Oleksandr Saienko, a deaf artist from the village of Borzna, Chernihiv oblast. He was not from a boichukist group, but his art, which blends modern and traditional elements, looks very much like it. He was a student of Vasyl Krychevskyi. 1926

"This book cost us our homeland". For @icij, I had the privilege of reading Проект's new book on Putin and his circle - a volume which draws extensively on their investigative reporting on Russia over the past decades.

A German court has convicted a former Bundestag lawmaker of bribing officials on behalf of Azerbaijan, sentencing him to a suspended prison term in a major ruling tied to the Azerbaijani Laundromat corruption scandal. occrp.org/en/news/german…

Коллеги врать не станут! icij.org/investigations…

Derk Sauer, Champion of Free Press in a New Russia, Dies at 72 nytimes.com/2025/08/01/wor…

A British solicitor was sanctioned for breaching anti-money laundering rules related to funds from the children of Azerbaijan's former security minister, including a transfer earmarked for the purchase of U.K. property now held via an offshore structure. occrp.org/en/news/uk-law…

“All that’s clear to me today, though, is that Russia would be a richer, freer, less aggressive and less paranoid nation had it remained open to people like Derk Sauer, rather than force him out with the ecosystem he did so much to foster” bloomberg.com/opinion/articl…

1/ It is strange to see the recurring tendency to contrast anti-corruption protests with the perceived silence around abuses by draft officers, which have already been acknowledged by both the Ukrainian Ombudsman and the CoE Commissioner for Human Rights.

A Petersburg strip bar. A borrowed pied-a-terre for sexual trysts. A marriage stretched to its breaking point. Mob pals. And a plan to take control of Russia for the benefit of family and trusted friends. I read Проект's new biography of Putin. icij.org/investigations…

It was clear that yesterday's verdict on Gagauzia leader Evgenia Gutsul would be a turning point in Moldova's election tensions, sparking threats from the pro-Rus/Russian camp. IPN has collected the threats of using force by Shor, Gagauz public figures. ipn.md/en/sor-threate…

UPDATE: They have found Alec Luhn alive. He is awake and appears well. He seems in good condition. He is being transported by rescuers now. Thank you to all the amazing people who have done anything to help. There will be more updates as we know more.

👀👀👀

Today’s summit is less about peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan than it is about the US-Russia competition. For over a century, the Kremlin dominated the region, and more recently, Putin acted as the main mediator between the two sides of this conflict 1/5

This is a story about spies. Though they are highly trained, they don’t work for an intelligence agency. They work for paying clients. One target was James Coussey. He'd been a criminal prosecutor. Why were they after him? My new Guardian investigation (1/8)

Another unbelievable loss: Ukrainian artist David Chichkan has died while fighting. Chichkan's unique work often made ironic reflections on Ukraine's history and politics. It always thought about the path not taken, the possibilities coursing under the surface.

This is a brilliant profile of Kiriyenko by Anton Troianovski. I think his time at Rosatom is also key to understanding his rise: "order book full" with MoUs on new plants around the world, hermetically sealed ship when it comes to PR, and, of course, not infrequent corruption cases

News from Bahruz Samadov (the Lack Observer): He met his grandmother today. He told her that since the peace treaty was signed, being unjustly kept in prison hurts him even more now. He said he cannot find peace for himself in the cell. So far, once while being held at the State Security Service

Punk rock died when the first kid said "Punk's not dead, punk's not dead"

Intriguing details in new FBK investigation: a firm owned by Putin pal Gennady Timchenko not only bought Russia's most famous brewery from Carlsberg, it also pays the wages of two alleged foreign teachers for Putin's children. theins.press/en/news/284038