Current Digest of the Russian Press, Vol. 77, No. 37 – Table of Contents

DRONES CROSS POLAND’S EASTERN BORDER; WARSAW SCRAMBLES JETS, CALLS ALLIES FOR CONSULTATIONS UNDER NATO ART. 4; EXPERTS: INCIDENT A BOON FOR FLAGGING TUSK GOVERNMENT; RUSSIA DENIES ROLE; BELARUS CLAIMS IT TRACKED DRONES, TOLD POLAND

(By Kirill Fenin and Roman Kretsul. Izvestia, Sept. 11, 2025, p. 1. Condensed text:) Editors’ Note. – The Europeans are leveraging any news story to scuttle the negotiating process on Ukraine, said experts polled by Izvestia. Yesterday, Polish authorities said unidentified drones had violated the country’s airspace. . . …

UKRAINIAN AUTHORITIES PLEDGE SUPPORT TO GUARD ‘COMMON SECURITY SPACE’; MUKHIN: RESPONSE FROM WEST MUTED DUE TO ‘STRANGE THINGS’ SUGGESTING KIEV’S HAND; POLES WARN OF RUSSIAN PROPAGANDA

(By Natalya Prikhodko. Nezavisimaya gazeta, Sept. 12, 2025, p. 5. Condensed text:) Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky stated after a meeting with Finnish President Alexander Stubb that Kiev is ready to offer assistance to Warsaw in the fight against drones and called for the creation of a common air defense system. And at the same time, he did not hide his disappointment that the Western allies were producing many statements but little action. . . …

EXPERT OLIKER: ‘DIFFICULT TO BELIEVE’ INCURSION WAS UNINTENTIONAL, BUT EXACT MOTIVATIONS IN ‘GAME OF DETERRENCE’ WILL ONLY BE CLEAR LATER

(By Sofya Kanevskaya. Novaya gazeta Europe, Sept. 14, 2025, https://novayagazeta.eu/articles/2025/09/14/sbitye-drony-signal-rossii-i-drugim-stranam-nato. Condensed text:) Editors’ Note. – The incident involving Russian drones flying into Polish airspace has sparked a new wave of conflict between Russia and NATO countries. Poland called the incident a deliberate attack, the Kremlin called it an accident, and the alliance invoked Art. 4 for the first time in the war [in Ukraine] and convened an extraordinary meeting of its Security Council…

CHECHEN COUPLES RESORT TO FAKE DIVORCES TO MAKE ENDS MEET; EXPERT: SOCIAL GUARANTEES, NOT MORAL PRESSURE, WILL SOLVE THE PROBLEM

([No author indicated.] Meduza, Sept. 16, 2025, https://meduza.io/en/feature/2025/09/16/till-debt-do-us-part. Complete text:) Editors’ Note. – In Chechnya, growing numbers of couples are divorcing on paper while continuing to live together – a strategy to qualify for child benefits in a region where jobs are scarce, wages are among the lowest in Russia, and families struggle to make ends meet. Officials have condemned the practice as both a threat to “traditional values” and a strain on the public purse, but for many families it has become a matter of survival. RFE/RL’s Kavkaz.Realii examined the forces pushing Chechen families toward sham divorces. Meduza shares an abridged English-language version of their reporting…

([No author indicated.] Meduza, Sept. 9, 2025, https://meduza.io/en/feature/2025/09/09/we-have-the-power-here-don-t-we. Complete text:) Editors’ Note. – In mid-August, the Russian authorities began blocking the calling feature on the country’s two most popular messaging apps, Telegram and WhatsApp [see Vol. 77, No. 33, p. 14]. The official justification was to fight fraud, but the move has caused confusion and frustration across the country, leaving many people unable to reach friends, relatives or business contacts. At the same time, the government is pushing citizens to switch to MAX, a messenger developed by the state-backed social media company VK – though even officials are hesitant to use it. Against this backdrop, several Russian cities have seen some of their first government-allowed protests in years, with participants voicing their complaints in unusually frank terms. Meduza explains who organized these rallies, how they went, and why the authorities may have allowed them.

Protesters in multiple Russian cities have taken to the streets in recent weeks to oppose the authorities’ blocking of the calling features on WhatsApp and Telegram. Demonstrators say the bans violate their constitutional right to free communication…

(Editorial) – (Nezavisimaya gazeta, Sept. 9, 2025, p. 2. Complete text:) Last weekend, a rally was held in Novosibirsk against blocking calls on instant messaging apps and “forced MAXimization,” that is, transition to the MAX messenger. The event was reportedly attended by approximately 50 people, including prominent opposition politician Boris Nadezhdin, who ran for president in 2024.

This is not the first rally of this kind. At the end of August, a similar event took place in Voronezh. These rallies, small in number but permitted by the authorities, are organized by left-wing activists not affiliated with any parliamentary opposition entities…

(By Denis Morokhin. Novaya gazeta Europe, Sept. 5, 2025, https://novayagazeta.eu/articles/2025/09/05/once-bitten-twice-shy-en. Complete text:) Following his summit with US President Donald Trump in Alaska last month [see Vol. 77, No. 33, pp. 3 8], [Russian President] Vladimir Putin said that he had proposed the resumption of economic ties between the two countries. So, how many American companies actually left Russia after the invasion of Ukraine, who stayed, and who might be willing to return?

During his brief visit to Anchorage in August, Putin said that Russia and the US had “something to offer each other” in terms of trade, and that if the US was keen, he was looking forward to working together, which Trump appeared to agree with…

(By Yekaterina Martyanova. Krasnaya zvezda, Sept. 11, 2025, p. 1. Condensed text:) At the International Forum “Unmanned Systems: Technologies of the Future” in Skolkovo, a drone was unveiled that could significantly enhance the effectiveness of missions carried out as part of the special military operation [in Ukraine]. The developers behind this initiative are participants in the Archangel nationwide project, which brings together engineers, robotics experts, assembly specialists, programmers and instructors from across Russia to support military personnel involved in the special military operation. The drones showcased at the forum were developed and tested with the help of Crimean engineers, including in the active combat zone.

Vitaly Romanov, the project’s coordinator in the Crimea, explained that the idea for the Archangel interceptor drone emerged under combat conditions in the Zaporozhye operational area…

(By Aleksandr Volobuyev, Anastasia Lvova and Dmitry Grinkevich. Ekspert, Sept. 2, 2025, https://expert.ru/intervyu/dalnevostochnik-eto-vysshaya-forma-rossiyanina/. Condensed text:) Editors’ Note. – The Far East accounts for over 40% of Russia’s territory and has plenty of natural resources – oil, gas, coal, diamonds, gold, iron and other metals. Yet the Far Eastern Federal District has only 7.9 million people living in it, which is about 5% of Russia’s population. Nevertheless, Russia is clearly determined to develop its Far Eastern and Arctic lands. Megaprojects worth tens of trillions of rubles are being implemented. With the 2025 Eastern Economic Forum drawing near, Ekspert met with Aleksei Chekunkov, Russia’s minister for Far East and Arctic development, to discuss the past, present and future of this strategic macroregion, as well as some opportunities for public-private partnerships.

Question. – Vladivostok will host the Eastern Economic Forum for the 10th time this year. What achievements has the Far East demonstrated as we approach this milestone?…

(By Dmitry Taratorin. Nezavisimaya gazeta, Sept. 12, 2025, p. 1. Condensed text:) A meeting between Belarussian President Aleksandr Lukashenko and US presidential envoy John Coale took place in Minsk. The head of Belarus said he was ready to do a “big deal” on prisoners. . . .

Aleksandr Lukashenko received US presidential envoy John Coale. He gave the head of Belarus a personal letter from [US President] Donald Trump. In it, he and his wife, Melania, wished the recipient a happy birthday. And in the closing, he remarked, “We pray for your health and well-being, as well as continued progress toward our shared goals on behalf of the US and Belarussian peoples.”…

(By Viktoria Panfilova. Nezavisimaya gazeta, Sept. 9, 2025, p. 1. Condensed text:) . . . On Sept. 8, [Kazakh] President Kasym-Zhomart Tokayev made a number of statements in his annual message to the nation. The country can expect large-scale digitalization and the widespread use of artificial intelligence. Tokayev set the task of working hard to introduce digitalization tools and artificial intelligence in various economic sectors.

Political topics included Tokayev’s proposal to create a unicameral parliament by eliminating the upper chamber – the Senate – where, as he himself recalled, he worked for 10 years. “I myself had the opportunity to lead the Senate for 10 years, and I always perceived this work as a great honor and responsibility. So it is not easy for me to speak about parliamentary reform from this tribunal. Despite this, I will today nevertheless share my proposal to create a unicameral parliament in our country within the foreseeable future,” Tokayev said…

(By Nikolai Patrushev, [Russian] presidential aide and Maritime Board chairman. Kommersant, Sept. 28, 2025, p. 3. Complete text:) The media hype surrounding the unexpected activities of the German investigative bodies that identified alleged participants in the operations to blow up the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 [gas pipelines; see Vol. 74, No. 39, pp. 7 9 – Trans.] continues unabated. Journalists have been contacting the Maritime Board with legitimate questions: Should we believe reports that the saboteurs who committed terrorist attacks in the depths of the sea have actually been found? And what lies behind this stage of the investigation, anyway?

Readers are reminded that states with a real interest in discovering actual information about what happened in September 2022 have not been allowed to investigate the sabotage or review the criminal case file…

(By Yelizaveta Borisenko. Izvestia, Sept. 9, 2025, p. 2. Condensed text:) Editors’ Note. – The Turkish government is trying to cause a schism within the largest opposition party, the Republican People’s Party (CHP), in the run-up to the 2028 presidential election, experts tell Izvestia. . . .

On the night of Sept. 8, supporters of the opposition CHP held protests in Istanbul that devolved into clashes with the police. Residents took to the streets after a court decision to change the local leadership and after the police blocked the party’s headquarters in Istanbul…