Hours after the newspaper Vedomosti published an op-ed by imprisoned journalist Ivan Safronov, the page hosting his text suddenly became inaccessible. Not long thereafter, Vedomosti's entire website crashed. According to communications director Guzel Khairetdinova, the newspaper is under DDoS attack. She told Meduza that the attack is targeting Vedomosti's entire website, not just a single text. "The whole site is down and our technical team is doing everything it can to restore it," she explained.

State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin is making billions of rubles off of hidden business interests, says a new investigation from Alexey Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation (the FBK). In particular, the report traces a number of companies back to Volodin's relatives, as well as expensive properties in Moscow, the Moscow region, and Saratov. The FBK also tallies up Volodin's regular trips from the Russian capital to his home region on a super-expensive jet owned by the presidential administration. Meduza summarizes the investigation here.

On July 9, 2020, the governor of Russia's Khabarovsk territory, Sergey Furgal, was detained outside of his home and taken to Moscow. There, he was interrogated and later jailed on charges of organizing multiple murders. The Russian Investigative Committee initially claimed to have "irrefutable evidence" of Furgal's involvement in the killings - but over a year later, they still haven't been able to offer any proof. The case hearings, which sparked massive protests in Khabarovsk, are being held behind closed doors. Meduza has obtained case materials containing the testimonies at the center of the case against Furgal, and their authenticity has been verified by two sources familiar with the case. Meduza special correspondent Anastasia Yakoreva, who studied the case documents thoroughly, describes them here for the first time.

Russian officials have dismissed Meduza's recent joint investigation with Mediazona and Holod Media, which revealed that Russian health officials appear to have registered as many as 29 million suspected cases of COVID-19 - a number that's five times higher than what's reported in official statistics.

A Moscow court has jailed Pussy Riot activist Rita Flores for 15 days, the news outlet Open Media reported on Thursday, July 22.

When is corruption enough to warrant felony prosecution? The Russian Attorney General's Office says a businessman in St. Petersburg overcharged the Federal Protective Service vast sums of money for construction work and used the cash to build a multipurpose sea cargo complex. Last month, in a Civil Code ruling, a Moscow court ordered the state to seize the port as public property from its new owners: the families of two former senior security officials. RBC reporter Margarita Alekhina took a long, hard look at the case materials behind the court order. Meduza summarizes what she found.

YouTube has blocked an investigation about the head of Russia's tourism agency released by Alexey Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation (the FBK) earlier this month, MBX Media reported on July 21.

On July 21, Moscow police arrested Pussy Riot member Rita Flores outside her home. According to preliminary reports, she has been taken to a police station. The reason for her detention has yet to be disclosed.

In his 27 years as President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko (Alyaksandr Lukashenka) has held two referendums on amending the constitution. And in the aftermath of last year's highly contested presidential election, he's gearing up for another constitutional ballot in 2022. Since March, a newly created Constitutional Commission has been working on proposed amendments to Belarus's basic law. According to the commission's head, Constitutional Court Chairman Pyotr Miklashevich, they're going to send their list of ideas to Lukashenko tomorrow (July 22). Meduza summarizes the proposed amendments here.

For more than a year, Russia nationals residing in New Zealand have been unable to renew their expired passports. The Russian Foreign Ministry confirmed to Novaya Gazeta that at least 700 people are currently facing this issue. Without valid passports, Russians living in New Zealand can't renew their visas, apply for jobs, buy houses, or travel anywhere other than Russia. But amid the coronavirus pandemic, Moscow simply isn't sending any new travel documents. According to Foreign Ministry protocol, new passports can only be delivered by diplomatic couriers - who have stopped traveling to New Zealand due to its mandatory two-week quarantine policy.