Vladimir Putin had long since I had Telegram in my sightsBut it wasn't until this week that Russia formally declared war on it. Russian authorities have slowed the app down so much that it barely works for its more than 60 million users in the country. The Kremlin accuses its founder, Pavel Durov, of breaking the law, but he maintains that the Russian government's true objective is to push citizens toward a newly created national messaging service overseen by the secret services. The move has not only generated unrest on the streets but also within the military, where many soldiers have complained that the platform is vital for communications on the front lines and for drone defense.

The voracity with which Assault operations are bleeding Russian troops dry in Ukraine This has forced the Kremlin to seek soldiers beyond its borders. In Africa, Russia leverages the influence it has cultivated for years to create recruitment networks that exploit the desperation of many young people yearning for a better life. For the first time, an investigation by the INPACT group—which was founded to monitor the atrocities committed by Wagner mercenaries—has quantified this phenomenon: it has documented nearly 1,500 cases of young Africans sent to the front lines, of whom 300, one in five, died.

"Crimea is no less important to Russia's security than Greenland is to the United States'." With this statement, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has made clear what benefit he hopes to gain from the Kremlin in this matter. Donald Trump's ambitions regarding the islandFar from condemning American expansionism, Vladimir Putin is aware that the implosion of the Western order provoked by the White House fuels Russian aggression against Ukraine, legitimizes its worldview, and, incidentally, diverts attention from the daily bombings of Kyiv.

Two Western laboratories Russian dissident Aleksei Navalny confirmed poisoning, according to his widow, Yulia Navalnaya. In a video published this Wednesday, the activist explains that her husband's biological samples were sent abroad shortly after his death. Died in a penal colony on February 16, 2024, and that at least two scientific teams have independently reached the same conclusion.

Faced with the long report by The New York Times on alleged links between Russia and Jose Maria Alay, former Catalan President Carles Puigdemont's head of cabinet, and his lawyer Gonzalo Boye, the Kremlin has denied this Tuesday all alleged contacts with those close to Puigdemont. And not only with the former president, but the Russian government has denied any links to the independence movement. "It is nothing more than a lie," said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, in statements to the media reported by Sputnik news agency.