0705GMT/ April 30 2025

ANTI-TERROR DRILLS: Nationwide anti-terrorist drills took place in schools across Russia yesterday. Photos from the drills show men in balaclavas pointing rifles and shouting at schoolchildren who are cowering on the floor of their classrooms with their hands on their heads. (COMMENT: The photos look fairly traumatic but the Kremlin is determined to militarise Russia.)

NAZI PROPAGANDA: As part of the Kremlin's massive propaganda push to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the Soviet Union's defeat of Nazi Germany, Vladimir Putin travelled to Volgograd to lay a wreath at a military memorial to the battle of Stalingrad. Accompanied by Alexander Lukashenko, the Belarus leader, he also pledged to do everything to "stamp out the revival of Nazisim". (COMMENT: The idea is a simple one. The Kremlin wants to blend the defeat of the Nazis with Putin's war in Ukraine. Volgograd was formerly called Stalingrad and was the turning point of the war on the Eastern Front.)

RENAMING AIRPORT STALINGRAD: Also in Volgograd, Putin officially renamed the airport as Stalingrad. (COMMENT: It's worth keeping in mind that there is a movement to go further and rename the city as Stalingrad.)

FAKE CROWDS: Local media reports from Volgograd said that schoolchildren and students were herded into the streets with flags to greet Putin's motorcade. (NOTE: Photos from Volgograd yesterday of small crowds greeting Putin are almost entirely of young schoolchildren, students and their teachers. There is nothing organic or natural about these crowds.) (COMMENT: This is fairly standard practice for the Kremlin but still an important signifier as to Putin's actual popularity. People in Russia are weary of the war in Ukraine and Russia's crumbling economy.)

WAR: North Korean soldiers could be sent to fight in Ukraine after helping Russia recapture its Kursk territory, a senior Russian parliamentarian said yesterday. Andrei Kartapolov, chairman of the Russian parliament's defence committee said that it would be the "commander-in-chief's decision". (COMMENT: Kartapolov is a known hawk but, even so, his voice is important as it sets the scene for a wider deployment of North Korean soldiers. So far they have just been deployed in Russia as part of a mutual defence pact with North Korea to regain captured territory.)

PEACE TALKS STUMBLE: Putin is still demanding full control of Zaporizhia and Kherson regions in any peace deal with Ukraine, according to Bloomberg which has cited "three sources in Moscow". (COMMENT: This appears to be the main stumbling block for peace negotiations. Steve Witkoff, Donald Trump's envoy, visited Putin in Moscow last week.)

ASSASSINATION: The Russian general killed by a car bomb last week in Moscow was personally responsible for preparing reports on the war in Ukraine for Putin. Lieutenant General Yaroslav Moskalik was deputy head of the Russian Army's main planning directorate. (COMMENT: Putin is paranoid of assassination attempts and will feel like it is getting closer.)

COAL CRISIS: The Kremlin is drawing up emergency measures to help save Russia's coal sector by cutting taxes and handing out grants. (NOTE: Russia's coal mines employ hundreds of thousands of people, making it a vital industry for the Kremlin to safeguard and yet it has been one of the hardest hit by Western sanctions and the war in Ukraine. Russian coal mining industry's costs have increased while its export market and prices have collapsed. Half of Russian coal mining companies are now loss-making, several have stopped production. Russian officials, usually so taciturn, talk of a "crisis".)

MIGRANT SHORTAGE: The Astrakhan region of Russia has complained that Kremlin-imposed quotas on migrant workers from Central Asia risk damaging its harvest. A government directive in December limited the number of migrant workers on farms to 40% but the Astrakhan government has said that this is not viable. (COMMENT: The Kremlin has been clamping down on migrant workers from Central Asia since a terrorist attack last March at a concert in Moscow but Russia's economy is reliant on cheap labour, as this plea from the Astrakhan shows. Astrakhan lies on Russia's Caspian Sea and is an important vegetable-growing region of Russia.)

RETAIL DEAL: Magnit, a major retailer of white goods in Russia, has agreed to buy a controlling stake in upmarket supermarket chain Azbuka Vkusa, according to Russian media reports. (COMMENT: The details of this potential deal are still emerging but this is a potentially major sale in the Russian corporate world. Various companies have been eyeing up Azbuka Vkusa for years.)

ARMS EXPORTS: India yesterday confirmed a deal with France, rather than Russia, to replace its ageing Soviet-era fighter jets. (NOTE: Bloomberg has reported that under the $7.4 billion deal, India will buy 26 Rafale naval fighters from France.) (COMMENT: This will come as a major blow to the Kremlin's once highly esteemed defence industry. India has been the Kremlin's largest arms customer, accounting for 20% of its exports over the past few years. This has fallen significantly since the Kremlin's invasion of Ukraine because of Russia's status as an international pariah and the often poor performance of is its kit.)

SOVIET AVIATION: The Kremlin is preparing to approve a lifespan extension for Yak-40 passenger planes manufactured in the 1970s because of more delays to the production of its replacement. (NOTE: The Yak-40 was designed by Soviet engineers in the 1960s and last produced in 1981. It can carry up to 32 passengers and is highly regarded for its ability to land on rough, short runways. But it is also expensive to run, noisy, uncomfortable and is not equipped with modern navigation or safety kit. Media reported that there are currently 15 Yak-40 planes still in operation in Russia, some still running commercial operations in Russia's remote Far East region and in the Arctic Northwest.) (COMMENT: Western sanctions on spare parts have delayed and hit Russia's aviation sector severely. The Kremlin has already had to extend the lifespan of other Soviet-era planes.)