One in Every Four Russian Veterans of Putin’s War in Ukraine has Lost One Leg or Two, Moscow Says

Paul Goble

            Staunton, June 8 – The human costs of Putin’s war in Ukraine are increasingly visible on the streets of Moscow in the form of Russian veterans of that conflict who have lost legs or arms. According to the government agency helping veterans, 22.8 percent of veterans have lost one leg, 2.4 have lost both, and 5.6 have lost one or both arms.

            Yuri Khabrov, head of that agency, told the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum that 2.6 million veterans of the war in Ukraine had turned to his group, a number that indicates just how many have such serious injuries (vedomosti.ru/society/articles/2026/06/08/1204045-bolee-polovini-veteranov-svo-s-raneniyami-poluchili-i-i-ii-gruppi-invalidnosti).

            He said that 24,000 veterans were now getting medical rehabilitation, 8,000 are in sanatoria, and 54,000 are being supervised by doctors.  As large as Khabrov’s figures are, they may be understating the problem, to judge from reports now coming in from the federal subjects (e.g., svoboda.org/a/v-bashkortostan-vernulisj-pochti-chetyre-tysyachi-uchastnikov-voyny-protiv-ukrainy-iz-nih-tretj-s-invalidnostjyu/33776602.html and svoboda.org/a/vlasti-chuvashii-zayavili-chto-57-vernuvshihsya-s-voyny-v-ukraine-voennosluzhaschih-trudoustroeny/33775775.html).

            But however that may be, Khabrov’s numbers are large enough to project that Russians will be seeing in their daily lives for many years the results of Putin’s war and that governments at all levels will be compelled to spend far more than they planned taking care of these victims.

More than 95 Percent of News Stories have Potential to Affect Inter-Ethnic Relations in the Russian Federation, Russian Government Says

Paul Goble

            Staunton, June 9 – During 2025, the Russian government told the Duma in its report on the implementation of the state’s ethnic policy that “more than 37,000 of the almost 38,500 newsworthy events recorded could affect inter-ethnic and inter-religious relations and that “almost 1200” of these could provoke conflicts.

            This remarkable admission by the government is highlighted by columnist Dmitry Popov on the Absatz portal in the course of his upbeat treatment of the state of ethnic relations and solidarity in Russia (absatz.media/mneniya/166723-duhom-okrepli-v-borbe-pochemu-za-12-let-nevidanno-vyrosla-splochennost-rossijskogo-naroda).

            Three things make the impact of news stories on ethnic and religious relations and even more the government’s decision to call attention to them. First, it is a sign of just how much ethnicity and religion are embroiled in almost all issues and how something apparently distant from them can come out of nowhere as it were and cause problems.

            Second, it is why no amount of censorship can block all the stories that might cause trouble in this area given that different people will read into different stories their own ideas and then act on them, often in ways completely at odds with what the authorities, their censors or their writers try to do

            And third, it is yet another indication of why no Soviet or Russian government has been able to form an effective nationality policy agency. The issues involved are so broad that were an effective one to be established, it would have to be almost as powerful as all the other ministries taken together, something no government would be willing to concede.

            Consequently and now by its own admission, the Russian government at least on this occasion recognizes that nationality problems are something that will always be with it however much Kremlin leaders proclaim that they have “solved the nationality question” or unified the population into a single nation.

Central Muslim Spiritual Directorate Rejects Suggestions Its Imams are Promoting Extremism

Paul Goble

            Staunton, June 8 -- Nearly three weeks after Russian officials charged more than a dozen senior Muslim leaders with various crimes, an action Russian commentators said reflected the Central MSD’s promotion of extremism, that body which is headed by Ravil Gainutdin has responded with a public declaration denouncing all these charges and suggestions.

            (On the arrests and commentaries in May, see windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2026/05/moscow-arrests-ten-senior-muslim.html and jamestown.org/moscows-arrests-of-muslim-spiritual-directorate-officials-likely-to-backfire/; for the Central MSD’s response, see dumrf.ru/upravlenie/documents/26455 and agents.media/duhovnoe-upravlenie-musulman-vpervye-prokommentirovalo-kampaniyu-po-presledovaniyu-islamskih-bogoslovov/.)

            The Central MSD declared that “we categorically reject assertions made in certain media reports and by bloggers alleging that the Spiritual Administration of Muslims of the Russian Federation is linked to extremism, radicalism, foreign influence, or inter-ethnic discord.”

“On the contrary,” it continues, “since its inception, the Spiritual Administration—representing a significant portion of Russia’s Muslims—has operated within the framework of Russian law and in the interests of inter-ethnic, interfaith, and civic harmony; it conducts religious-educational and social activities aimed at fostering the unity of all the peoples of our country.”

            Consequently, “attempts to portray the Spiritual Administration of Muslims as a source of extremism serve not to protect society, but rather to fuel mistrust between state institutions and believers, as well as among the peoples of Russia. Amidst external pressure on the country, such a campaign plays into the hands of its adversaries by undermining internal unity and eroding trust in traditional religious institutions.”

            And it concludes: “the Spiritual Administration of Muslims of the Russian Federation considers it unacceptable to turn isolated, controversial incidents into a campaign aimed at discrediting a traditional religious institution of Russian Muslims. Such a campaign risks stoking inter-ethnic and interfaith tensions, undermines confidence in legitimate religious organizations, and distracts state authorities from addressing genuine threats.”

            In short, the Central MSD and its leader Mufti Ravil Gainutdin have not been intimidated by the arrests and are coming out swinging as it were in defense of themselves and those who have been charged by the state authorities, a response that may make the government think twice about pursuing this campaign or face the consequences of resistance by Muslim leaders.

Russia’s Conflict with the West will Last ‘Decades’ and be Both Hot and Cold, Bezrukov Says

Paul Goble

            Staunton, June 6 – Andrey Bezrukov, an MGIMO professor with close ties to the Russian intelligence services, says that Russia’s current conflict with the West will last “decades” and involve both “hot” and “cold’ periods, thus throwing cold water on many in Russia and the West that the situation will improve radically after Putin leaves the scene.

            In comments to the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, the foreign policy expert said that everyone must be ready for two generations that are going to live in a situation that will be “practically at war” and that Moscow must “be ready for this” and modify the economy and the state budget to support that situation (nakanune.ru/articles/124733/).

              Other Russian experts at the meeting disagreed, but Bezrukov’s words stand out not only because he is known to be extremely influential and has ties with those close to Putin but because what he is saying about changing Russia to put it in a position to continue to fight the West is consistent with Putin’s line.

‘To Intimidate a Thousand Russians, One Need Punish Only One,’ Rights Activists Say

Paul Goble

            Staunton, June 8 – To intimidate a thousand residents of the Russian Federation, the organs need punish only a few, often young people who are arrested and charged with serious crimes like terrorism as a result of provocations carried out by the police or the security services Memorial, OVD and other Russian human rights groups and experts say.

            In reporting this unanimity, Nataliya Kildiyarova, a North Caucasus broadcaster at Radio Liberty, provides the number these groups and experts point to and the way actions against individuals affect their families, friends, and then larger groups (svoboda.org/a/chtoby-zapugatj-tysyachu-dostatochno-nakazatj-odnogo-podrostkov-na-yuge-i-severnom-kavkaze-presleduyut-za-terrorizm/33775795.html).

            Perhaps the most striking fact she advances comes from Russian sociologist Dmitry Dubrovsky who points out that “the number of known cases of prosecuting minors in the republics of the North Caucasus appears to be smaller than in neighboring regions of the south of Russia.”

            The scholar says he isn’t surprised because the strength of family ties in the North Caucasus is so strong that families can be intimidated just by suggestions that charges might be brought against one of their number whereas elsewhere, where families are less strong, that is not the case and the authorities have to bring charges to achieve their goals.

            What that confirms, although the sociologist is not explicit on this point, is that there are more real crimes by young people in the North Caucasus than elsewhere and than are being reported and that the reason the authorities are going after young people is first and foremost to intimidate others.

            Where the organs don’t have to bring charges to achieve that end, they are less likely to; but where they have to bring charges or the population will not be intimidated.

Putin Tells Shipbuilding Corporation Head There Must Not Be Further Delays in Building Icebreakers

Paul Goble

            Staunton, June 8 – Vladimir Putin told Andrey Puchkov, head of Russia’s United Shipbuilding Corporation, that there must not be any delays in the building of icebreakers lest such delays allow the West to challenge Russia’s position on the Northern Sea Route and block Russia’s access to products and technologies.

            This meeting and Putin’s blunt message calls attention not to the successes Russia has had in the construction of icebreakers but precisely to its failure to meet plans, something that is often passed over in silence (newizv.ru/news/2026-06-08/pomeshat-budet-slozhno-putin-ukrepil-liderstvo-rossii-v-ledokolnom-flote-440447).

            And the failures of Russia to produce enough icebreakers are all too real. Despite Putin’s repeated interventions, Russia has built only one icebreaker since the start of his expanded war in Ukraine (windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2025/09/russia-has-built-only-one-icebreaker.html and windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2023/10/ukrainian-war-costs-forces-moscow-to.html).

              Moreover, the current projects in the yards both regarding construction and refitting are lagging behind, even as climate change and Russia’s needs to modernize its fleet to handle both its riverine needs and growing ice problems in the eastern portions of the NSR that frequently trap Russian and foreign ships and embarrass the Kremlin.

Fate of Ethnic Finns in USSR Detailed in New Book and Electronic Data Base

Paul Goble

            Staunton, June 8 – The Finnish National Archives has released its final report on The Fate of Finns in the Soviet Union 1917-1964 (in Finnish) in the form of both a book by Alexi Manio and an interactive data base with information on some 38,000 Finns (mariuver.eu/2026/06/08/sudby-finnov-v-sovetskom-sojuze/).

            (The full text of the itself book is available in full in Finnish online at drive.google.com/file/d/19_FRE2rQs9HgBG7JE0HoAe9p3OtfOyBq/; the electronic data base also in Finnish can be found at  kohtalonaneuvostoliitto.kansallisarkisto.fi/index.php.)

            These new publications are especially valuable for the light they shed on the number of ethnic Finns who fell victim to Stalinist repression and to the very different ways these repressions hit the various waves of Finnish migration into the Russian Empire and then the USSR.

            These waves of migration included  “the "old" Finns, who lived in St. Petersburg before the revolution, the "red refugees" who left Finland after the Civil War of 1918 and the American Finns who came to Karelia from the USA and Canada fo find work during the depression of the 1930s,” Mari El reports in its review of the book and data set.