Russia

After the collapse of the USSR, the archives of the security services were never opened. Society never learned the names of the KGB’s secret informants, whose numbers likely reached into the hundreds of thousands. Some of these agents continued to assist the security services, now under a new guise. Proekt investigates the grim legacy of the Leningrad KGB’s informant network-a story that began in close proximity to Russia’s current ruler, Vladimir Putin, and continues to this day. In this account, politics, intelligence agencies, sex, violence, and death intersect.

Key figures in Russia’s publishing industry, including a director of one of Russia’s leading publishers, have been detained following a series of targeted raids by law enforcement. They are facing extremism charges, though the specific nature of these charges has not yet been disclosed. Among those arrested is Anatoly Norovyatkin, the longtime distribution director at Eksmo, as well as people associated with publishing houses acquired by Eksmo in 2023: Popcorn Books, known for its focus on queer young adult fiction, and Individuum, a non-fiction publishing imprint.

On the morning of March 18, the Investigative Committee of Russia announced the detention of comedian Artemy Ostanin at the Belarusian border as he was attempting to leave Russia. Shortly before, authorities had opened a criminal case against the standup performer for «inciting hatred» (Article 282, Part 2, Clause ‘A’ of the Russian Criminal Code) based on a joke about a legless man. According to pro-war Z-channels, Ostanin’s joke allegedly referenced veterans of the war in Ukraine. The comedian himself denies this. Later reports revealed that Ostanin was beaten during his arrest and the comedian was placed in a pre-trial detention center (SIZO).