Dagestan Governor Sergey Melikov is out, Putin says. Regional officials reprotedly want to replace him with Fyodor Shchekin, the republic's Supreme Court chairman. https://t.me/rbc_news/148481

Russian archaeologist Alexander Butyagin, now returned from Polish detention, says the experience hasn't soured him on Europe. The Polish state is merely particularly hostile to Russians, he says, claiming that ordinary Poles expressed support and sympathy for him while he was in custody.

https://t.me/good78news/120757

It's a familiar message: Let's not dismiss or denounce Europe completely, after all it's only the hostile govts that are anti-Russian, the common folk are actually with us. Americans will recognize the sentiment here, since it underpins the assumption that the US way of life appeals universally.

Russia's tax service has moved to declare Vasily Potanin bankrupt. Potanin is the son of Norilsk Nickel billionaire Vladimir Potanin. A court hearing is set for June 25. https://t.me/banksta/93006

At the NPT Review Conference in NYT today, Russia's Foreign Ministry dismissed as "baseless speculation" any suggestion Moscow is considering using nukes in Ukraine. (Russia's intel community alleged in Feb that Britain & France were plotting to transfer nuclear or "dirty" weapons to Kyiv.) https://www.rbc.ru/rbcfreenews/69f28c529a79478a2166d80f

Rosatom plans to resume construction at Iran's only operating nuclear plant, Bushehr, once the US and Israel commit to stop bombing the country. 632 Rosatom workers were evacuated earlier this month. https://www.kommersant.ru/doc/8633082

According to preliminary reports, three civilians were killed and eight wounded when a Ukrainian strike hit a passenger bus in Russia's Belgorod region, near the Ukrainian border. The governor says two victims are in critical condition. https://t.me/vvgladkov/20959

Moscow has reportedly floated a temporary ceasefire in Ukraine during Victory Day celebrations on May 9 — Russia’s biggest patriotic holiday, marking the Soviet defeat of Nazi Germany. Putin made the offer to Trump, according to Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov. https://tass.ru/politika/27265151

Peter Magyar, Hungary’s incoming prime minister and leader of the TISZA party, has sharp criticisms of Ukraine’s treatment of Hungarians in Transcarpathia.

Russia's federal censor is gunning for opposition media outlets' mobile apps again. Roskomnadzor is now demanding that Apple and Google remove the new iStories app from their Russian app stores. (In Oct 2024, Apple removed RFE/RL's app from its Russian app store.) https://istories.media/news/2026/04/29/roskomnadzor-potreboval-udalit-prilozhenie-vazhnyh-istoriy-iz-appstore-i-google-play/

The sole liquefied gas filling station serving 60% of Tuapse has burned down in the refinery fires caused by Ukrainian drone strikes. Some home tanks still have propane/butane reserves from prior deliveries, but others are running out. Station repairs haven't even begun yet. https://t.me/postzine/894?single

Sen. McConnell's op-ed in WaPo cowardly pins the White House's Ukraine policy on the Pentagon and even Biden without placing any responsibility on Trump. He also papers over America's limited supplies & production shortfalls by waving at past appropriations. https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2026/04/28/mitch-mcconnell-congress-funded-ukraine-pentagon-is-stalling/