Current Digest of the Russian Press, Vol. 77, No. 47 – Table of Contents

GEN. BUZHINSKY: UKRAINE OPERATION CHANGED WAR TACTICS, PRIORITIES; IGNORE WESTERN TALK OF SLOW ADVANCES, UKRAINE ‘STEADILY SHRINKING’; RUSSIAN NUCLEAR TRIAD SOLIDLY OUTPACING U.S. ADVANCES

(By Vitaly Tseplyayev. Argumenty i fakty, Nov. 19, 2025, p. 3. Complete text:) Editors’ Note. – . . . Russian troops are stepping up the offensive in the zone of the special operation [in Ukraine]. At the same time, “the conflict in Ukraine has reached its closest point to stopping through diplomatic efforts,” the Turkish Foreign Ministry stated…

EXPERTS: TOP UKRAINIANS IMPLICATED IN ‘MINDICH CASE’ ARE DAMAGING ZELENSKY, FORCING HIM TO NEGOTIATING TABLE; EU RULES OUT MEMBERSHIP, CONTROL OF RUSSIAN ASSETS FOR ‘CORRUPT’ KIEV

(By Maksim Bazanov. Izvestia, Nov. 19, 2025, p. 1. Condensed text:) Both Ukrainian and foreign politicians are putting serious pressure on Zelensky due to the corruption scandal among the Kiev elite [see Vol. 77, No. 46, pp. 3-6]. The [businessman Timur] Mindich case was apparently the reason why the head of the Ukrainian regime started talking about resuming negotiations with Russia…

PRIKHODKO: UKRAINIANS’ OUTRAGE OVER PLAN FOR ‘CAPITULATION’ DROWNS OUT FUROR OVER MINDICH, LETTING BELEAGUERED ZELENSKY TEAM REGROUP

(By Natalya Prikhodko. Nezavisimaya gazeta, Nov. 21, 2025, p. 5. Condensed text:) Despite promises from Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky, Thursday was not marked by “major fundamental decisions” in connection with the high-profile corruption scandal. . . …

AFTER MEETING U.S. MILITARY DELEGATION IN KIEV, ZELENSKY AGREES TO USE 28-POINT PLAN AS BASIS FOR NEGOTIATIONS; TRUMP SEEKS DEAL IN FIVE DAYS

(By Irena Shekoyan. Kommersant, Nov. 22, 2025, p. 1. Condensed text:) . . . US Ambassador to Ukraine Julie Davis signaled that the US intends to reach a final deal on a Russia-Ukraine settlement as soon as possible. Shortly after Vladimir Zelensky’s private meeting with a group of US generals in Kiev on the evening of Nov. 20, the diplomat told reporters that work on a peace agreement between Moscow and Kiev would proceed on an “aggressive timetable.” Britain’s Financial Times, citing its sources, has indicated how aggressive it is: According to its sources, the White House administration would like to reach a deal by Thanksgiving Day, i.e. by Nov. 27…

RFCP MODIFIES SOCIOECONOMIC AGENDA AS BASIS FOR ITS CAMPAIGN PLATFORM; AFONIN: SOCIETY IS GETTING MORE DISSATISFIED – POLLS SHOW GROWING POPULARITY OF SOCIALIST IDEAS, SOVIET LEADERS

(By Grigory Leiba. Kommersant, Nov. 17, 2025, p. 3. Complete text:) The Russian Federation Communist Party (RFCP) began preparing for the 2026 State Duma elections by tweaking its socioeconomic agenda. The party leadership presented a report on its Victory Program at the most recent Central Committee plenum, which was held in Moscow Province last weekend [Nov. 15-16]. The minimum task for the Communists in the upcoming elections is to perform no worse than they did in the 2021 elections, when the party took a strong second place [see Vol. 73, No. 38 39, pp. 3 6]. At the same time, the RFCP is promising to do away with the myth of “pseudo-second parties” at the end of the Duma campaign…

RFCP OFFICIALS IN ALTAI, MARITIME TERRITORIES ARRESTED IN WHAT PARTY SEES AS CAMPAIGN TO ‘DEMORALIZE’ ACTIVISTS; EXPERT: ARRESTS MAY BACKFIRE, END UP MAKING PARTY STRONGER

(By Yulia Maleva. Vedomosti, Nov. 19, 2025, https://www.vedomosti.ru/politics/articles/2025/11/19/1156083-kommunisti-v-regionah-stolknulis-s-arestami. Complete text:) On Nov. 18, the RFCP’s Altai Territory branch posted a statement on its Telegram channel saying that it views the criminal prosecution of Svetlana Kerber, an aide to RFCP regional legislative assembly member Lyudmila Klyushnikova, as political pressure on the deputy because of her “opposition activities and dedication to fighting for the interests of city residents.”…

RFCP APPOINTS GRUDININ, BONDARENKO TO LEAD NEW ADVISORY BODIES TO PROMOTE EMPLOYEE- OWNED BUSINESSES, DEVELOP NEW COMMUNICATIONS CHANNELS IN ATTEMPT TO BROADEN ELECTORATE

(By Darya Garmonenko and Ivan Rodin. Nezavisimaya gazeta, Nov. 21, 2025, p. 3. Condensed text:) The latest plenary session of the Communist Party’s Central Committee made a decision to set up two new advisory bodies. Pavel Grudinin, owner of the Lenin State Farm and the Communist candidate in the 2018 presidential election, will preside over a council promoting the concept of people’s enterprises, while Nikolai Bondarenko, secretary of the Saratov Provincial Committee and a popular blogger with millions of followers, will be developing new communication channels for voter outreach. . . …

([No author indicated.] Meduza, Nov. 17,2025, https://meduza.io/en/feature/2025/11/17/as-russia-s-wage-debt-crisis-spreads-more-workers-are-going-months-without-pay. Complete text:) Editors’ Note. – Russia is seeing a rapid rise in unpaid wages: Arrears have quadrupled in a year, and workers in construction, mining and even strategic defense plants say they’ve gone months without pay. Official statistics show wage delays climbing sharply, even as experts debate whether the surge signals a deeper economic problem or simply reflects a statistical fluctuation. The independent outlet iStories spoke with workers and looked at economists’ assessments to better understand what’s happening. Meduza shares an abridged translation of their reporting.

“The situation is dire. We haven’t been paid in three months, and nobody can say when the money will come. People can’t make their loan payments – everyone has families,” a foreman in the molding shop at the Kingisepp Machine-Building Plant (KMZ) told iStories. “We have nothing to live on,” confirmed a service engineer who hasn’t received the bonuses that make up most of his income since August. According to workers, the plant is seeing mass layoffs, but even as they leave, people aren’t able to collect their final paychecks…

(By Olga Solovyova. Nezavisimaya gazeta, Nov. 20, 2025, p. 1. Condensed text:) Recent polls show that Russians’ material well-being has deteriorated in the past few months. The share of those who say that their financial status has improved has fallen to 8%, while almost one in four [respondents] (23%) said it has deteriorated. This is according to the Public Opinion Foundation (POF). . . .

To compare: The share of positive and negative assessments practically coincided last summer. In mid-2024, 15% [of respondents] said their material well-being had deteriorated, [and] 11% [said it] had improved. The assessments were also similar in March 2025, when 14% of Russians said their incomes had grown in the past few months, [and] 18% [said they had] declined…

(By Natalya Zakharova, Yana Surinskaya and Georgy Nedogibchenko. Vedomosti, Nov. 19, 2025, https://www.vedomosti.ru/society/articles/2025/11/19/1156383-bastrikin-prosit-dela. Complete text:) Russian Investigative Committee (IC) head Aleksandr Bastrykin is requesting permission to open criminal investigations into six judges. This information is included in the agenda for the meeting of the High Judicial Qualifications Board (HJQB). In addition, the panel will raise the issue of stripping Judge Aleksandr Chernov, [former] presiding judge of the Krasnodar Territory Court, of his emeritus status.

According to a Vedomosti source in the judicial community, Supreme Court Chief Justice Igor Krasnov will personally attend the HJQB meeting. The source says that since his appointment, he has taken an active stance on purging the judicial ranks of corrupt influences…

(By Dmitry Taratorin. Nezavisimaya gazeta, Nov. 19, 2025, p. 1. Condensed text:) . . . [Belarussian opposition leader] Svetlana Tikhanovskaya will once again speak at a foreign event on Wednesday. She is in London attending a discussion on “The Future of Belarus in a Peaceful Europe,” organized by the Center for European Reform and the Delegation of the EU to the UK.

Meanwhile, she returned from far-off Australia just last week. While there, she met with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. According to the Belarussian opposition leader’s press service, the prime minister expressed his complete support for her actions…

(By Igor Seleznyov. Nezavisimaya gazeta, Nov. 20, 2025, p. 5. Condensed text:) A forum on European Union enlargement was held in Brussels to which Georgia was not invited, because its government is unworthy of integration, according to the European Commission. Officials in Tbilisi did not take this well. . . .

“Georgia has existed on this map for many centuries and will continue to exist. The EU is trying to use these kinds of meetings for political machinations. This confirms yet again the comical situation with Georgia’s allegedly suspended European integration process, where the EU itself doesn’t invite us to the enlargement meeting. That leaves no question about who suspended the process,” said [Georgian] Foreign Minister Maka Botchoroshvili…

(By Kirill Fenin. Izvestia, Nov. 21, 2025, p. 2. Condensed text:) Editors’ Note – Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a speech to attendees of the international forum “No Statute of Limitations: Nuremberg at 80” that the norms and principles of the Nuremberg tribunal are still helping today to counter attempts at distorting history and to find appropriate responses to contemporary global challenges and threats. . . .

[Eighty years ago] the leaders of vanquished Nazi Germany appeared before an international military tribunal made up of eight judges representing the Soviet Union, Great Britain, the US and France. Over 316 days, numerous crimes committed by members of the Third Reich were exposed, and the evidence submitted to the world community left no doubt of their guilt…

(By Pavel Polyan. Republic.ru, Nov. 20, 2025, https://republic.ru/posts/116715. Condensed text:) . . . The decision to establish the International Military Tribunal (IMT) was made at the Moscow Conference of Soviet, US and UK foreign ministers in 1943, which authorized the European Advisory Commission to draft its charter. That resulted in the London Charter, annexed to the Agreement for the Prosecution and Punishment of the Major War Criminals of the European Axis, which was adopted in 1945 at an analogous conference in London, with the additional participation of China and France [sic; the London Agreement was signed by the four major Allied powers – the US, Great Britain, France and the Soviet Union – Trans.]. The Charter codified the IMT rules of procedure.

The perception of the Nuremberg IMT is inseparably tied to the general contours of the postwar world and the realization of its fragility and vulnerability…

(By Vladimir Kuzar. Krasnaya zvezda, Nov. 21, 2025, p. 1. Complete text:) Russia and China’s military cooperation is founded on trust and mutual understanding, said Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov during talks with Col. Gen. Zhang Youxia, vice-chairman of China’s Central Military Commission. The meeting took place on Thursday [Nov. 20] as part of a Chinese delegation’s visit to Moscow.

“This year, we commemorated the 80th anniversary of our joint victory over German fascism and Japanese militarism. Our remembrance helps preserve historical truth and immortalize the names of fallen heroes, which is especially important today amid ongoing attempts to rewrite history,” said Belousov…

(By Ivan Lutiyev. Republic.ru, Nov. 19, 2025, https://republic.ru/posts/116705. Condensed text:) Iran is suffering an economic collapse that is hitting the remnants of the middle class the hardest. . . .

The figures, which were released by Iranian statistics agencies in late October, are staggering even for Tehran’s usual state of crisis. Annual inflation of 38.9% is not just a macroeconomic indicator, but a death sentence for a properly functioning economy. But the real shock is in the details: Food prices soared 64.2% in a year, while the cost of education for just one month jumped by 23%. In these conditions, classical economic theory envisages an inevitable social explosion, the disintegration of the social fabric, and collapse. Iran, however, is exhibiting a different model of reality: a paradoxical stability on the brink of collapse…