Current Digest of the Russian Press, Vol. 77, No. 40 – Table of Contents

PAS AVOIDS COALITION WITH NARROW LEGISLATIVE MAJORITY; PATRIOTIC BLOC WINS 24%, CHALLENGES RESULTS; PESKOV BACKS CLAIMS; EXPATS IN EUROPE PLAY DECISIVE ROLE AS IN 2025 PRESIDENTIAL RACE

(By Yekaterina Postnikova and Svetlana Prokhorova. RBC Daily, Sept. 30, 2025, https://www.rbc.ru/newspaper/2025/09/30/68da85129a79477d31bdc57a. Condensed text:) . . . On Sept. 28, Moldova held elections for its unicameral legislative assembly. Moldova is a parliamentary republic, so these elections are of fundamental importance to it. Now their results must be approved by the Constitutional Court…

GAMOVA: ZELENSKY CELEBRATES PAS VICTORY, BUT MOLDOVA’S PRO-RUSSIAN PARTIES FEAR WIN CREATES PATH TOWARD CONFRONTATION OVER GAGAUZIA AND TRANSNISTRIA THAT COULD FORCE MOSCOW’S HAND

(By Svetlana Gamova. Nezavisimaya gazeta, Sept. 30, 2025, p. 1. Condensed text:) The Moldovan Parliament will be as the EU envisions it. Brussels is already thanking President Maia Sandu for this, after she secured victory for the pro-European PAS in Monday’s parliamentary elections. Now, Sandu’s goal is to bring the country into the EU, Victor Shelin, the leader of the Social Democratic Party of Moldova, commented to NG. . . …

FEDORINOV: FLAGRANT VIOLATIONS BY SANDU, EU’S HYPOCRISY NOTED BY MANY IN RUSSIA, MOLDOVA, TMR; PAS ONLY SECURED NOMINAL, SHORT-LIVED WIN

(By Yevgeny Fedorinov. Sovetskaya Rossia, Oct. 2, 2025, p. 2. Condensed text:) . . . The 2025 parliamentary elections in Moldova have become a landmark event in the country’s political landscape: They have shown that the ruling PAS under Maia Sandu has completely lost voter confidence and gotten the worst results during her entire term in office. Under the cover of declarations about European integration and a fight against corruption, she will continue to destroy Moldova’s economy, which will lead to an even greater impoverishment of its population and the loss of sovereignty…

MOLDOVAN EXPERT: DESPITE PROTESTS, ATTEMPTS TO INTERFERE, MOST MOLDOVANS REFUSE TO ELECT PRO-RUSSIAN PARTIES, ARE EU ORIENTED; IF THE KREMLIN WANTS TO FIX RELATIONS, IT MUST CHANGE TACTICS

(By Yevgeny Senchin. Republic.ru, Oct. 2, 2025, https://republic.ru/posts/116477. Condensed text:) Editors’ Note. – The media coverage of the parliamentary elections in Moldova on Sept. 28 focused primarily on two key issues. First, Moldova has reaffirmed its pro-European stance. Second, Moscow tried to meddle in the elections. Can Moldova finally escape Russia’s pull and become part of Europe? To discuss this and some other questions, Republic sat down with Moldovan political analyst Valeriu Pasa, head of WatchDog.MD, a Moldovan think tank…

KOLESNIKOV: IN VALDAI SPEECH, PUTIN LAYS CLAIM TO TERM ‘GLOBAL MAJORITY’ AS COUNTERBALANCE TO EUROPE, PREVIOUS U.S. ADMINISTRATION, BUT HE DOES SEE A CHANCE TO REESTABLISH TIES WITH U.S.

(By Andrei Kolesnikov in Krasnaya Polyana. Kommersant, Oct. 3, 2025, p. 1. Condensed text:) Editors’ Note. – At the Valdai [International Discussion] Club’s plenary session on Oct. 2, Russian President Vladimir Putin introduced new terms into global politics and diplomacy, while Kommersant special correspondent Andrei Kolesnikov carefully recorded them all. The US could take pride in the fact that, if nothing else, half of the speech was about it and not Ukraine…

LEROY: IN HIS ‘SEMINAL’ SPEECH, PUTIN OFFERED A ‘PRAGMATIC’ ALTERNATIVE TO ‘HYSTERICAL’ WEST OBSESSED WITH USING RUSSIA TO HIDE ITS FAILURES

(By French political analyst Emmanuel Leroy. Recorded by Vyacheslav Prokofyev. Rossiiskaya gazeta, Oct. 6, 2025, p. 2. Complete text:) In his speech at Valdai, the Russian president depicted a world in the process of fundamental transformation. In circumstances where nothing is predetermined, he called on states to behave with the utmost caution and care, and to discuss and solve emerging global problems collectively. I would like to note the calm, restrained tone of what was in my opinion a seminal speech. This does not mean that he avoided sharp wording when he rightly criticized Western hysteria surrounding the conflict in Ukraine. His tone toward European elites was justifiably stern. And his tone toward the new US administration under Donald Trump was one of purposeful and positive pragmatism…

(By Yulia Starostina. Meduza, Sept. 26, 2025, https://meduza.io/en/feature/2025/09/26/russians-pick-up-the-tab. Complete text:) Editors’ Note. – The Russian government has approved a draft federal budget for 2026-2028. The full documents aren’t yet public, but the headline figures and major tax changes announced by the Finance Ministry make the Kremlin’s intentions clear: In 2026, it plans to take 1.2 trillion rubles ($14.4 billion) from the public and funnel it into the state budget and the war [in Ukraine] – to the detriment of ordinary citizens and private business. Meduza looks at whether that will be enough to plug a record hole in the federal budget, what it could mean for food prices, and how the Central Bank may be forced to adjust interest rates as it struggles to balance inflation targets amid a slowing economy.

Beginning Jan. 1, 2026, Russia’s value-added tax (VAT) will rise from 20% to 22%, the Finance Ministry announced on Sept. 24 – despite earlier promises not to touch taxes until 2030. The reduced 10% rate will remain for essential goods such as food, medicines and medical supplies, and children’s products. The ministry made no secret of the fact that the 4.4 trillion rubles ($52.8 billion) it expects to extract from the economy over the next three years will go toward military spending and security forces…

(By Mikhail Shevchuk. Republic.ru, Sept. 29, 2025, https://republic.ru/posts/116459. Complete text:) Editors’ Note. – Nine billion rubles. That’s the value of assets that the Russian Federation Prosecutor General’s Office has demanded be seized from Viktor Momotov, a member of the Russian Supreme Court Presidium. These proceedings have become the pinnacle of a whole series of anticorruption cases against Russian judges. The judicial branch is being publicly “stripped down” for all to see, like the legislative branch before it. Mikhail Shevchuk looks into the reason for this pivot by the Prosecutor General’s Office (PGO).

The charges presented by the PGO against Momotov, one of the most senior judicial leaders in the country (he is not only a presidium member and the secretary of the Plenary Session of the Russian Supreme Court, but also the head of the Russian Federation Council of Judges), are impressive. According to the PGO, in the years he has been at his post, this judge has built a hotel empire by literally partnering with crime figures from the Pokrovskiye crime group, who “accumulated assets through corrupt use of power, forcible takeovers and unjust judicial rulings.”…

(By Yekaterina Doronicheva. Krasnaya zvezda, Oct. 3, 2025, p. 1. Condensed text:) Editors’ Note. – On the eve of the holiday, Lt. Gen. Anatoly Nestechuk, head of the A.F. Mozhaisky Military Space Academy, spoke about the tasks facing the legendary officer training institution he leads.

Question. – Anatoly Nikolayevich [Nestechuk], not long ago, in collaboration with rocket and space enterprises, the Mozhaisky Academy successfully launched the educational and research satellite Mozhayets 6 into orbit. What does this launch mean for the academy?…

(By Viktoria Panfilova. Nezavisimaya gazeta, Sept. 29, 2025, p. 5. Condensed text:) Kazakhstan has appointed its new Foreign Minister Yermek Kosherbayev, who will prepare President Kasym-Zhomart Tokayev’s November state visit to Russia. His predecessor, Murat Nurtleu, was transferred to the post of presidential aide for international investment and trade cooperation.

The change of Kazakhstan’s foreign minister, which took place the day before, coincided with the escalation of border problems with Russia. In taking charge of the Foreign Ministry, Yermek Kosherbayev has inherited a critical situation with customs: Thousands of trucks coming from China are waiting to pass through checkpoints, where every car is carefully inspected. Drivers report weeks of delays and horrible waiting conditions. According to them, usually only one in 10 cars is inspected…

(By Bogdan Stepovoi and Kirill Fenin. Izvestia, Sept. 30, 2025, p. 3. Condensed text:) The US’s transfer of Tomahawk missiles to Kiev will lead to a serious escalation, experts interviewed by Izvestia commented in response to a statement by US Vice-President J.D. Vance that President [Donald] Trump will make the final decision on their delivery. . . .

Moscow has heard Washington’s statements about possible missile deliveries to Kiev and is “carefully analyzing them,” presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov stressed. He said there is no panacea that can change the situation at the front right now…

(By Andrei Serenko. Nezavisimaya gazeta, Oct. 3, 2025, p. 1. Complete text:) Afghanistan’s Taliban regime is facing its first major domestic political crisis. Its two main factions, which are centered in Kandahar and Kabul, are not only vying for the right to lead, but are also championing different strategies for maintaining control over the country. The escalation in tension could lead to a new civil war in Afghanistan and the collapse of the Taliban’s current system of government.

On the evening of Sept. 29, the Internet was shut down in Afghanistan, followed by mobile phone networks. Panic spread through the country, exacerbated by the collapse of government agencies, the transportation network and medical, financial and other institutions. Airports in Kabul and other cities ceased operations. The descent into the informational dark age was accompanied by rumors of armed clashes between fighters from various Taliban groups and the possible arrival of an American assault force at Bagram air base: In September, US President Donald Trump had repeatedly expressed his intention to return this key Afghan military base to Washington’s control [see Vol. 77, No. 39, p. 17]…

(Editorial) – (Nezavisimaya gazeta, Oct. 3, 2025, p. 2. Complete text:) Citing sources with knowledge of the situation, the Yonhap News Agency is reporting that US President Donald Trump is ready for talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un “without preconditions.” This is yet another of the many conflicts Trump has made it his business to end. He will have to work on all of them at the same time: Neither the question of Gaza nor the question of Russia and Ukraine has been closed yet.

The situation is clearer in the case of Gaza, although this doesn’t mean that peace is close. The clarity here lies elsewhere. Trump has made it perfectly evident whose side he is on: He supports Israel. As he sees it, the only compromise can be about [Israeli Prime Minister] Benjamin Netanyahu’s harsh methods. Trump has put a peace plan on the table that calls for the disarming of Hamas and its self-removal from governing Gaza; the withdrawal of Israeli troops; the release of hostages; the enclave’s transfer to the control of an international structure led by the US president; and an end to Israel’s occupation of the Gaza Strip and its transformation into a free economic zone…