A 177-drone attack on Russian regions, an arrest in Armenia at Moscow's request, and the trial of Popcorn Books publishers: NeMoskva's nightly review
Massive drone strikes in the Krasnodar region overnight, resulting in deaths and injuries, the arrest of a vehicle fleet manager after a fatal accident in Yekaterinburg, the detention of a Russian mathematician in Yerevan, and the persecution of independent publishing house employees. We've compiled the top news from Russia's regions and border areas over the past night in our traditional digest.
A sea terminal is on fire: 177 drones attacked the Krasnodar region and the Black Sea.
On the night of June 13, the Krasnodar Krai was hit by a massive attack by Ukrainian drones. The strikes in the Temryuk district killed one person and injured three others to varying degrees. A major fire broke out at the sea terminal where the drones landed. According to Krasnodar Krai Governor Veniamin Kondratyev, extensive firefighting efforts are underway: 96 personnel are working on the fire, along with over 30 pieces of specialized equipment, including from the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations.
In total, according to official data from the Russian Ministry of Defense, 177 drones were intercepted and shot down by air defense systems on duty over Russian regions, as well as over the Black and Azov Seas, last night.
At the same time, strikes were carried out in Ukrainian regions. For example, in the Zaporizhzhia region, one person was killed and eight more civilians were injured as a result of shelling over the past 24 hours. Additionally, two civilians were injured in an attack on Mykolaiv.
Fatal accident in Yekaterinburg: court arrests bus driver and bus depot director
In Yekaterinburg, the Verkh-Isetsky District Court has ordered pretrial detention for those involved in a high-profile traffic accident that claimed the lives of four people. The bus driver who struck the pedestrians has been remanded in custody for at least two months.
At the same time, the court granted the investigator's motion and remanded Alexey Yarkov, director of the Avtonom transport company, into custody. The head of the transport company is officially charged with providing services that do not meet consumer safety or health requirements, resulting in the negligent death of two or more persons (Part 3 of Article 238 of the Russian Criminal Code).
Prosecution for criticizing the Crocus story: Mikhail Verbitsky detained in Yerevan at Russia's request
At Zvartnots International Airport in Yerevan, Armenian security forces detained renowned mathematician and blogger Mikhail Verbitsky at the official request of the Russian Federation. He had previously been placed on Russia's federal and international wanted lists for "justifying terrorism" (Article 205.2 of the Russian Criminal Code). The scientist was prosecuted for his social media posts supporting Ukraine, as well as his harsh criticism of the Kremlin's official narrative regarding the terrorist attack at Crocus City Hall near Moscow.
The Armenian human rights organization Vanadzor explained that the blogger's fate and the question of his arrest will directly depend on whether the Russian side submits an official package of extradition documents within the next 72 hours.
Up to 12 years in prison: Case against Popcorn Books executives sent to court
The Russian Prosecutor's Office has approved the indictment and sent to court a high-profile criminal case against employees and executives of the independent publishing houses Popcorn Books and Individuum. Dmitry Protopopov, CEO, Pavel Ivanov, Sales Director, and Artem Vakhlyaev, Warehouse Manager, will stand trial.
They are charged with organizing the activities of an extremist organization (Article 282.2 of the Russian Criminal Code). Under this serious charge, the defendants, who also published books on LGBT themes (the international LGBT public movement is recognized as extremist in the Russian Federation and is banned), now face up to 12 years in prison.
Russian messenger Max is missing foreign encryption certificates.
Due to international sanctions, the popular foreign service Let's Encrypt completely blocked the domain of the new Russian messenger Max and officially refused to issue the platform new SSL certificates, which are responsible for secure end-to-end data encryption.
Another major certification authority, GlobalSign, had previously refused to cooperate with the Russian project. The messenger's current security certificate will remain valid for another 90 days, after which the domestic project, which had already been forcibly removed from the App Store, risks being left without imported encryption protocols.
SEO title (title tag): The 177 drone attacks on Russia, Verbitsky's arrest, and the Popcorn Books trial Meta Description: Overnight digest: attack on terminal in Temryuk district, detention of mathematician Verbitsky in Armenia, arrests after fatal accident in Yekaterinburg. Slug: ataka-177-dronov-krasnodar-arest-verbitskogo-popcorn-books Keywords: Drone attack in Krasnodar Krai, Mikhail Verbitsky detained in Yerevan, Popcorn Books publishing house in court, bus accident in Yekaterinburg, Autonomous District Region: Krasnodar Krai, Sverdlovsk Oblast
