Russia Morning Memo

Latest — 08 Jul 2025

0554GMT//Transport minister shoots himself; Golos shuts; Fee for airport smoking room is scrapped

EX-MINISTER SHOOTS HIMSELF: Roman Starovoit, Russia's former transport minister, was reported dead by Russian media a few hours after he was sacked by Vladimir Putin. Starovoit was governor of the Kursk region from 2018 until 2024, when he was promoted to transport minister. Sources in Russian media said

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0815GMT//Gas exec falls to his death; billionaire gold miner tries to flee

BRICS BLAMES UKRAINE: In a final communique at the end of their summit in Brazil, BRICS members condemned an alleged Ukrainian attack on a railway bridge in Russia in May that killed seven people but failed to criticise regular Russian drone and missile strikes on Ukraine that have killed hundreds

0715GMT//Kremlin recognises Islamic State of Afghanistan; oil and gas revenues drop to lowest in 2-1/2 years; deputy head of navy killed

RECOGNISING THE TALIBAN: Russia on Thursday became the first country in the world to recognise the Islamic State of Afghanistan. (COMMENT: Economics is driving this decision. The Kremlin needs Afghanistan as part of a transit route south to South Asia. The Taliban and the Kremlin also share enemies – the West.

0700GMT//Armenia to nationalise power grid owned by Russian oligarch; Russia and Israel discuss Iran

RELATIONS WITH AZERBAIJAN: The Kremlin said on Wednesday that Volodymyr Zelensky was trying to "destabilise relations" between Azerbaijan and Russia after he posted a message on X/Twitter saying he'd telephoned Azerbaijani Pres. Ilham Aliyev to chat through "Russia's brutalisation tactics". Kremlin

0654GMT//Putin-Macron chat on the phone; Relations with Azerbaijan worsen; Fee imposed for airport smoking room

PUTIN-MACRON CONVERSATION: Vladimir Putin held a telephone conversation with French Pres. Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday for the first time since September 2022. According to the Kremlin, the telephone conversation lasted two hours and was "substantive". (COMMENT: Macron and Putin reiterated their public positions – Macron said he recognised Ukraine&

0645GMT//Azerbaijani arrests Russian journalists; Russian coal mine closes; Iran wants to buy Russian Caspian Sea port

AZERBAIJAN ARRESTS RUSSIAN "JOURNALISTS": Police in Azerbaijan raided the office of the Kremlin-sponsored Sputnik news agency on Monday, intensifying a conflict between Russia and Azerbaijan. Two Sputnik journalists were arrested for spying. The Kremlin responded by calling in Azerbaijan's ambassador. (COMMENT: The arrests follow a raid

0835GMT//Kadyrov's son marries wearing $18m diamond watch; vital Kremlin relations with Azerbaijan fracture

KADYROV'S SON MARRIES: Adam Kadyrov, the thuggish youngest son of Chechen warlord Ramzan Kadyrov, has married. Reports in Russian media said that the 17-year-old married a woman called Medni at his "ancestral village" in Chechnya over the weekend. Typically brash photographs of Adam Kadyrov posing in

0735GMT//North Korea's Kim opens waterpark for Russians; a hidden banking debt crisis lurks

NORTH KOREAN WATERPARKS: North Korean dictator Kim Jung-un hosted the Russian ambassador at the opening of a new waterpark aimed at attracting Russian tourists. Photographs showed Kim, with an ashtray and a packet of cigarettes on a table to his side, watching a man demonstrate sliding down a waterslide. (COMMENT:

0654GMT//Lift falls 12 floors as more repairs are delayed; Putin to skip BRICS summit

PUTIN AND BRICS: Putin will not fly to the BRICS summit in Brazil on July 6-7 and will instead take part via a video link, the Kremlin said on Wednesday. Brazil is a member of the ICC which has an arrest warrant out for the Russian leader. Instead, Russia will

0710GMT//Putin cuts civilian spending; Russia to grow bananas for the first time

SPENDING CUTS: Putin signed a plan to cut government spending on civilian projects this year in Russia because of a drop in income linked to soft oil and gas prices. (COMMENT: The "war economy" has been protected, of course. Instead, the Russian government will cut spending on industrial

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