INSIDE RUSSIA - WHAT'S HAPPENING IN RUSSIA RIGHT NOW | October 21, 2026

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WITKOFF VISITS RUSSIA AND BRINGS PUTIN PROPOSALS FOR ENDING THE WAR. KEY TAKEAWAYS 

The U.S. presidential envoy Steve Witkoff came to Russia to meet with Vladimir Putin at the Konstantinovsky Palace in St. Petersburg. The sides discussed a settlement to the war in Ukraine, economic relations between Moscow and Washington, and the release of American citizen Stephen Hubbard. 

We provide you with a short summary of the visit.

The war in Ukraine

Witkoff said he had brought documents containing proposals for resolving the conflict. The previous day, he had taken part in talks in Oslo with representatives of the United States, European countries, and Volodymyr Zelensky. According to Witkoff, the meeting was productive and helped outline possible paths toward a ceasefire. The U.S. special envoy also proposed resuming trilateral negotiations between Russia, the United States, and Ukraine to discuss technical issues.

Economic relations between Russia and the United States

Putin said Moscow was interested in restoring economic cooperation with Washington. Witkoff, in turn, expressed hope that the Russian president would consider opportunities to develop bilateral ties once the war was over. 

The U.S. envoy thanked Putin on behalf of the U.S. president for the decision concerning the “diesel deal.” According to the Russian president, global fuel prices fell by 5–6% following the agreement. Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said the first tanker carrying Russian diesel fuel would depart for the United States on Thursday, October 22. Putin clarified that the first deliveries were expected in two to three days.

In addition, the Russian president proposed increasing fertilizer exports to the United States.

Release of American Stephen Hubbard

Putin announced the release of 74-year-old US citizen Stephen Hubbard, who had been sentenced in Russia to nearly seven years in prison on mercenary charges. Hubbard served in the territorial defense forces in Izium and was captured in 2022. In April 2025, the US State Department called on Russian authorities to release him. By the start of the talks, the American was already at St. Petersburg’s Pulkovo Airport.

Witkoff thanked Putin for Hubbard’s release and called the Russian president a “humanist.” Putin also proposed discussing a possible meeting with Trump in China.

What happened in St. Petersburg

Roads in central St. Petersburg were closed during the talks and patrolled by police. According to local residents, traffic congestion reached a level of nine out of ten. Residents of the city and Leningrad province also complained about disruptions to internet service.

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KREMLIN SAYS THE EU AND NATO HAVE BEGUN TAKING RUSSIA’S PROPOSALS ON UKRAINE “MORE SERIOUSLY”

The European Union and NATO have become more attentive to Moscow’s proposals for resolving the conflict in Ukraine, but this is still not enough. Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov made this statement while commenting on the outcome of talks in Oslo involving U.S. presidential envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, as well as representatives of European countries. 

According to Ushakov, the American envoys noticed new “nuances” in their partners’ behavior and reported them to the Russian side. “But these nuances, so to speak, do not fully satisfy us,” Ushakov noted.

Asked whether proposals that the Kremlin considers “unrealistic and inadequate” were still being put forward in Oslo, the presidential aide said he “would not criticize” representatives of Europe and NATO, since they had begun “taking a more serious approach to resolving this crisis.”

Ushakov also said that Vladimir Putin had informed Witkoff of his readiness to resume trilateral negotiations involving Moscow, Kyiv, and Washington in the first ten days of November. According to Ushakov, the main topic should be a “security system for Russia and Ukraine” after the war ends. Ushakov expressed the view that the parties were moving toward ending the conflict. “I don’t know how close we are getting, but things are moving in that direction,” he said.

According to Ushakov, the next round of trilateral talks could take place in Abu Dhabi. Putin will decide who specifically travels to the negotiations on behalf of Russia. The talks would be held at the expert level. As for a possible meeting between Putin, Xi Jinping, and Trump at the APEC summit in Shenzhen, Ushakov said all three had confirmed their willingness to participate. However, he stressed that the war in Ukraine could not be ended through such negotiations alone. “Even if the meeting lasts one, two, or five hours, it still won’t be possible to resolve all the problems,” Ushakov said.

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MOST OF RUSSIAN SENATORS WHO TOOK PART IN THE WAR WILL WORK ON YOUTH POLICY AND HEALTHCARE

In the new convocation of the Russian Government, 56 senators who took part in the war in Ukraine have been assigned to 26 of the 34 government committees. 

For example, six of the 11 senators on the Youth Policy Committee have taken part in the war. Another committee “SMO veterans" have gained a notable presence is the Healthcare Committee — five of its 15 members have taken part in the “special military operation.”

However, war “veterans” were appointed to the truly influential committees. 

For example, there are no senators from this group on the Budget and Tax Committee. Participants in the war are also absent from the committees on financial markets, industry and trade, energy, agricultural affairs, education, physical culture and sports, tourism, and the development of tourism infrastructure. 

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RUSSIAN SECURITY SERVICE BEGINS SYSTEMATICALLY INITIATING CRIMINAL CASES AGAINST RUSSIAN SCIENTISTS FOR “FINANCING EXTREMISM” 

Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) has launched a systematic purge of the scientific and academic community, targeting people who previously made donations to organizations associated with deceased opposition leader Alexei Navalny.

As Mediazona reports, over the past year the security agency initiated at least three prosecutions against research institute employees and university lecturers in Moscow and the surrounding region. All the cases were brought under Part 1 of Article 282.3 of the Russian Criminal Code (“financing extremism”), which includes penalties for donations to Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation. Meanwhile, at least six similar cases were brought before Moscow courts in the spring.

The latest known person to be convicted is Sofia Rosenfeld, an ornithologist employed by the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution. On October 7, Moscow’s Gagarinsky District Court sentenced the scientist to 3.5 years in prison for making two donations of 1,000 rubles ($11.76) each to the Anti-Corruption Foundation. Rosenfeld became the third woman known to have received an actual prison sentence for financially supporting Alexei Navalny’s associates.

On May 26, under the same article, Moscow’s Zyuzinsky District Court sentenced mathematician Andrey Dymov to 3.5 years in a general-regime penal colony. Dymov was an associate professor at the Higher School of Economics and a senior researcher at the Steklov Mathematical Institute. He was found guilty of making donations totaling 3,500 rubles ($41.18) to the Anti-Corruption Foundation. On September 26, 2025, the Dubna City Court in Moscow province fined physicist Dmitry Kazakov, head of a laboratory at the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, 300,000 rubles ($3,529). The scientist was found to have made two donations of 500 rubles ($5.88) each to the foundation.

All the cases against Dymov, Kazakov, and Rosenfeld were initiated by the Fourth Department of Directorate “P” of the FSB’s Fourth Service. This directorate is known for its role in “counterintelligence support for industry” and oversees state-owned technology corporations such as Rostec and Roscosmos.

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RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT SPEAKER PROPOSES ADDRESSING BUDGET PROBLEMS BY TAXING PALM OIL, WHICH COULD DRIVE UP PRICES OF INEXPENSIVE FOODS 

Russian Government Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin proposed raising taxes on palm oil and oysters, as well as selling “prestigious” car license plates and directing the proceeds toward supporting the police. 

Volodin noted that the authorities had abolished the reduced VAT rate on palm oil, raising it from 10% to 20%, and proposed increasing the tax burden once again. According to him, this could bring tens of billions of rubles into the budget. “We need to move in this direction in terms of increasing taxation, especially on products that are harmful to health,” the speaker said.

Volodin also proposed abolishing preferential tax treatment for oysters: “Why are they taxed like children’s goods, like food products for children?” According to his estimate, this could bring the budget 6 billion rubles ($70.59 million) — an amount he compared to the cost of approximately 30 kindergartens. “Those who like oysters will continue to buy them even if they are no longer taxed at a preferential rate,” Volodin said.

Volodin identified the sale of “prestigious” car license plates as another potential source of revenue. “Let’s put these beautiful plates up for sale as well, but make sure the money is earmarked and goes toward supporting the police too. Right now, it ends up in someone’s pocket,” the speaker said. He called for the tax proposals to be discussed during consideration of the budget legislation package.

Meanwhile, a further increase in taxes on palm oil could lead to higher prices for inexpensive confectionery and baked goods that use palm-oil-based fats. In July 2019, ahead of the increase in VAT on palm oil from 10% to 20%, Marina Petrova, deputy head of the relevant committee at the Moscow Chamber of Commerce and Industry, forecast a 5–7% increase in the price of sweets. Mikhail Maltsev, executive director of the Oil and Fat Union, warned that the price increases would primarily affect low-income consumers.

Taxing oysters and selling "prestigious" license plates are part of a broader set of proposals to increase revenue from the wealthy, which Russian lawmakers routinely bring up in their speeches. Several weeks earlier, Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matviyenko had already called for abolishing the reduced 10% VAT rate on oysters, lobsters, langoustines, and spiny lobsters. She cited the same 6 billion rubles in additional revenue, suggesting it could be used to build two schools or a children’s hospital.

Volodin himself made a similar proposal a year ago, on October 22, 2025. At the time, he also compared the taxation of oysters with that of baby food and said that people who enjoy the product could afford to pay more. Ultimately, however, the proposal remained just a call for action.

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RUSSIAN UNION OF INDUSTRIALISTS AND ENTREPRENEURS SAYS BUSINESSES ARE READY TO “POOL THEIR MONEY” INTO THE WAR 

Russian businesses are ready to jointly finance the development of new air defense systems to protect industrial facilities in the country, said. Alexander Shokhin, head of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RSPP), in an interview with state outlet TASS.

Shokhin proposed encouraging such investments through an investment tax credit, starting with a pilot project. “We’re ready to pool our money, so to speak. And the question is probably how to incentivize this process,” he said. According to the RSPP head, protecting businesses requires substantial investment, which the state should encourage during wartime. 

According to Shokhin, new systems will be needed even if the war in Ukraine is settled soon. He justified this by claiming that the “aggressive designs of the European and NATO military establishments” remain in place. The RSPP head called for a long-term strategy to protect the economy. 

In the same interview, Shokhin proposed launching a new investment cycle in the Russian economy by establishing companies to manufacture protection systems and air defense equipment. In his opinion, protection should not be limited to mesh barriers and mobile fire teams. 

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AN ISRAELI-UKRAINIAN STUDENT IS BANNED FROM ENTERING RUSSIA OVER SAVED MUSIC AND LIKES ON SOCIAL MEDIA

Noa Cohen, an Israeli and Ukrainian citizen who studied at a Russian university, was banned from entering the country after officials searched her phone. Mediazona reported this after reviewing the court ruling and speaking with the student. 

Cohen had been studying in Russia since 2021 and entered the country on a student visa as an Israeli citizen. In the summer of 2025, she flew to Moscow via Belarus. At Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport, her phone was confiscated, and about seven hours later she was summoned for questioning about her views on the war and politics. 

A border guard challenged her over listening to Russian artists declared “foreign agents” for their anti-war views — Monetochka, Morgenshtern, and Noize MC —, as well as liking posts by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and opposition politician Alexei Navalny, along with posts related to the Ukrainian military and LGBT issues. The objections filed in response to her lawsuit also mentioned chats in which participants used the word “rusnya,” a derogatory term for Russians, and likes on posts “supporting Israel’s aggressive policy toward Palestine.” Cohen explained that the likes reflected her personal views, which she did not express publicly, and that some of them might have been accidental. According to her, the border guard replied that clicking “Like” was “already a statement.” 

The court ruling states that the material found on her phone led a border control officer to conclude that she posed a threat to Russia’s security. It also claims that the student denied liking the posts and therefore misled the officers. 

Cohen was denied entry to Russia and subsequently deported. She unsuccessfully tried to challenge her deportation through a lawyer. Shortly before the final hearing, the Federal Security Service submitted a decision banning her from entering Russia to the court. Later, when Cohen was planning to fly from Israel to Belarus, the Israeli security service informed her that Belarusian border guards had also warned that she would be denied entry.

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MOSCOW WILL BUILD A “PALACE FOR SPECIAL MILITARY OPERATION VETERANS” WITH A SWIMMING POOL AND A YOGA STUDIO 

A “Palace for Special Military Operation Veterans” will open in Moscow’s Catherine Park at the Social Rehabilitation Center for War Veterans. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin announced the project. According to him, renovation of the building is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2027. 

A water and wellness complex with a swimming pool, physical therapy and kinesiotherapy halls, and physiotherapy rooms will be set up for participants in the invasion of Ukraine. Yoga, martial arts, and therapeutic exercise classes are also planned. In addition to rehabilitation facilities, the palace will house creative workshops for art therapy, libraries, and music and dance classes. 

According to Sobyanin, the main focus will be on day programs and short-term courses. The goal is to combine rehabilitation and socialization “without taking people away from their work and families.” The mayor also promised to provide the palace with high-tech equipment. 

Work in the adjacent Catherine Park is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2026. The park will feature a boat station, an amphitheater, a family center, and sports grounds.

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RUSSIAN MINISTRY OF EDUCATION APPROVES RULES OF GRADING STUDENTS’ BEHAVIOR 

The Russian Ministry of Education has approved rules for grading students’ behavior while at school. 

Students in grades 2–8 (elementary to middle school) will receive behavior ratings of “exemplary,” “acceptable,” or “unacceptable,” state outlet TASS reports, citing a letter from the Ministry of Education. The rules apply as part of an experiment during the 2026–2027 academic year. At least 10 schools in each Russian province are participating.

The criteria for accessing children’s behavior will include discipline, interactions with peers and adults, and personal qualities, including “the absence of antisocial acts and unlawful behavior.” Each indicator will be scored from zero to three points. The final rating will depend on the total score: 24–30 points indicates “exemplary” behavior, 10–23 points — “acceptable” behavior, and 0–9 points — “unacceptable” behavior.

If a student’s behavior is rated “unacceptable,” the homeroom teacher must speak with the parents within three days. The rules also provide for involving the school's psychological and educational support team and conducting individualized preventive work. Parents will be able to challenge the rating before the school’s dispute resolution committee.

According to the ministry, behavior ratings will not affect academic performance or eligibility to take state final examinations, and will not be considered a disciplinary penalty.

Political scientist and “foreign agent” Ekaterina Shulman said on the Live Right Now program on Echo YouTube channel that behavior grades are being reintroduced to increase the government's control over students.

“Now I’m afraid that bad behavior will mean political disloyalty and an unwillingness to actively participate in [propagandistic classes] ‘Important Conversations,’” she said.

Shulman recalled the case of Alexei Moskalev, whose 12-year-old daughter Masha drew an anti-war picture at her school art class. For this, the man was sentenced to two years in a penal colony under the article on “discrediting” the Russian armed forces. In Shulman’s view, behavior grades can easily become a tool for monitoring loyalty to the state, but will not help, for example, combat bullying, which “arises from a lack of supervision by adults, not from any moral depravity on the part of children.”

ON THAT NOTE, WE END TODAY’S NEWS BROADCAST.

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