At least 76 criminal cases opened in Russia over donations to Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation — Novaya Gazeta Europe
Following a court ruling in the summer of 2021 that labelled the FBK 'extremist,' Navalny's team relaunched its fundraising campaign, this time accepting donations via the US-based payment platform Stripe. The idea was that Stripe would not share user data with Russian authorities, and that the transactions would not be visible to Russian banks.
However, in the early days of the campaign, it emerged that bank statements were still showing references to FBK. Navalny's allies acknowledged the issue and said they had resolved it.
Fundraising from within Russia continued until March 2022, when Visa and MasterCard suspended operations with Russian banks following the invasion of Ukraine. By the summer of 2022, the first criminal cases linked to donations to the so-called 'extremist' organisation had begun to appear — largely targeting individuals who had managed to send money via Stripe before the initial error was fixed.
According to Mediazona, Russian security services have since learned to identify donations even when FBK is not explicitly mentioned in the transaction. In 2024 alone, Russian courts received 25 such cases, and a further 34 were filed in the first half of 2025.
Journalists believe that investigators are identifying donors through the merchant ID — a unique code used by banks to route funds to the correct recipient. This merchant ID appears in bank transaction records and enables authorities to trace payments, even when no direct mention of FBK is present.
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Novaya Gazeta Europe
2 hours ago
- Novaya Gazeta Europe
The fog of war. Is there any basis to Russian claims that Ukrainian villages on the frontline are falling like dominoes? — Novaya Gazeta Europe
Late last week, Vladimir Putin announced that Russian forces had taken full control of the town of Chasiv Yar in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region, a significant victory for Moscow in what has become an achingly slow war of attrition. 'I can assure you that this is absolutely true,' Putin said confidently, in a tacit acknowledgement that not all Kremlin claims of Russian advances were quite as real. Russian pro-war military correspondents have previously reported the entry of Russian units into the Donetsk region city of Pokrovsk, and the subsequent battles taking place on its streets. The Kremlin and the Defence Ministry announce the capture of Ukrainian settlements on an almost daily basis. Three and a half years into the war, Novaya Europe asked multiple military analysts to assess the situation on the frontline and to identify the areas where Ukrainian defences are currently facing the greatest risk. Operational encirclement 'In July, the Russians were able to capture about 600 square kilometres of Ukrainian territory,' Israeli military analyst David Sharp told Novaya Europe, adding that the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) were currently most under pressure in the Donetsk region near Pokrovsk and neighbouring Myrnohrad, where Russian forces have edged ever closer to the two cities and sabotage and reconnaissance groups have been creeping into the outskirts and fighting in residential areas. 'Pokrovsk itself is at risk of operational encirclement and the Dobropillya-Pokrovsk highway, which is extremely important for defence logistics, is at risk of being cut off,' Sharp says, citing the lack of Ukrainian defensive installations in the area. 'The AFU is trying to control the line of contact using its scattered strongholds and drones, but these clearly aren't sufficient to hold off the advancing enemy forces.' 'Blustering reports of significant successful advances are more often than not simply Russian propaganda,' says Ukrainian military expert and reserve AFU colonel Roman Svitan. 'However, some areas have indeed seen an increase in [Russian] pressure.' Pokrovsk is fulfilling its role — draining the enemy's huge resources and depleting the advance as much as possible. Svitan agrees that the most perilous situation for the AFU is currently around Pokrovsk, but adds that the Russian military has been on the outskirts of the city for over a year, but still hasn't managed to occupy it. Small sabotage and reconnaissance groups creeping into the city don't pose a serious threat, Svitan says, though he adds that the drones the Russians use to monitor Ukrainian logistics do pose a significant problem. Ivan Stupak, a Ukrainian military analyst and former secret service officer, calls Pokrovsk and Kostyantynivka the most imperiled cities for the AFU at present. The bottleneck through which Pokrovsk is resupplied is about 15 kilometres wide but is constantly decreasing. At Kostyantynivka, the supply corridor is 25 kilometres wide. If the Russians can narrow the supply corridor near Pokrovsk to 10 kilometres, defending the city will become extremely dangerous, because all access roads will be under total Russian control. 'I must say Pokrovsk has held out much longer than experts predicted,' Stupak says, noting that many analysts predicted the city would fall to the Russians last year. 'However, the situation is getting worse. … We can assume the Russians will capture it within the next two months. So far, though, Pokrovsk is fulfilling its role — draining the enemy's huge resources and depleting the advance as much as possible.' Destruction in Kostyantynivka, Donetsk region, Ukraine, 30 July 2025. Photo: AFU / EPA The gateway to Kostyantynivka AFU defences are still resisting the Russian onslaught around Chasiv Yar, says Sharp, and though no independently verified information is yet available about whether the city has been completely captured or not, it's clear that Russian troops have not been able to achieve their offensive targets in full. Despite video footage being shared online that appears to show Russian flags flying from buildings in various parts of the city, Sharp says that the AFU is still holding on to some positions, and citing maps published by DeepState, that Chasiv Yar's Shevchenko district remains under Ukrainian control. Though he stresses that it's yet to happen, Svitan says he believes that if the Russians are able to take full control of Chasiv Yar, they will immediately move on Kostyantynivka, though he also notes that it may take years to capture due to its large size. Once the Russians capture Chasiv Yar, they will most likely move on the Kramatorsk-Slovyansk agglomeration. 'In the spring of 2024, with the Russian army approaching Chasiv Yar, Bilohorivka, a relatively small town on a hill with a population of about 12,000, was the main obstacle to advancing troops,' Sharp says, adding that it was known as 'the gateway to Kostyantynivka'. However, since then, the Russians have made significant progress in approaching Kostyantynivka from Toretsk and via the road to Pokrovsk, Sharp continues, meaning that Chasiv Yar is no longer of such strategic importance. Kostyantynivka is almost half-surrounded and the battle for the city itself will likely begin in the near future. 'Ukraine is still holding on to multiple pockets of resistance within the completely destroyed city of Chasiv Yar,' says Stupak. 'So there is still no real basis to claim that it's been fully captured by the Russian military. However, we need to understand that the battle for the city has left almost no stone standing.' Stupak also believes that once the Russians capture Chasiv Yar, they will most likely move on the Kramatorsk-Slovyansk agglomeration, which includes Kostyantynivka and Druzhkivka, stressing that 'the Russians will only have full control of the Donetsk region and the entire Donbas if they capture all these cities'. AFU servicemen near Kupyansk, Kharkiv region, Ukraine, 5 June 2025. Photo: Anatoliy Stepanov / Sipa / Shutterstock / Rex Features / Vida Press Battles along the entire front line 'One important area is Kupyansk. There the Russians have approached the city from their ever-expanding bridgehead on the banks of the Oskil River in the Kharkiv region they captured earlier,' says Sharp. 'The Russian army is actually approaching the town in small groups. The AFU does not have enough people to ensure effective defence. In some areas, there are only a few Ukrainian soldiers per kilometre. In such cases, the enemy will be able to penetrate deep behind Ukrainian lines and launch a swift attack.' Another danger zone for the AFU, according to Sharp, is the area where the Dnipropetrovsk and Donetsk regions meet around the village of Novopavlivka, where the Russians are continuing to advance slowly but steadily. Though the Russians have not yet been able to take Novopavlivka itself, bloody battles are ongoing in the area, with the heavy use of drones and glide bombs reported, Stupak says after confirming that the border between the Dnipropetrovsk and Donetsk regions is currently in play. If the Russian army captures Stepnohirsk, its artillery will be able to hit the Ukrainian-held regional capital, Zaporizhzhia. Svitan says the AFU has been successfully displacing Russians from Ukrainian territory in the Sumy region, and that several Ukrainian villages have already been liberated. The 155th and 810th brigades of the Russian Marines and parts of the Airborne Forces fighting in the area have suffered significant losses. Although the Russians have transferred their main units to the Pokrovsk area, they do not have reserves to reinforce them. Fighting has also intensified in Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia region, where Russians are attacking the town of Stepnohirsk and nearby areas, including the village of Kamyanske, according to Stupak. If the Russian army captures Stepnohirsk, its artillery will be able to hit the Ukrainian-held regional capital, Zaporizhzhia. Sharp also has information on Russian attacks on the Zaporizhzhia region, where Russian forces have been able to capture several villages, including Kamyanske. Even a slight advance here could eventually lead to their breaking through Ukrainian defences and serious territorial losses for the AFU, while any further stretching of the line resistance will greatly complicate matters for the Ukrainians and create logistics problems, Sharp notes.
Novaya Gazeta Europe
2 hours ago
- Novaya Gazeta Europe
Kremlin confirms Trump–Putin summit could go ahead next week but remains tight-lipped on Zelensky — Novaya Gazeta Europe
US President Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin speak to reporters after their meeting in Helsinki, Finland, 16 July 2018. Photo: EPA/ANATOLY MALTSEV Russian presidential aide Yury Ushakov announced on Thursday that Moscow and Washington had agreed on a meeting between Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump 'in the coming days', following a visit by Trump's special envoy to the Russian capital on Wednesday, state news agency TASS has reported. Ushakov said the meeting could go ahead next week, though preparations were ongoing. The location has been 'approved', but will be announced later, he added. Should Trump meet with Putin, it would mark the first in-person meeting between a US president and the Russian leader since 2021, when then-President Joe Biden held a summit with Putin in Geneva. Trump has held at least six phone calls with Putin since taking office in January, but has recently voiced growing frustration over Russia's continued attacks on Ukrainian cities despite repeated US calls for a ceasefire. Trump suggested on Wednesday that a summit between him, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russia's Vladimir Putin could take place soon, following what he described as a 'highly productive' meeting in Moscow between his special envoy Steve Witkoff and the Russian leader. However, while Witkoff touched upon the idea of a trilateral meeting between Putin, Trump and Zelensky during talks with Putin at the Kremlin on Wednesday, Moscow had left the proposal 'without comment', Ushakov said. Writing on Truth Social after Witkoff's visit to the Russian capital, Trump said that 'great progress was made' and that he had spoken by phone with Washington's 'European allies' to brief them on the outcome. 'Everyone agrees this War must come to a close, and we will work towards that in the days and weeks to come,' Trump wrote. According to The New York Times, during that call Trump informed European leaders — including Zelensky, UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and NATO General Secretary Mark Rutte — of his intention to meet with Putin as soon as next week, before following up with trilateral talks with the Russian leader and Zelensky. Speaking to reporters at the White House later on Thursday, the US president was coy when asked whether Witkoff had made a 'breakthrough' with the Russian leader, but said there was a 'very good prospect' that he would personally meet with both Putin and Zelensky in the near future. In his nightly address to Ukrainians on Wednesday, Zelensky confirmed he had spoken to Trump and several European leaders about the situation and that Russia seemed 'more inclined towards a ceasefire' following Witkoff's meeting with Putin. 'The pressure is working,' Zelensky said. 'But the key is to ensure they don't deceive anyone in the details — neither us, nor the United States.' The Kremlin offered few details of the meeting, saying only that Witkoff and Putin had discussed the 'Ukrainian crisis' and the prospects for US-Russia 'strategic cooperation' in what it called 'useful and constructive' talks.
Novaya Gazeta Europe
a day ago
- Novaya Gazeta Europe
Trump envoy Witkoff arrives in Moscow for talks as Ukraine ceasefire deadline looms — Novaya Gazeta Europe
US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff arrived in Moscow for talks with Kremlin officials on Wednesday, just two days before US President Donald Trump's deadline for Vladimir Putin to end the war or face fresh sanctions. Russian state news agency RIA Novosti reported that Witkoff was met at the capital's Vnukovo Airport by Kirill Dmitriev, the head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund and a senior member of Putin's negotiating team on the Ukraine war, before the two were pictured walking in Zaryadye Park near the Kremlin later on Wednesday morning. The visit is Witkoff's fifth to Russia this year, with the special envoy having met with Putin on four previous occasions. During his last visit to the Russian capital in April, Witkoff and Putin discussed the possibility of Moscow and Kyiv resuming direct negotiations on ending the war for the first time in three years. Since then, Ukrainian and Russian delegations have held three rounds of talks in Türkiye, but remain far from a peace settlement as the two sides hold what the Kremlin has called 'diametrically opposed' positions on how the war should end. Speaking to reporters on Monday, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov neither confirmed nor denied whether Witkoff would meet with Putin again this week, saying only that Russia's leadership was 'always glad' to see Trump's special envoy in Moscow and considered its contact with him 'important, substantive and very useful'. In July, Trump threatened to impose 'very severe' tariffs of up to 100% on countries that traded with Russia should Putin not agree to a ceasefire with Ukraine within 50 days, an ultimatum he then altered to '10 or 12 days' last week. The Kremlin, however, has appeared unfazed by the US president's threats, stressing that it had developed a 'certain immunity' to Western sanctions after living under a 'huge number of restrictions' since the start of the war. Trump is expected to make a decision on whether to impose fresh sanctions on Russia, including secondary tariffs on countries that continue to buy Russian oil, based on the results of Witkoff's visit. 'We have a meeting with Russia tomorrow. We're going to see what happens', the US president told reporters on Tuesday. 'We'll make that determination [on measures against Russia] at that time'.
