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Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov remarked that the explosion could “have a negative impact” on the deal’s extension, but said Russia is waiting to see the extent of the damage and what Ukraine will do next.
Seven regions
that are scheduled to hold elections in
September—Khakassia, the Transbaikal Territory, and the Samara, Kirov,
Ulyanovsk, Omsk, and Leningrad Regions—announced that they would
not conduct “remote electronic voting” (the official name of Russia’s online
voting system) this year, as they are not ready to introduce the technology.
This is notable because the authorities are planning to introduce online voting
across the whole country before the 2024 presidential election. Online voting
has been plagued by controversies, including the late turnaround of the
election results for the benefit of United Russia in Moscow in the 2021 Duma
election. Along with three-day voting, introduced in 2020, online voting is
widely regarded as a means for the authorities to engineer turnout and
manipulate votes in favor of the ruling party. Furthermore, online voting makes
the work of independent observers more difficult.
Joining the army or a mercenary group continues to be a popular way for regional officials, some of whom are facing criminal charges, to redeem themselves. This week saw at least five publicized cases. In the Sverdlovsk Region, Ilya Chizh, a former deputy who was sentenced to two years in prison for battery, joined Wagner. In the Ryazan Region, two municipal deputies under criminal investigation chose to go to the war. In the Ulyanovsk Region, deputy governor Sergey Kuchits announced that he would go to a front as a medic. The deputy speaker of the Krasnodar city council, Gennady Ufimtsev, cited the recent drone attacks on his city as his reason for joining the army.
● War
Russia redeploys airborne troops from Ukraine to protect Moscow during Wagner's mutiny. Russia redeployed two separate airborne units from the occupied territories of Ukraine to protect its capital, Moscow, during the Wagner Group's mutiny, the Ukrainian military's National Resistance Center reported on June 25.
Wagner mercenaries down 6 Russian army helicopters, 1 plane on June 24. The Wagner Group mercenaries downed six Russian army helicopters and one plane on June 24, Yurii Ihnat, Ukraine’s Air Force spokesman, told the national television on June 25. Russia lost two attack helicopters and four transport ones.
UK defence Ministry: Russia fortifying approaches to Crimea. Russia has been building up rear defensive lines in southern Ukraine over the past weeks, particularly on the approaches to occupied Crimea, the U.K. defence Ministry wrote on June 21.
43 RUSSIA Country Report July 2023 www.intellinews.com