This was Russia today Friday, January 16, 2026

Howdy, folks. Today, we return to the controversy surrounding Leonid Volkov’s harsh words for certain combatants and officials in Ukraine. Read on for fresh news about “Havana Syndrome” weaponry and the ailing Kadyrov clan. Yours, Kevin.

Note: Meduza’s daily newsletter is off next Monday for Martin Luther King Jr. Day in the U.S. and will return on Tuesday, January 20. 

When ‘White Rex’ speaks, you sit down and listen, Russian liberals

In a recent analysis, Novaya Gazeta Europe contributing writer Pavel Kuznetsov details the escalating conflict between the Russian Volunteer Corps (RDK) and Russia’s exiled liberal opposition. The dispute began when Leonid Volkov, head of political projects at the Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK), contacted a former FBK colleague who now represents RDK. Volkov celebrated the news of unit leader Denis Kapustin’s death, calling him a neo-Nazi while disparaging several high-ranking Ukrainian officials. Kyiv’s subsequent revelation that the death was faked has only intensified scrutiny of Volkov’s outburst.

Russian political exiles across Eastern Europe watched with alarm as the Lithuanian authorities initiated a review of Volkov’s residency permit following the incident. In an act of apparent damage control, FBK chairwoman Maria Pevchikh contacted the same RDK representative and denounced Volkov’s comments as “rude, unethical, and wrong.” However, she declined RDK’s invitation to work together directly, effectively supporting Volkov’s opposition to even “tactical alliances” with far-right groups. Kuznetsov notes that the rules surrounding speech by Russians who fled to Eastern Europe likely allow mockery of a neo-Nazi like Denis “White Rex” Kapustin (who is banned from entering Germany), but criticism of Ukraine’s military-political leadership is “crossing a line.” 

Kuznetsov examines the transformation of right-wing extremism into a sanctioned military asset of Ukrainian intelligence. RDK was formed in Ukraine at the start of the full-scale war to absorb ultra-right Russians who failed to find a home in existing hierarchies like the Azov Regiment. The group gained media prominence for cross-border raids in Bryansk and Belgorod in 2023, but analysts who spoke to Kuznetsov argue that Kyiv often utilizes RDK fighters as “ideological stormtroopers” to reinforce critical holes in defensive lines — a role that has resulted in high casualty rates. By one estimate, only half of RDK’s original personnel have survived.

Off the battlefield, RDK aggressively seeks to legitimize itself politically and secure a future in post-war Russia. The group has tried to infiltrate the liberal anti-war movement, attending opposition marches in Berlin and applying to join the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe’s “Platform for Dialogue” with “Russian democratic forces in exile.” Scholar Nikolay Mitrokhin suggests this pivot is purely pragmatic: lacking legal status in Europe and facing an uncertain future in Ukraine, RDK likely views political participation as the “simplest way” to build a reputation that might secure them Ukrainian citizenship and funding.

Ultimately, Kuznetsov attributes the Volkov controversy to an irreconcilable ideological divide between Russia’s exiled liberal opposition and far-right organizations fighting alongside Ukraine. Though Kapustin has been less willing in recent years to acknowledge his neo-Nazism, Kuznetsov catalogues RDK’s continued proximity to explicitly pro-Hitler elements. For example, in December 2025, the group co-organized a pagan festival in Kyiv headlined by bands notorious for glorifying the Third Reich. A month earlier, an RDK fighter drew criticism for offering cash rewards for photos of executed Russian POWs. Corps officials condemned the initiative and promised to investigate, but spokespeople later declined to say whether the soldier had been disciplined, calling it an internal matter.

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News you don’t want to miss today

🇺🇸 U.S. buys ‘Havana Syndrome’-style weapon from Ukraine 🇷🇺 

Washington reportedly paid “eight figures” to Ukrainian intelligence for a portable directed-energy device with Russian-made components that matches the profile of the weapon allegedly used to inflict brain injuries on American officials all over the world.

• Internal conflict: While U.S. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard aims to release findings validating the victims and exposing a prior cover-up, the official report is currently stalled by skepticism from Pentagon leadership and bureaucratic delays. | Puck News

🇷🇺 Chechen leader Kadyrov on ‘death watch’ amid health rumors 🏥

Persistent reports suggest the Chechen strongman is suffering from kidney failure, raising the prospect of instability in the region even as Kadyrov attempts to dispel rumors with “performative bravado on social media.”

• A headache for Moscow: While Kadyrov’s forces have struggled to live up to their fearsome reputation in Ukraine, his potential exit tests the Kremlin’s control, prompting the leader to appoint his 20-year-old son Akhmat to high office. However, experts note that Moscow may favor other candidates and “will likely be able to manage a power transition” despite the risks. | POLITICO

🇲🇩 Moldova’s president said she would vote for reunification with Romania. Russia-friendly politicians jumped on the ensuing controversy. | President Sandu clarified that her personal stance stems from a desire to ensure the nation’s survival against Russian aggression, while emphasizing that E.U. membership remains the country’s primary and most realistic strategic objective.

🇨🇾 A Russian diplomat who died in Cyprus last week was reportedly an undercover intelligence officer | The suspected cryptography specialist reportedly committed suicide at the embassy just one day after the suspicious disappearance of a former Russian executive, unfolding alongside a local corruption scandal involving sanctions evasion.

🪖 As fighting continues in Pokrovsk and Kupyansk, Russia bears down on Ukraine’s main remaining Donbas strongholds. Meduza analyses the latest from the front. | Ukrainian forces have redeployed troops to the Zaporizhzhia region to counter a new Russian offensive that recently captured Hulyaipole, while simultaneously defending against intensified drives toward the key cities of Kramatorsk and Sloviansk.

💥 Chechen ruler Ramzan Kadyrov’s 18-year-old son reportedly in critical condition after Grozny car crash | Reports indicate that following the high-speed collision, the unconscious teenager was airlifted to a Moscow hospital aboard a Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations aircraft.

👮 Senior Russian nuclear official arrested on charges of financing Ukrainian military | Federal agents detained Mikhail Shcherbak, a veteran director at Rosatom subsidiary Atomstroyexport who oversaw nuclear projects in Iran and Belarus.

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