Page 69 - RusRPTAug24

Not surprisingly, Russian state agencies and corporations are now not only forcing staff to vote, but obliging them to do so online. Ahead of the 2024 presidential poll, The Bell reported that state-owned airline Aeroflot was among the companies who had issued such an order to its employees. Behind closed doors, a representative of the presidential administration argued that the new system would enable the Kremlin to observe in real time the percentage of people who have voted and, if necessary, to identify how any specific individual cast their ballot.
Bloomberg names 12 oligarchs who earnbns in payouts from Russia's war economy. Russia's wartime economy has earned a dozen oligarchs $11bn in dividends as Russian natural resource and finance giants earn record profits during the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Bloomberg reported on July 9.
Russia Outlaws The Moscow Times as 'Undesirable' Organization The label bans MT from operating in Russia and puts anyone affiliated with it at risk of criminal prosecution.
On July 11, the Federal Security Service arrested two deputy governors of the Ivanovo Region on charges of corruption related to regional development projects. Several members of the regional government were also reportedly interrogated. It is still unclear whether the arrests are going to cost Ivanovo Governor Stanislav Voskresensky—who is not an Ivanovo native—his job, given that the investigation has so far mostly targeted local officials. It is worth noting, however, that Dmitry Azarov, the Governor of the Samara Region, was recently forced out after a series of corruption cases and similar scandals affecting his government. These cases suggest that the security services may be taking a more active role in regional politics, especially as the federal government is keen to crack down on wasteful regional spending.
An unusually competitive mayoral election is taking shape in Bratsk, a city in the Irkutsk Region which has so far preserved direct mayoral elections. The local chapter of the governing United Russia party supports the current mayor, Sergey Serebrennikov, a former officer of the Federal Security Service. However, another party member, Alexander Dubrovin, who heads the Bratsk district, is now also running as an independent candidate, reportedly with the support of local elites.
Russia sentences US journalist Alsu Kurmasheva to 6.5 years. A court in Russia's Republic of Tatarstan sentenced Alsu Kurmasheva, a Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) journalist with dual US and Russian citizenship, to six and a half years in jail on a charge of "spreading false information" about Russia's Armed Forces, Associated Press reported on July 22.
Russian court sentences exiled journalist Mikhail Zygar in absentia. A Moscow court sentenced exiled Russian journalist Mikhail Zygar to eight and a
69 RUSSIA Country Report August 2024 www.intellinews.com