MEDUZA/EN/VHF

In the mid-2010s, young men from Chechnya - lured by the promises of recruiters from the Islamic State (commonly known as ISIS or ISIL) - began departing for Syria and Iraq en masse. They were followed abroad by their wives and children, who often didn't know their final destinations. As a special project for Meduza, photographer Sergey Stroitelev interviewed and photographed the mothers of Chechen women who are missing or imprisoned in the Islamic State's former territories. These mothers have spent years working to bring their daughters and grandchildren home to Russia. Here are their stories, in their own words.

On June 6, Russian opposition politician Dmitry Gudkov announced that he had fled to Ukraine. This came less than a week after he was detained as a suspect in a criminal case for alleged property damage; Gudkov was released from custody without charges on June 3. Sources close to the presidential administration told Meduza that the opposition politician was released due to pressure from the Moscow city government's political bloc. In turn, Gudkov told the media that he fled the country after his family was warned that he was still under criminal investigation and could face another arrest. Commenting on his decision to leave Russia, Gudkov said that the criminal case against him was intended to "push him out of the country" ahead of this September's parliamentary elections. That said, he has also underscored that his departure from Russia is temporary and that he plans to continue his involvement in politics while abroad.

As this fall's State Duma elections draw nearer, sources close to Putin's administration and the United Russia leadership are saying that Dmitry Medvedev, Russia's former president and prime minister, is set to head the ruling party's list. Though Medvedev has been United Russia's leading candidate in past parliamentary elections, his current political ratings are quite low. Be that as it may, sources told Meduza that after weighing a number of scenarios, the "party of power" concluded that Medvedev was the only viable option. At the same time, United Russia representatives, including Medvedev himself, have declined to comment on whether or not he'll be number one of the party's list - apparently, this question will be resolved at the United Russia congress in Moscow on June 19.

On the morning of June 8, the Leningrad region's governor announced that a municipality located about 30 kilometers from St. Petersburg was being put on high alert, due to a dispute involving radioactive waste. According to the district administration, the conflict arose after a local research center transferred part of its property to Russia's Federal Agency for State Property Management. Located on the grounds is a workshop housing more than a thousand cubic meters of solid radioactive waste. The research center now claims that it's no longer responsible for ensuring waste safety, though the transfer process for these radioactive "barrels" remains unclear. Government officials maintain that they are monitoring the situation and that background radiation levels in the surrounding area are within normal range.

The legal professionals at "Team 29" specialize in Russia's most hopeless political prosecutions - the treason case against journalist Ivan Safronov, the extremism charges against Alexey Navalny's anti-corruption movement, and dozens more cases like these that are all but doomed to convictions. As a result, the Russian authorities have effectively declared Team 29 to be enemies of the state. In late April, police charged the organization's head, Ivan Pavlov, with disclosing pretrial investigation secrets. Ever since, he's been barred from using the Internet or telephone. Meduza special correspondent Alexandra Sivtsova looks at how Team 29 manages to operate under these conditions and asks why it still does.

In late March, the television channels Dozhd and OstWest premiered the film "Survivors" ("Vyzhivshie" in Russian), a feature-length documentary about a group of young Russians exploring the stories of their family members who fell victim to Stalin's repressions. The documentary, which is now available on YouTube, was directed by Vladlena Savenkova - who previously shot true crime documentaries for the Russian media company Amurskie Volny and is now attending film school in Berlin. In conversation with Meduza, Savenkova spoke about filming "Survivors" and tried to explain why many people in Russia would rather not talk about Stalin's terror.

On June 9, Moscow recorded an increased number of coronavirus cases for the fourth day running. This spike in infections, which government sources tell Meduza was "unexpected," has led the city authorities to announce increased controls over sanitary measures, as well as plans to open several more COVID-19 hospitals in the coming days. That said, the Russian Health Ministry maintains that the recent jump in cases can't be considered "third wave." In addition, the Moscow authorities have no plans to reintroduce lockdown measures, despite the fact that the city's vaccination campaign against COVID-19 has all but come to a standstill.

Earlier this year, the Swiss authorities arrested a Russian national who faces insider-trading criminal charges in the United States. Vladislav Klyushin has now exhausted his legal options in Switzerland and could find himself extradited to Massachusetts soon. Back home in Russia, Klyushin owns a media-metrics business with several lucrative government contracts, including agreements to monitor the Internet for public attitudes about political issues. Meduza examines how one of the Kremlin's media whizzes ended up behind bars in the West.

The Russian justice system has outlawed Alexey Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation, the Citizens' Rights Protection Foundation (both of which the Justice Ministry previously designated as "foreign agents"), and Navalny's nationwide network of campaign offices, designating all these groups as "extremist" organizations. The verdict takes effect in 30 days except in the unlikely event that defense attorneys succeed in challenging the ruling. Meduza reviews the criminal liability that now looms over Navalny's former employees, his supporters, and even journalists who reported on the movement's activities.

The day after it was outlawed as an "extremist" organization, Alexey Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation (the FBK) has published a new investigative report on the jailed opposition politician's August 2020 poisoning. In addition to identifying the "most important" FSB operative involved in the attempt on Navalny's life, his team also gained access to medical records from a Russian hospital providing evidence to the fact that he was poisoned. According to the FBK, these medical documents are sufficient evidence for launching a criminal investigation in Russia - something the authorities claim there are no grounds for.