Current Digest of the Russian Press, Vol. 78, No. 7 – Table of Contents

([No author indicated.] Meduza, Feb. 10, 2026 https://meduza.io/en/feature/2026/02/10/telegram-is-one-of-the-last-messaging-apps-in-russia-that-the-state-doesn-t-control-did-the-kremlin-just-block-it-for-good. Condensed text:) Telegram, one of Russia’s most widely used messaging apps, has been malfunctioning for the past two days. On Tuesday [Feb. 10], Russia’s federal censorship agency confirmed it was behind the disruptions, saying the measures were meant to “protect” citizens. For many Russians, Telegram is one of the few major platforms they have access to that still operates outside state control. Along with the American messenger WhatsApp, Telegram has faced escalating “restrictions” over the past six months. Now, it appears the Kremlin may be moving toward blocking the app completely. There’s just one problem: Russian officials rely on it…

NGE: THE NEW ACTIONS AGAINST TELEGRAM COME AFTER YEARS OF FAILED ATTEMPTS TO BLOCK THE APP, BUT ROSKOMNADZOR NOW HAS MUCH MORE EXTENSIVE BLOCKING POWERS THAN IN THE PAST

([No author indicated]. Novaya gazeta Europe, Feb. 13, 2026, https://novayagazeta.eu/articles/2026/02/13/vtoraia-osada-telegram. Condensed text:) Editors’ Note. – The Russian authorities first tried to block Telegram back in 2018, but that attempt failed, and Roskomnadzor had to back down. . . …

NG: A JUST RUSSIA, RFCP PRESS COMMS AGENCIES ON TELEGRAM SLOWING; EXPERT: RFCP, YABLOKO ARE ONLY PARTIES THAT MAY ACTUALLY EXPLOIT TOPIC OF INTERNET FREEDOM IN FALL DUMA ELECTIONS

(By Darya Garmonenko. Nezavisimaya gazeta, Feb. 13, 2026, p. 1. Condensed text:)A Just Russia leader Sergei Mironov announced that he has asked the Russian Security Council to assess Roskomnadzor’s efforts to throttle Telegram. The Russian Federation Communist Party (RFCP) is preparing a query about this for the [Russian] Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media Ministry. . . …

ROSKOMNADZOR TO MOVE AHEAD WITH COMPLETE BLOCKING OF TELEGRAM; SOURCE: DUROV’S IMAGE WILL BE TARNISHED IF APP ISN’T BLOCKED, AS THAT WOULD MAKE IT SEEM HE ACCOMMODATED RUSSIA

https://novayagazeta.eu/articles/2026/02/17/russia-to-block-telegram-from-1-april-as-crackdown-on-foreign-owned-apps-continues-en-news. Condensed text:) Russia’s media regulator, Roskomnadzor, has decided to fully block the Telegram messaging app beginning April 1, Telegram news channel Baza said on Tuesday, citing sources in multiple government departments…

MILITARY INTELLIGENCE DEPUTY CHIEF IN STABLE CONDITION AFTER SUBURBAN MOSCOW SHOOTING; UAE EXTRADITES UKRAINIAN-BORN BUSINESSMAN IDENTIFIED AS SHOOTER; CONSPIRATORS CHARGED

(By Oleg Rubnikovich. Kommersant,Feb. 9, 2026,p. 1. Condensed text:)The assassination attempt on Lt. Gen.Vladimir Alekseyev, first deputy head of the Chief Administration (formerly the GRU [Chief Intelligence Administration]) of the General Staff of the [Russian] Armed Forces, was solved quickly. . . …

GLUKHOVA: AS PRIGOZHIN ALIENATED ARMY HEADS EVEN BEFORE WAR, ALEKSEYEV BEGAN DEVELOPING VOLUNTEER CORPS AS ALTERNATIVE PMC TO WAGNER, WITH WIDE NETWORK OF DOZENS OF AUXILIARY UNITS

(By Natalya Glukhova. Novaya gazeta Europe,Feb. 6, 2026,https://novayagazeta.eu/articles/2026/02/06/kak-alekseev-sozdaval-i-kuriroval-chvk-kakie-otnosheniia-byli-u-nego-s-prigozhinym-i-mozhno-li-nazvat-redut-provalom-generala-gru. Condensed text:) Editors’ Note. – In recent military conflicts involving Russia, so-called private military companies (PMCs) have come to play an important role. The most famous of them was Wagner PMC. At the same time, neither [late Kremlin-associated businessman Yevgeny] Prigozhin’s company nor those that replaced it were truly private: They were created and managed through the special services and special units of the Russian Army. One of the main architects of these proxy forces, which the state uses to solve its tasks, was GRU deputy head Gen. Vladimir Alekseyev, who was shot today in Moscow. . . …

LATEST SUSPECT IN RUSSIAN SPY CHIEF’S FAILED ASSASSINATION AN EX-MILITARY OFFICER WHO ALLEGEDLY TRACKED GRU GENERAL ALONGSIDE FATHER

([No author indicated.] Meduza, Feb. 10, 2026, https://meduza.io/en/feature/2026/02/11/the-latest-suspect-in-the-failed-assassination-of-a-top-russian-spy-chief-is-a-former-military-officer-who-allegedly-tracked-the-gru-general-alongside-his-own-father. Complete text:) Russia’s FSB has arrested athird suspect inconnection with arecent assassination attempt onGRU Lt. Gen. Vladimir Alekseyev, the agencyannouncedonTuesday.

The failed hit on Alekseyev, the first deputy head ofRussia’s military intelligence agency, took place inMoscow onFeb. 6. Alekseyev was hospitalized with serious gunshot wounds but survived the attack. According tostate media reports, the lieutenant general regained consciousness after undergoing surgery, and his condition “remains stable.”…

(By Andrei Pertsev. Translation by Kevin Rothrock. Meduza, Feb. 9, 2026, https://meduza.io/en/feature/2026/02/09/Sergei-ivanov-spent-decades-as-putin-s-most-trusted-man-and-then-watched-as-that-trust-became-a-cage. Complete text:) Editors’ Note. – In early February, [Russian President] Vladimir Putin relieved Sergei Ivanov of his duties as the president’s special envoy for environmental matters. Ivanov, 73, is one of Putin’s oldest and closest allies – the two served together in the KGB in Leningrad. After Putin rose to power, Ivanov held some of the most senior positions in the Russian government, serving at various times as secretary of the Security Council, defense minister, deputy prime minister and chief of the presidential administration. He was even considered a contender in the 2008 presidential race, but Putin chose Dmitry Medvedev as his temporary successor. Ivanov largely withdrew from active politics in 2016 and has now, a decade later, stepped down entirely. Meduza special correspondent Andrei Pertsev looks back at the defining moments in the career of a core member of Putin’s inner circle.

In 2000, the newspaper Kommersant asked Vladimir Putin – who at that point was still just the acting president – whose advice he valued and whom he trusted. “Trust?” Putin answered. “Sergei Ivanov, the Security Council secretary. There’s such a thing as the sense of having someone at your side.*** That’s the feeling I get with Ivanov.” The two had known each other since the KGB, where they occupied adjacent rooms in the same office. Ivanov himself recounted the story to [then-US] president George W. Bush during Bush’s 2002 visit to St. Petersburg. At the time, Ivanov was Russia’s minister of defense…

(By Darya Garmonenko. Nezavisimaya gazeta,Feb. 10, 2026,p. 1. Complete text:)Pavel Krasheninnikov, head of the State Duma committee on [constitutional legislation and] state-building, believes that artificial intelligence (AI) should be gradually and carefully regulated when it comes to its use in elections. Soon, amendments will be made to electoral laws concerning the political functionality of neural networks. As NG found out, opposition factions are still working out their position on the AI issue and new campaign rules. A Just Russia leader Sergei Mironov even has a counterproposal already: allowing candidates free use of their family photo albums.

“I think we need to mention it without going overboard. We have to treat this very carefully. After all, this is a matter that has not been fully understood,” Krasheninnikov responded when asked about regulating AI in electoral law…

(By Dmitry Taratorin. Nezavisimaya gazeta, Feb. 11, 2026, p. 5. Condensed text:) . . . On Tuesday [Feb. 10], Belarus published an official schedule of events to mark the Year of the Belarussian Woman. The [Belarussian] president, [Aleksandr Lukashenko], has decided to dedicate 2026 to the fairer sex. To execute his order, the government approved a list of measures and events that should please Belarussian women.

It also approved a logo for the year, which was chosen in a competition with over 100 different entries. The Belta news agency reported that the winner, Yevgenia Pogranichnaya, a photographer from Volkovysk who leads the youth wing of the Belarussian Union of Women’s district organization, has a very clear understanding of what the state expects from Belarussian women.“The Belarussian woman combines tenderness and strength. She proudly preserves the traditions of her people. She is wise and stable, and looks after her family and country with care. Love for her native land lives in her heart, and the bright energy of creation and inspiration lives in her deeds,” Yevgenia said, describing the body of ideas that inspired her…

([No author indicated.] Meduza, Feb. 12, 2026, https://meduza.io/en/feature/2026/02/12/after-deadly-protests-forced-reforms-in-2022-kazakhstan-s-president-agreed-to-one-term-his-new-constitution-offers-two-putin-style-escape-hatches-to-stay-in-power. Complete text:) On Jan. 31, Kazakhstan unveiled a draft of its new Constitution, the culmination of what President Kasym-Zhomart Tokayev has framed as a parliamentary overhaul. The initiative began in September 2025, when Tokayev proposed dismantling Kazakhstan’s two-chamber parliament in favor of a unicameral model, arguing that the Senate is a relic of the “unstable political conditions” of 1995 that has served its purpose [see Vol. 77, No. 37, pp. 17-18]. He claims the new structure will allow bills to pass more efficiently, though he cautioned that the shift would require changes to about 40 articles of the Constitution.

However, as work progressed on Kazakhstan’s constitutional revisions, it became clear that far more amendments were necessary. Tokayev explained on Jan. 20 that such large-scale changes were comparable to adopting a new Constitution. He created a special constitutional commission the following day [see Vol. 78, No. 4, pp. 14-15]. The group acted swiftly, reportedly drafting the revised Constitution in just 10 days…

(By Viktoriya Panfilova. Nezavisimaya gazeta, Feb. 12, 2026, Condensed text:) The era of the political tandem has come to an end in Kyrgyzstan. Kamchibek Tashiyev’s dismissal from the positions of head of Kyrgyzstan’s National Security Committee (NSC) and deputy prime minister, which [Kyrgyz] President Sadyr Zhaparov announced on Feb. 10, marks a radical transformation of the architecture of state governance. . . .

A key step in this was the weakening of the NSC’s influence: The Border Service was removed from the agency’s structure and became an independent body. At the same time, the State Security Service was created on the basis of the NSC’s former Ninth Service and reports to the president. It will be responsible not only for the leader’s personal security, but also for protecting all strategic facilities. Moreover, the status of NSC chair has been officially enshrined as a separate position in the cabinet of ministers. Sweeping reforms are expected in the NSC after its new leader arrives…

(By Konstantin Remchukov. Nezavisimaya gazeta, Feb. 26, 2026, p. 1. Complete text:) This year’s Munich Security Conference (MSC) has witnessed a number of trends that are likely to determine the future of international relations. And not only the immediate future.

The leitmotif of most presentations was the end of the international and economic order as it was understood until recently. Economic expediency and national interests now take precedence over the abstract rules and norms that have been followed until now…

(By Vladimir Kuzar. Krasnaya zvezda, Feb. 9, 2026, p. 7. Complete text:) Editors’ Note. – On Feb. 19, in Washington,the White House plans to hold a meeting of participants in the Board of Peace on the settlement in the Gaza Strip. The American news outlet Axios, citing a US official as its source,reports thatthis will be the first meeting of the Board of Peace and a donor conference to raise funds for the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip. According to the outlet, the White House hopes that the meeting will help advance the second phase of the plan to resolve the situation in the Palestinian enclave. At the same time, plans for the meeting could change. Much will depend on the Feb. 11 meeting at the White House between [US President] Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

It is worth recalling that on Jan. 22 of this year, at the World Economic Forum in Davos, US President Donald Trumpsigned the charter of the Board of Peace in the presence of leaders of several statesand declared it formally established[see Vol. 78, No. 4, pp. 3-4]. What kind of structure is this, and what is the purpose of its creation? These and other questions were addressed in an interview with Krasnaya zvezda by Vladimir Kozin, a veteran of the diplomatic service and a corresponding member of the Academy of Military Sciences and the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences…

(By Kirill Fenin. Izvestia, Feb. 11, 2026, p. 1. Condensed text:) . . . The Kremlin and the Elysée Palace have restored technical contacts, making it possible to hold top-level talks soon. A conversation between [French President] Emmanuel Macron and [Russian President] Vladimir Putin would be a positive signal in the context of dialogue with the European Union, but serious preparations would be needed for success, Izvestia was told at the Federation Council. . . .

As Russia-US-Ukraine talks in Abu Dhabi move forward, the EU has realized that it has ended up as a passive observer. Currently, more and more people there are speaking out in favor of restoring contacts with Moscow. France has effectively become the main lobbyist: President Emmanuel Macron has urged several European leaders to resume dialogue with Russia…