MEDUZA/EN/VHF

American officials secured Vladislav Klyushin's extradition from Switzerland last month on charges of insider trading, but journalists at Bloomberg say the Russian tech tycoon might also have access to documents relating to the Russian military's operations abroad, including Moscow's campaign to hack Democratic Party servers during the 2016 U.S. presidential election and the attempted chemical poisoning assassination of former spy Sergey Skripal and his daughter in the UK in 2018. According to the U.S. indictment, Klyushin's I.T. firm, M13, worked for the Russian presidency and federal government. Bloomberg's sources described Klyushin as "the highest-level Kremlin insider handed to U.S. law enforcement in recent memory."

On December 20, 2021, Russia's Health Ministry proposed a series of changes to adult cancer care practices. These new procedures will take effect in the new year. The previous plan to overhaul cancer treatment was received poorly by the medical community, prompting Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova to order revisions. However, experts say that none of the Health Ministry's proposed changes address physician's most substantive criticisms.

In mid-December, Siberian Business Union (SDS) head Mikhail Fedyayev, one of the richest people in Russia, was arrested. After the Listvyazhnaya mine disaster in November resulted in 51 deaths, Fedyaev was charged with abusing his authority and violating safety standards. Before his arrest, however, Fedyaev enjoyed near-limitless power in the Kemerovo region: the government is full of his former employees, his holding company received state contracts worth millions of dollars, and presidents and federal ministers routinely paid visits to the SDS headquarters. Now, the prospect of Fedyayev's property going to a new owner has Kemerovo residents worried, although many are pleased that the region's "shadow governor" has finally been arrested. Meduza special correspondent Andrey Pertsev tells the story of one of Russia's last regional businessmen whose influence went all the way to the top.

The Circle of Kindness Foundation, which helps children with rare illnesses, was created in early 2021 at Vladimir Putin's own initiative. It's funded by a two percent tax on the income of Russia's wealthiest citizens. The organization pays for expensive medications -- but competition is rare at the auctions where these drugs are procured. One of the foundation's main suppliers is a company called Irvin -- and it's connected to both the foundation's head and to the family of Alexey Dyumin, Putin's former bodyguard. In addition, the husband of the woman responsible for purchasing medications on behalf of the Circle of Kindness works for the owner of the company that supplies the foundation with Zolgensma -- the most expensive drug in the world. Meduza correspondents Svetlana Reiter and Maria Zholobova break down how the Circle of Kindness Foundation's procurement system works and why its board of trustees (which includes well-known actors and philanthropists) believes it lacks transparency.

In the final weeks of 2021, at least six Chechen oppositionists reported that their relatives had gone missing. All of these opposition figures live outside of Chechnya and have condemned regional head Ramzan Kadyrov and his cronies for human rights abuses. Several of them have faced threats in the past or even survived assassination attempts. Though their family members living in Chechnya have come under pressure before, they are now being abducted en masse -- and not only in Chechnya, but also in other parts of Russia. Though some have been released, many remain missing at the time of this writing. For Meduza, journalist Vladimir Sevrinovsky spoke with three Chechen dissidents whose relatives were targeted in the latest wave of repression.

Yuri Khovansky, the video blogger charged with the felony offense of "justifying terrorism" because of a song he performed years ago, has been released from pretrial detention after roughly six months behind bars. State investigators in St. Petersburg made the request without any explanation, initially asking the court to wait until January 8 to free him. They later endorsed his immediate release.

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has issued an interim measure telling Russia to suspend the dissolution of the International Memorial Society and the Memorial Human Rights Center, Interfax reported on Wednesday, December 29.

On Monday, December 27, the Belarusian authorities unveiled a new draft of the country's constitution. According to head of state Alexander Lukashenko, the document may see changes following public debate and will be put to a referendum by late February 2022. This will mark the third referendum on amending Belarus's constitution since Lukashenko came to power in 1994. Changes made to the constitution in 1996 and 2004 broadened the powers of the president -- and the draft amendments have the potential to not only keep Lukashenko in power, but also permanently shield him from prosecution. Here's what you need to know.

Even when judged against the other miseries of 2021, the dissolution of Memorial's historical research society and human rights center is an extraordinary, monstrous event.

A day after Russia's Supreme Court dissolved the Memorial International Historical Educational Charitable and Human Rights Society, the Moscow City Court similarly ordered the closure of the Memorial's Human Rights Center, granting a petition by city prosecutors who argued that the organization's financial activities are "non-transparent." The authorities also accused Memorial of demonstrating a "steady disregard of Russia's Constitution and laws."