0705GMT//Russian police inspect trucks after drone attack; 4G in Afghanistan
TRUCK INSPECTION: Traffic police in Russia have started stopping and inspecting trucks across the country in response to the Ukrainian drone attack at the weekend. (COMMENT: Video shows long queues of trucks. These queues will cause frustration and chaos and will impact the Russian economy – just as Ukraine intended.)
DRONE ATTACK WARNINGS: In response to an increase in drone attacks, Moscow's buses will start advertising the location of the nearest bomb shelter. Also, Russian media reports that Turkish Airlines and Emirates are considering moving flights to St Petersburg from Moscow because of the increase in drone attacks. (COMMENT: These are small but important psychological changes. It means that the war is more visible to previously sheltered Muscovites.)
SABOTAGE: An explosion, presumed to be a pro-Ukraine sabotage attack, damaged a railway in the Voronezh region, the FSB said. (COMMENT: This sort of small-scale sabotage attack has become commonplace in today's Russia. It causes delays, administrative and police work which slows and hinders the system.)
MEDIA: Russian police raided the editorial office of Ura.ru a Yekaterinburg news agency. They arrested three journalists, including the editor, for alleged bribery. Its website is no longer working. (COMMENT: Ura.ru had appeared to tread a careful line, pumping out articles that appeared to meet the approval of Kremlin censors but also retaining just enough independence to produce some critical reporting. Clearly, it overstepped the mark somewhere. Another attack on what is left of the media in Russia.)
4G IN AFGHANISTAN: Rostelecom worked with St Petersburg-based Protey to install 4G equipment in Afghanistan last year, the Vedomosti newspaper reported on Thursday. (COMMENT: This means that Russia was boosting relations with the Taliban in Afghanistan even before it took it off its 'terrorist list' this year. It sees Afghanistan as an important link for developing markets in South Asia. Once again, Russia's invasion of Ukraine and subsequent Western-imposed sanctions are having far-reaching and surprising impacts.)
TRADEMARKS: Rospatent, the Russian state trademark unit, said that Japanese carmaker Nissan had applied to re-register its brand. Nissan has not commented. (COMMENT: Other Western brands have also reportedly started to quietly re-register their trademarks in Russia ahead of what they hope will be a peace deal and a return to the Russian market.)
INTEREST RATES: Russia's Central Bank is meeting on Friday to decide whether to cut its core interest rate from 21%. (COMMENT: Economists are pretty much split on whether the Central Bank will cut its key interest rate for the first time in three years. Rouble strength and pressure from business are setting up conditions for a cut.)
DUGINA STATUE: A park in Moscow will erect a statue of Darya Dugina, the daughter of far-right philosopher Alexander Dugin who was killed by a car bomb planted by Ukrainian agents in 2022. (COMMENT: This is part of the lionising of 'heroes' of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Dugina was a staunchly pro-war Russian journalist/propagandist.)
NEWS MATRIX:
The rise in drone attack warnings on Moscow buses and reports that Turkish Airlines and Emirates may be considering moving flights to St Petersburg from Moscow is the most important news item of the day as they bring the war closer to Russia's capital. Traffic jams caused by inspections of trucks after Ukraine's drone attack on Sunday are also an important story to monitor. Perhaps the most surprising news item of the day was a report that Russian telecoms companies have installed 4G in Afghanistan. Surprising and important.