Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has been sidestepping questions about the Chechen authorities' threats against the Yangulbayev family all week. On Friday, February 4, journalists -- referring to a "blood feud" threat made by Russian lawmaker Adam Delimkhanov -- asked Peskov about the issue of blood feuds in Chechnya.

Exactly five years ago, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law that decriminalized some forms of domestic violence. Since then, victims have been unable to press criminal charges for domestic battery unless it's at least the abuser's second offense -- first time offenders only face administrative fines, ranging from 5,000 to 30,000 rubles ($66 to $400). To find out what impact this legislation has had on Russia's domestic violence problem, Meduza spoke to Diana Barsegyan -- the deputy director of the aid group Nasiliu.net (No to Violence).

Aishat Khiramagomedova fled her family home in Dagestan in October 2021, after reaching out to Krepost (Fortress), a charity organization that assists victims of domestic abuse. She made it to Moscow, where Krepost provided her with shelter and access to a psychologist. Within a few months she was starting to find her feet -- she had a job and was looking for an apartment with her boyfriend. But on February 4, Aishat's family tried to kidnap her and bring her back to Dagestan.

Despite a recent report that Russia's Health Ministry has stopped placing orders of the EpiVacCorona vaccine, its manufacturer is optimistic and claims to expect the next production order to come in February. Meanwhile, scientists, as well as journalists at Meduza, have obtained convincing evidence that EpiVacCorona is ineffective and gives recipients a completely false sense of security (unlike Sputnik V, which has been proven to protect recipients from COVID-19's most severe effects). Meduza explains the two studies that led to that conclusion.

Ukraine's National Police have arrested two suspects on charges of attempting to orchestrate violent unrest in Kyiv and other parts of the country, the Interior Ministry announced during a press conference on Monday, January 31. According to police officials, the detained suspects were planning a series of demonstrations and recruiting paid participants to clash with police officers. Allegedly, the first rally was supposed to take place in the capital on Monday and involve as many as 5,000 people. Ukraine's Interior Minister Denys Monastyrsky noted that other demonstrations were planned in regions not far from the border with Russia. Ukrainian police did not disclose the suspects' identities and are still investigating whether or not they have ties to Russia or the Kremlin-backed breakaway states in eastern Ukraine.

A month and a half after Moscow presented the United States and NATO with demands for sweeping security guarantees, tensions between Russia and Western countries remain high. Diplomatic negotiations have made little progress and with upwards of 100,000 Russian troops still concentrated near Ukraine's borders, Washington has repeatedly warned that a full-fledged invasion is imminent. Meanwhile, Russian state television has been offering its own analysis of the crisis, putting the focus squarely on the United States. To give a general sense of what's being said on state-controlled channels, Meduza summarizes two segments that aired during primetime on Sunday, January 30.

When Vladimir Putin came to power in Russia, the mandatory retirement age for government officials was 65 years old. During Dmitry Medvedev's presidency in 2010, this age limit was lowered to 60. But just three years later, after Putin had returned to the presidency, it was raised to 70 years old. Since then, the Russian president has been gradually extending or abolishing the mandatory retirement age for senior civil servants, as Putin's entourage continues to age along with him. In a new investigation, iStories journalists calculated the average age of Russia's ruling elite. Here's what they found.

The tensions over Ukraine are becoming more and more alarming by the day. Russian troops have long been stationed near the Ukrainian border, NATO countries are sending additional forces to Eastern Europe, and politicians are swapping mutual accusations of escalating the conflict. It seems that no one really knows what's happening -- or, most importantly, what will happen in the near future. To try and gain some clarity, Meduza special correspondent Andrey Pertsev spoke to his sources close to the Kremlin. They claim that Russia is prepared to "use force" -- but the main priority is "not to give in" to the United States.

The Ukrainian city of Kharkiv is located just 40 kilometers (25 miles) from the border with Russia. In 2014, it was among the main centers of a bitter standoff between supporters and opponents of the Maidan Revolution. Eight years later -- against the backdrop of a Russian troop buildup that has provoked international fears of a military escalation -- Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky speculated that Moscow may try to "occupy" Kharkiv. In a dispatch from the city, local journalist Olga Antonova reports on how Kharkiv's inhabitants are responding to the prospect of an all-out war with Russia.

There is no article on torture in the Russian Criminal Code. However, torture itself, unfortunately, remains a widespread practice: reports of brutal violence in prisons and police stations appear with frightening regularity. We believe that the use of torture is absolutely unacceptable, and we strive to ensure that as many people as possible are aware of this issue. The following text explains why the Russian Criminal Code needs to be changed -- and how introducing a separate article on torture could influence the situation in the country.