MEDUZA/EN/VHF

It's been 28 days since Russia went to war against Ukraine. And it's been 12 days since the public has laid eyes on Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu. Indeed, as first pointed out by Mediazona journalist Dmitry Treshchanin, Shoigu hasn't appeared in public or in the press since March 11.

Russia's war against Ukraine has been raging for almost a month. In that time, the UN Human Rights Office has recorded more than 2,510 civilian casualties in Ukraine: 953 people killed and 1,557 injured. The UN says the actual toll is much higher. During a press briefing on Wednesday, March 23, Meduza's correspondent asked Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov about the Russian military's role in the growing number of civilian casualties in Ukraine. He replied as follows.

Russia's war against Ukraine has gone on for almost a month now. As pressure from sanctions and other restrictions on the Russian economy grows, Russia's domestic situation is looking worse and worse -- despite the authorities' successful repression of the anti-war movement through threats and arrests. Meduza has learned of recent efforts by the Russian presidential administration to determine which problems concern the population most. Unfortunately for them, the hard part will be solving them.

On March 18, 96-year-old Kharkiv resident Boris Romanchenko, who survived four Nazi concentration camps, died when his apartment was hit by a Russian shell. Romanchenko lived in North Saltovka, a district that's been under fire since the earlier days of the war. According to his granddaughter, his apartment building "burned down completely."

On March 20, mathematician Konstantin Olmezov died by suicide in Moscow. Originally from Donetsk, Olmezov moved to Russia to pursue a career as a mathematician. After Russia invaded Ukraine, Olmezov tried to leave the country, but was arrested and sentenced to administrative detention; after being released, he died by suicide. In his suicide note, he wrote, "For me, not being free is worth than death."

War has completely changed the lives of millions of Ukrainians. While some fight for their country's freedom, millions have been forced to flee abroad as refugees. Others remain in their homes, struggling to survive in wartime conditions and waiting to reunite with their loved ones. Iryna Egorchenko is a 43-year-old community leader in Kyiv, whose son is fighting in besieged Mariupol. When she spoke to Meduza, Iryna hadn't heard from her son in almost a week. But she refuses to give up hope or give in to fear. In her own words, Iryna explains why she believes in bright future for Ukraine -- and for Russia, too.

Mariupol has been under siege for more than three weeks. More than 200,000 civilians remain trapped in the city, despite repeated attempts at evacuations. According to the Ukrainian authorities, around 20,000 Mariupol residents managed to flee through a humanitarian corridor on March 15. But a lucky few managed to get out of the city even earlier. Meduza spoke to one such person: Alexey, whose name has been changed for security reasons, was born and raised in Mariupol. In recent years, he's been living in Kyiv, but he returned to his hometown on February 24, to celebrate his grandmother's birthday. That same day, Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine and Alexey ended up trapped in besieged Mariupol for almost three weeks. He escaped the city along with his parents and 10-year-old sister on March 14. Here's how he and his family survived.

Like other sectors of the Russian economy, the book market hasn't been spared the fallout from Moscow's war against Ukraine and the ensuing Western sanctions. Despite the fact that many competing forms of entertainment are now unavailable to people in Russia, there are few reasons for those in the book business to celebrate. For Meduza, literary critic Galina Yuzefovich breaks down the problems facing Russia's publishing industry today and what writers, publishers, booksellers, and readers fear is yet to come.

Kamran Manafly is a 28-year-old schoolteacher in Moscow. Or rather he was until recently, when he lost his job after refusing to follow state guidelines on how to discuss Russia's "special military operation in Ukraine" with students. The final straw for the administrators was a photograph Manafly shared on Instagram from an antiwar protest where he wrote that he "doesn't want to be a mirror of government propaganda." The school fired him for "immoral behavior," and a security guard later attacked him when he tried to retrieve his belongings from his office. Within days, the principal even threatened to have him prosecuted for "betraying the Motherland." Meduza spoke to Manafly about his dismissal and subsequent decision to leave Russia altogether. What follows is his story, told in his own words.

Working in exile, Alexey Navalny's team of anti-corruption activists have released a new investigation linking a $700-million superyacht to Russian President Vladimir Putin. The luxury vessel, officially registered to an offshore company in the Marshall Islands, is allegedly crewed by members of Russia's Secret Service (the FSO). Navalny's team published the investigation on the eve of the Kremlin critic's sentencing in yet another criminal trial. Navalny, who is currently serving more than 2.5 years in prison, could see his term extended to 13 years behind bars on new charges of fraud and contempt of court.