Sunday link dump & open thread

Edward Slavsquat's weekly Russia-related news roundup

The lunch of champions. If you know, you know.

Welcome to Edward Slavsquat’s weekly link dump and open thread. You have full permission to shill URLs in the comments section. Or just say hi.

Also, a very happy Easter to those on the Gregorian calendar.

News from Russia

• The Bank of Russia will pour resources into studying the uses of AI. [Business Gazeta]

• 47% of Russian business leaders believe western sanctions have had a generally positive or at least neutral effect on the nation’s economy. [Vedomosti]

• Tuition fees at Russian universities are projected to increase by 7-26% for the 2023/24 academic year. [Octagon]

• There are still obstacles to exporting Russian fertilizers and grain. If the West does not honor the grain deal, Moscow will work on ways to resume exports outside of the framework of the UN-brokered accord, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said. [RIA Novosti]

• The Ministry of Defense has formed air defense units in Russia’s newly incorporated regions [Kommersant]

• Murashko continues to desperately cling to COVD. [TASS]

• Finland becomes the 31st member of Raytheon’s extortion racket NATO [Life.ru]

• A bill introduced in the State Duma proposes life in prison for those found guilty of treason. Under the current Criminal Code, treason is punishable by up to 20 years in prison. [RBC]

• Low unemployment is due to a record-breaking decrease in Russia’s population, according to Mikhail Delyagin, deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee on Economic Policy: “Where will you get strength if you destroy yourself? We had a natural population decline in the year before last of a million people, the extinction of [our] people, and no one is punished for this.” [Banki]

Views from Russian alt media

• Pension reform is modern-day cannibalism, argues the vice president of the Confederation of Labor of Russia. [Nakanune]

• Russia’s “digital transformation” follows the blueprints of the UN and Davos. [Katyusha]

• “Decades of toothless politics are making themselves felt”—but these failures will usher in positive change. [Zavtra]

• “The murder of Vladlen Tatarsky: Again we are on the defensive.” [Topwar]

Edward’s Squatcast is back?

We are trying to reboot our podcast, Edward’s Squatcast. We put yesterday’s comeback episode (“Ask a Serb: An Orthodox Christian perspective on Ukraine”) behind the paywall, as a special thank you to our extremely attractive, 200-IQ subscribers. But future episodes will most likely be Free For All.

Have a joyous Sunday,

— Riley