’ve found a pretty original way to bring you a new collection. Here’s a look at the latest clothing and accessories you can buy to rep Meduza and support our work.

News you don’t want to miss today

🇨🇳 Chinese exporters charge Russia 87 percent more for restricted goods 💰

Chinese suppliers are raising prices sharply on export-controlled items that Russia’s military-industrial sector depends on — an average increase of 87 percent from 2021 to 2024.

• The impact: Sanctions have choked Russia’s access to critical machinery and components, letting Chinese firms command steep premiums. Ball bearing imports, for example, rose 76 percent in value even as volumes fell 13 percent.
• The benefit: Western officials say the price-gouging is a net advantage for sanctions policy — an 80 percent increase nearly halves Russia’s real purchasing power.
• The trend: Similar price hikes (up to 55 percent) were found in Russian imports from Turkey, suggesting tougher enforcement is driving these premiums. | Financial Times

🪖 French army chief sparks uproar with warning about wartime sacrifices 🇫🇷

France’s army chief, General Fabien Mandon, triggered a political storm after telling mayors that the country must regain the “moral strength” to face potential wartime losses — including “accepting losing our children.”

• The warning: Mandon argued that France is “at risk” if it cannot endure hardship, urging a broader societal readiness amid rising insecurity in Europe.
• The backlash: Politicians across the spectrum condemned the remarks as inappropriate or even “warmongering,” accusing him of overstepping his role.
• The context: The controversy comes as President Macron prepares to unveil a voluntary national service plan intended to strengthen civic and defense preparedness amid mounting tensions with Russia. | The New York Times

🪖 Russia is remaking occupied Ukraine’s monuments to legitimize the invasion and propagate a shared history | Russia is reshaping monuments in occupied Ukrainian territories to fuse Soviet, medieval, and contemporary war imagery into a single narrative that legitimizes its invasion and asserts a shared historical identity with Ukraine.

🤰 17-year-old college student gives birth in bathroom stall and leaves baby wrapped on floor. Hospitals in her region of Russia have stopped offering abortions. | A 17-year-old student in Russia’s Zabaykalsky Krai secretly gave birth in a dorm bathroom and initially abandoned the newborn, highlighting how the region’s increasingly restrictive abortion access has intensified pressures on young women.

🦃 U.S. push for a Russia–Ukraine deal shows progress as Thanksgiving deadline nears: the latest on Trump’s peace plan | Washington’s rush to lock in Trump’s Ukraine–Russia proposal has triggered rewrites, rival European terms, and questions over Russian authorship, even as U.S. and Ukrainian negotiators report modest progress.

🤬 Russia’s new state dictionary calls authoritarianism the ‘most effective’ form of government and bans the word ‘ass’ | Russia’s new state-sanctioned dictionary rewrites key political and social terms to promote Kremlin ideology, elevate authoritarian rule, and erase or stigmatize concepts the authorities dislike while expanding bans on everyday profanity.

🕊️ What does Trump’s peace plan mean for Putin? It’s ‘a reward to a dictator,’ says Free Russia Foundation’s Natalia Arno. | In an interview with Meduza, Arno describes Trump’s proposed Ukraine plan as a Kremlin-tilted deal that would grant Putin impunity, weaken Ukraine and Europe, and set a dangerous precedent for future dictators.

🕊️ Former U.S. Ambassador to NATO Julianne Smith explains why Trump’s Ukraine–Russia peace plan is a test for the transatlantic alliance | In an interview with Meduza, Smith criticizes Trump’s peace proposal as an unserious plan that risks fracturing NATO unity and undermining allies’ role in shaping Ukraine’s future.

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