Page 33 - bneIntelliNews monthly country report Russia May 2024

which the explosion occurred on the Korovinsky Highway in Moscow is a former employee of the Security Service of Ukraine.
Lukashenko, Putin hold 4-hour meeting in Moscow. Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin held a nearly four-hour meeting until late on April 11, according to Russian state-controlled news agency RIA Novosti.
Cracking down on migrant pathways: State inspectors in Moscow made multiple arrests in a felony case on Monday on suspicion of facilitating illegal immigration and issuing false certificates for Russian language and legal fluency. The Insider ties the case to the escalation in the Russian authorities’ pressure on Central Asian migrants in the wake of the Moscow concert hall terrorist attack, whose alleged perpetrators were four Tajikistani men.
US journalist Evan Gershkovich has now spent more than a year in Russian prison. He was detained on March 29, 2023 in Yekaterinburg on suspicion of espionage and has remained in pre-trial detention at Moscow’s Lefortovo prison ever since. The FSB alleges that Gershkovich was “caught red handed” with “classified information.” If found guilty, he faces up to 20 years in prison. Gershkovich and his employer, The Wall Street Journal, vehemently deny any allegations of spying, as does the US government. American officials have declared Gershkovich wrongfully detained and demanded his immediate release. “To date, Russia has provided no evidence of wrongdoing for a simple reason: Evan did nothing wrong. Journalism is not a crime,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement on the anniversary of Gershkovich’s arrest.
Back at the end of March, the situation with spring floods sharply worsened in some regions of Russia. Thus, on March 30, in the Orenburg region, traffic on 34 bridges was limited due to the high risk of road flooding. Already on April 4, a state of emergency was introduced in the same area, as the water level reached a critical level and residential buildings began to flood. On the same day, the evacuation of about three thousand local residents was announced. However, already on April 5, in the city of Orsk (Orenburg region), a dam broke, as a result of which more than 11 thousand local residents found themselves in the flood zone. On Sunday, April 7, Orsk authorities said the flood situation was developing according to the worst-case scenario. The head of the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations also called the situation in the city critical. In addition, the flood situation has increased significantly in the Altai Territory, Kurgan and Tyumen regions. As of April 7, flooding of 121 houses and 513 household plots was announced in the Altai Territory. At the same time, the total losses from the flood in the Orenburg region alone are estimated at more than 26bn rubles.
Russia’s largest wine producer, Kuban-Vino, was seised by the state in April. Kuban-Vino is the largest winemaker and vineyard owner in Russia,
33 RUSSIA Country Report May 2024 www.intellinews.com