This was Russia today Wednesday, February 4, 2026

Howdy, folks. Yours truly is finally back after several days under the weather. Today, in light of New START’s demise, I am revisiting a Q&A from November 2025 with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov on arms control. Keep reading for news about a jailed Russian comedian, a French envoy’s rare mission, a body found in Cyprus, Russia’s rising budget deficit, and worrying wargame results. Yours, Kevin.

‘Road signs’ from last autumn: A look at Sergey Ryabkov’s candid session on the death of the old nuclear order

New START has expired, taking with it the last guardrail on U.S. and Russian nuclear stockpiles. For insight into Moscow’s current thinking on arms control and the general challenges of engaging the West on this subject, let’s examine an interview Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov granted to students at the PIR Center last November. In that Q&A session, the senior diplomat articulated Russia’s many grievances regarding verification, space weaponization, European security architecture, and nuclear proliferation.

Nuclear arms reductions: Asked about New START’s looming expiration, Ryabkov expressed skepticism that a last-minute political solution could be found. While noting that President Trump had called Russia’s proposal to maintain voluntary warhead caps a “good idea,” Ryabkov emphasized that Washington had done nothing to formalize it. He described Russia’s position as a set of strict “road signs,” indicating that diplomatic progress requires the U.S. to accept Russian security interests. He also stipulated that any future strategic stability talks must eventually include the nuclear arsenals of the United Kingdom and France, rather than remaining a bilateral U.S.-Russia matter. Conversely, Ryabkov expressed reluctance to involve Beijing, explicitly rejecting a key American demand.

Space security: The deputy foreign minister dismissed Western criticism of Russian activities as “lip service” intended to cover for the West’s own weaponization of space. He argued that the U.S. and E.U. refuse to engage with the Russian-Chinese draft treaty on preventing space weapons because they lack the “political will” to accept binding restrictions. He specifically ridiculed the Biden administration’s allegations regarding Russian nuclear weapons in orbit, describing the claim as the “height of cynical exploitation of a serious issue” and arguing that such indiscriminately destructive weapons would be militarily illogical compared to kinetic strikes. If speaking today, Ryabkov would likely have criticized European security officials who this week accused Moscow of using “Luch” space vehicles to intercept communications from at least a dozen satellites over the continent.

Ground-based weapons: Ryabkov argued that diplomatic mechanisms like the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe and Open Skies are now little more than “imitation,” rendered obsolete by the speed of modern warfare and drone technology. He explained that no new conventional arms control agreements will be possible until “the dust has settled” in Ukraine. In his view, the old Euro-Atlantic security architecture is dead; any future framework will have to be built by “future generations” within a new Eurasian context, and only after the West accepts the reality of Russia’s military goals.

Flower Power against the Kremlin

Anyone who lives in Russia (or even travels there) risks felony charges for donating to an outlawed “undesirable” organization. That’s why our Flower Power crowdfunding campaign is designed to connect our millions of readers inside the country with those of you around the world. It’s a dark time for independent journalism globally, but together you can make a difference and help Meduza survive.

We’ve gathered requests from readers who can’t support Meduza safely, and assigned each of them a botanical code name, inspired by the anti-Nazi German resistance group the White Rose. Please read their heartfelt messages, sponsor an appeal that speaks to you, and help us show the Kremlin why “Flower Power” is an anti-war slogan. 🌼

Read Meduza’s full letter to readers here. 

News you don’t want to miss today

⚖️ Russian comedian sentenced to prison for joke about veterans 🎭

A Moscow court has sentenced stand-up comic Artemy Ostanin to nearly six years in prison, ruling that his joke about a disabled man on a skateboard amounted to “inciting hatred” against war veterans.

• No sense of humor: The joke involved a man who had lost his legs in a mine blast and who was pushing himself through a Moscow subway station on a skateboard. While Ostanin denied referencing the war or soldiers during his performance, the harsh sentence underscores the Kremlin’s intensifying efforts to punish even the subtlest perceived dissent against the military. | The New York Times

🇫🇷 Macron’s envoy makes rare Moscow trip to demand voice in peace talks 🕊️

Top French diplomat Emmanuel Bonne traveled to Russia for face-to-face meetings, warning the Kremlin that Europe must be involved in any decisions regarding its own security.

• A message to Putin: While the U.S. and Russia hold talks in Abu Dhabi, Paris is signaling that European leaders will not simply “rubber-stamp” a deal ending the war. | Bloomberg

🔍 Body of missing Russian executive found on Cyprus beach 🇨🇾

Authorities confirmed that a body discovered on a British military base’s coastline is that of Vladislav Baumgertner, the former CEO of Russia’s largest potash company, who vanished in January.

• A troubled past: DNA analysis identified the 53-year-old businessman, who was notably detained in Belarus in 2013 during a fertilizer trade dispute, while British base police continue to investigate the cause of his death. | Associated Press

🛢️ Russia’s budget deficit set to triple as oil revenues plummet 📉

Moscow’s public deficit could balloon to nearly three times the official target by late 2026, battered by a sharp drop in Indian oil purchases and steep price discounts.

• A fiscal squeeze: With government economists predicting energy revenues will fall 18 percent below plan, the Kremlin faces rapid reserve depletion and the prospect of unpopular spending cuts to keep the war economy afloat. | Reuters

🇪🇺 Wargame exposes NATO’s vulnerability to Russian invasion 🇷🇺

A new military simulation suggests European nations are unprepared for a Russian attack, with Moscow potentially ready for war years earlier than expected.

• A failure of deterrence: While NATO formally plans for a threat by 2029, the wargame showed Russia seizing a key Lithuanian city in days by exploiting German hesitation and U.S. disengagement under a “humanitarian” pretext. | The Wall Street Journal

👮 St. Petersburg man arrested for murder of missing nine-year-old after days-long search | A 38-year-old construction foreman with prior convictions allegedly confessed to luring the boy into his car with a promise of a gift before killing him to cover up a sexual assault.

🕊️ The last nuclear guardrail falls this week, and the U.S. and Russia have chosen to fly blind | The scheduled expiration of the New START treaty on February 5 marks the end of a decades-old era of mutual inspections and data sharing, potentially triggering a three-way nuclear arms race between the U.S., Russia, and China without any established verification protocols.

⛑️ Russia’s new law protects the Red Cross name, but enforcing it in occupied Ukraine would expose the very ties Moscow denies | A new federal law granting the Russian Red Cross exclusive rights to its name creates a legal paradox where enforcement in annexed Ukrainian regions would force Moscow to officially acknowledge the local “imposter” groups it currently claims are independent.

No country can be free without independent media. In January 2023, the Russian authorities outlawed Meduza, banning our work in the country our colleagues call home. Just supporting Meduza carries the risk of criminal prosecution for Russian nationals, which is why we’re turning to our international audience for help. Your assistance makes it possible for thousands of people in Russia to read Meduza and stay informed. Consider a small but recurring contribution to provide the most effective support. Donate here.