My piece on the bizarre, daring raid by pro-Kyiv Russians into Russian border area this week that the Ukrainian government claims it has nothing to do with:
“Now that they’re in Russia they’re doing it in their own free time.”
telegraph.co.uk/world-news/202… None of the photos posted by Ilya Bogdanov since Monday suggest any significant resistance from the Russian side of the border which was guarded by a few officers who had fled the sparsely populated area.
In one clip, Bogdanov is seen punching a framed Russian document with gusto

Probably my most important long-read in 12 months:
The Chechelyuk family was trapped by the Russian invasion in Mariupol.
They have survived bombings, trauma and loss of their home.
Their daughters were taken to a filtration camp. But only one made it out.
telegraph.co.uk/world-news/202…

A thin and gaunt Alexei Navalny at an appeal hearing just now - first time we saw him at the high security prison he was moved to earlier this month. The video link was still on during a recess in the hearing so Navalny was able to chat with the court room.
Asked about conditions at his new prison he said "everything is super, mega-high security" but the food there is "so much better" than at his previous colony.

It's been more than 48hrs since the Moskva sank with 500 people aboard. We still haven't seen any photos/videos of the rescued crew.
What is most stunning we haven't seen a single wife or mother going public about the loss, demanding answers from the Russian government. I've been covering Russia for 14 and I have seen space for public debate shrinking every year and people getting increasingly scared of speaking out but the level of fear we're seeing now is unmatched.

My dispatch from Taganrog where evacuees found themselves on a train station for a potential 1,300 kilometre ride. The Rostov region can't take in any more people.
📸 @maksim_babenko
telegraph.co.uk/world-news/202… One evacuee relief co-ordinator suggested a good reason to travel on from Rostov was the likelihood of a long crisis. “We’re in it for a haul. This is not going to end any time soon," said Lidia Kovalenko who herself was a refugee in 2014.
📸 @maksim_babenko

Devastating news from Minsk: the Belarusian foreign ministry has stripped dozens of locals journalists working for foreign media of their press accreditation, affecting the entire bureaus of Reuters, AP, AFP, Deutsche Welle. 1/2 This basically means that they could be arrested and charged if they’re caught on the streets reporting. Hard to process the impact this decision will have. 2/2

Moscow Mayor Sobyanin drops the bomb and orders a full lockdown in Moscow - on a four hours’ notice. No walks outside, even physical exercises are allowed. Two and a half hours to the full lockdown in Moscow: