--> A new tax reform approved by the Russian parliament in mid-November is intended to squeeze enough money out of the economy to keep the war going. The change provides for an increase in the VAT rate and tighter conditions for small and medium-sized businesses. The updated regime will create serious problems for Russia's regions: with more money flowing to the capital, prices will rise, especially in remote areas. Businesses will shut down due to reduced benefits, and profitability and job numbers will plummet. Labor-intensive industries and retail will be the first to take the hit. Several regions have already drafted their 2026 budgets so as to include strict austerity and cuts to education and healthcare spending. Economists forecast a “gradual degradation of human capital.”

--> The team of the late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has published an investigation alleging that filmmaker Nikita Mikhalkov’s television program Besogon receives substantial funding from state institutions and from state-controlled oil major Rosneft, despite Mikhalkov’s repeated public claims that the project is noncommercial and financed “out of his own pocket.”

--> The Turkish shipping firm Besiktas Shipping said it will cease all cargo transport operations connected to Russia, according to a Reuters report citing the company. In late November, the company’s oil tanker Mersin was damaged by four external explosions while anchored off the coast of Senegal.

--> Moscow deliberately dismantled the post-Cold War diplomatic and security architecture. The memory of this betrayal should prevent any complacency towards Russian demands.

--> Steve Witkoff’s real-estate empire is bankrolled by a former adviser to Kirill Dmitriev, head of Russia’s sovereign wealth fund and a key architect of Moscow’s Ukraine negotiations

--> NV English has obtained documents revealing a sprawling Russian global espionage and influence network — evidence of the Kremlin’s effort to build a civilian ecosystem for shaping international narratives.

--> Thanks to a new X feature that reveals where an account is operated from and whether a VPN tool is being used, social media and news outlets have been able to collect extensive evidence showing that many highly politicized posts by users posing as residents of the United States, Israel, and other countries are in fact being produced by people living in the developing world

--> The deadline for Donald Trump’s Thanksgiving Day ultimatum has been lifted, White House envoy Steve Witkoff is still expected to visit Russia, and long-time Zelensky chief-of-staff Andriy Yermak is stepping down. In addition, ongoing developments regarding the “peace plan” for Ukraine — newly uncovered details about its origins, the reaction of world leaders to its conditions, competing proposals floated by various parties, the scandal over leaked recordings of Witkoff’s conversations with representatives of the Kremlin, and the parallel anti-corruption investigation in Ukraine — have dominated global headlines for a week. And yet, the combined outcome of this surge of political activity has been entirely inconsequential, with negotiations regarding an end to the conflict remaining largely unchanged. In spite of all the recent noise, such an outcome was to be expected: the structure of Ukrainian governance does not allow the authorities in Kyiv — let alone President Volodymyr Zelensky personally — to be “forced into peace” on Russian terms. Still, the Kremlin managed to extract some benefit from the commotion, as looming escalations in sanctions and U.S. military assistance have again been delayed.

--> Amidst the absolute chaos of a Witkoff-stamped Russian psyop-as-peace plan, discussion is filled with anger at Washington and at Moscow.

--> The Kremlin’s long campaign against the late opposition leader Aleksei Navalny and his supporters has reached a stunning peak

--> The deportation of Ukrainian reporter Hennadiy Osmak — imprisoned since 2024 — to Russia, as well as the 14-year prison sentence unjustly given to Crimean journalist Vilen Temerianov — detained since 2022 — illustrate the relentless repression being carried out by the Russian authorities against independent media professionals arrested in occupied Ukrainian territories. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) deplores this arbitrary judicial system and calls for the immediate release of the 26 Ukrainian reporters currently detained by the Kremlin.

--> Official sources in Kyiv confirm that neither the Ukrainian Embassy in Seoul nor the Ministry of Foreign Affairs circulated any recruitment posters or materials encouraging South Korean citizens to enlist in Ukraine’s Armed Forces. Russian media and pro-Kremlin social channels have circulated cla

--> Russia’s Supreme Court on Thursday designated Alexei Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation as a terrorist organization, escalating a yearslong crackdown on the late opposition leader’s network and exposing its members and supporters to even harsher penalties.

--> The video circulating online was generated using artificial intelligence based on a real video from the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a popular source of information about the course of the military campaign in Ukraine and around the world. Numerous pro-Russian sources have spread a video

--> Verification within Meta’s Third-Party Fact-Checking Program Social media users are sharing a map that allegedly shows how an international “coalition...

--> Max is rapidly becoming the most used messaging app in Russia and the occupied Ukrainian territories. Only accessible via a Russian or Belarusian phone number, the app blocks communication with free Ukraine and harvests 100 per cent of user data, all while serving as a major vehicle for propaganda. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) condemns this tool for digital control that isolates citizens in the occupied territories from reliable information.

--> Severe water shortages have become a daily struggle in Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine, where entire districts queue for hours just to fill a few bottles. Rather than fixing the problem, Moscow responds with propaganda and vague promises that mask the scale of the crisis.

--> Researchers at a Yale University lab in the United States are using satellite imagery to locate Ukrainian children abducted by Russia, and have uncovered 210 re-education and military camps housing some of them, the lab's director told AFP.

--> Opinion | Since 2020, stories about the instrumentalized use of migrants have regularly appeared in the news.

--> Ukraine may be Russia’s primary military target, but the regime has a much broader range of enemies, such as NATO.

--> Russia's presence in Latin America is no longer just a remnant of the Cold War, but has become a structural element of the new geopolitical scenario. Not limiting itself to energy or military cooperation, Moscow is pursuing a strategy of influence in the region based on information operations, media