Ukraine touts gains from Operation Vivaldi as Russia claims major encirclements. What’s really happening on the battlefield? — Meduza

Lukoil’s foreign asset sale becomes part of U.S.–Russia talks on ending Ukraine war, NYT reports — Meduza

White House says it’s monitoring reports of plague in Russia, ‘assessing options’ — Meduza

Kyiv starts installing turrets to defend against jet-powered drones — Meduza

Tu-95MS bomber crashed in Russia, killing eight officers. Some helped organize missile strikes on Ukraine. — Meduza

Car bomb in Russia kills ex-prison official Ukraine accused of torturing POWs — Meduza

Officials in Russia’s Irkutsk region advised against traveling to a town where a hospital patient may have died of plague. They later deleted the post. — Meduza

Hospitals in Irkutsk impose quarantines after an employee at an anti-plague institute dies. Russia’s public health agency says she died of pneumonia and the epidemiological situation remains ‘stable.’ — Meduza

Russia’s top-grossing movie in September was ‘Twilight.’ Yes, the one from 2008. — Meduza

Russia has begun striking Kyiv’s bridges across the Dnipro for the first time since invading Ukraine — Meduza

Russian forces strike a second major Kyiv bridge across the Dnipro after two days of attacks on the South Bridge — Meduza

If you can’t donate to Meduza, don’t. If you can, you’re helping someone else read us for free. — Meduza

G7 to release 100 million barrels of oil and diesel from strategic reserves — Meduza

Parliamentary government and political competition are the oldest traditions in Russian politics. Where did they come from, and why did they disappear? Writer Mikhail Zygar explains in a new film. — Meduza

Boris Nemtsov’s daughter is now a ‘foreign agent’ in Russia. So are social media accounts run by Alexey Navalny’s team. — Meduza

Russian political researcher Alexander Finiarel has lived in Spain without papers for two years. But soon he (and half a million other refugees) will be able to get documents. This is his story. — Meduza

Russian supermarket workers say they were fired over a viral reel about post-election grocery price hikes — Meduza

The Telegraph identifies Russian biker Oleg Levushkin as suspected organizer of Leipzig airport sabotage. It links the operation to a GRU unit whose officers are accused in the Skripal poisoning. — Meduza

The U.S. seized $5.4 million from ‘Orthodox oligarch’ Konstantin Malofeyev and sent it to support Ukrainian veterans. Russia has now opened a criminal case over the confiscation. — Meduza

A Ukrainian grandmother came to Kazakhstan to collect her grandson. Instead, she was detained at Russia’s request. — Meduza

Russian guard and inmate killed aboard train carrying prisoners. Reports conflict over alleged riot. — Meduza

Russian-speaking Latvians who back Ukraine and value their language are heading into an election without an obvious political home — Meduza

Canadian who moved his family to Russia for ‘traditional values’ says he no longer recommends it: permanent residency would require signing a Defense Ministry contract — Meduza

Russia decided to increase planned war spending for 2027 in response to Ukrainian strikes on refineries and warehouses, the newsletter Vlast reports — Meduza

The New York Times obtains a purported Russian plan to cripple Ukraine’s power grid, including by cutting electricity and heat supplies to three major cities by 90% — Meduza

Russian blogger Alexey Podnebesny sentenced to three years for indecent acts with a 15-year-old girl — Meduza

Photo: Kyiv gridlock after Russian drone strikes close the Southern Bridge and restrict other Dnipro crossings — Meduza

Hospital in Russia’s Irkutsk region quarantined amid reports that a patient died of pneumonic plague — Meduza

Zelensky says Putin ordered Russia’s military chiefs to abandon rules of war in airstrikes on Ukraine — Meduza

German retailer Globus stayed in Russia after the full-scale invasion. Now its Russian arm has put former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder on its supervisory board. — Meduza

Russia sentences founder of exile news outlet Astra to seven years in absentia. Her lawyers say she was convicted of violating ‘foreign agent’ regulations despite never being designated one. — Meduza

Five years under the Taliban: Meduza reports from Afghanistan, where a war on drugs and greater security have come with mass poverty, unemployment, and the loss of women’s rights — Meduza

Fire guts historic Miller Mansion near St. Isaac’s Cathedral in St. Petersburg — Meduza

Russian drones strike Kyiv’s Southern Bridge three times in several hours. Traffic restrictions spread to two other Dnipro crossings. — Meduza

Ukrainian drone attacks hit Volgograd and Samara, setting a refinery and a major oil tank farm on fire — Meduza

By Putin’s own estimate, Ukrainian strikes on Russian refineries have cost Russia 1% of GDP. But he says stopping them isn’t worth halting attacks on Ukrainian vessels. — Meduza

Major fire breaks out at historic St. Petersburg mansion slated for conversion into luxury housing — Meduza

Latvia bans its public broadcaster from producing regular Russian-language content (except during emergencies) — Meduza

Russian prosecutors file lawsuit against Kazakh businessman and new International Chess Federation president Timur Turlov — Meduza

Navalny-founded Anti-Corruption Foundation proposes sanctions relief for repeal of Russian laws used to prosecute anti-war speech and criticism of the military — Meduza

Putin bans taking more than one million rubles in cash from Russia to Belarus, Armenia, Kazakhstan, and four other countries. What if you need to take more? — Meduza

Lviv court sentences Viacheslav Zinchenko to life for murder of former Ukrainian lawmaker Iryna Farion — Meduza

How Vyacheslav Volodin secured a record third term as speaker of Russia’s State Duma — and why Putin keeps him there — Meduza

U.S. designates Russia-linked sanctions-evasion payment network A7 a ‘significant transnational criminal organization’ — Meduza

Finland’s prime minister says ‘foreign forces’ could be behind a string of intrusions at lawmakers’ homes — Meduza

Russian soccer’s all-time leading scorer Artem Dzyuba says he has retired — Meduza

Putin reportedly asked Russian business leaders to help fund the war. Moscow expects 471 billion rubles in ‘voluntary’ contributions from companies this year. — Meduza

Money transfers between Russia and Kazakhstan fall nearly 12-fold after EU sanctions on Zolotaya Korona payment service — Meduza

Explosions at chemical plant in Moscow region reportedly kill seven, force evacuation of more than 40 people — Meduza

Russian war spending keeps rising while some regions slash death benefits for soldiers’ families by up to 95% — Meduza