Russia Is in a ‘Demographic Tragedy’

2 million

The Economist: “A demographic tragedy is unfolding in Russia. Over the past three years the country has lost around 2m more people than it would ordinarily have done, as a result of war, disease and exodus…. The life expectancy of Russian males aged 15 fell by almost five years, to the same level as in Haiti. The number of Russians born in April 2022 was no higher than it had been in the months of Hitler’s occupation. And because so many men of fighting age are dead or in exile, women now outnumber men by at least 10 million.”

Russian Lawmaker Calls for Return of ‘Stalinist Repressions’

“It’s time to introduce the concept of the ‘enemy of the people’: there’s no need to be shy about this. …Do I want Stalinist repressions? I do! Moreover my grandfather served nine years on this charge.”

— State Duma deputy Andrei Gurulyov has openly called for the return of Stalinist methods to crack down on dissent, the Daily Beast reports.

Russsia Has Liquidated Most of Its U.S. Treasury Bonds

84%

“The Russian government has sold off the vast majority of its holdings of U.S. Treasury securities for reasons that remain mysterious, in a dramatic move that experts are calling unprecedented,” the Daily Mail reports. “A U.S. Treasury report released on July 18 shows that Russian holdings of Treasury securities declined by 84% between March and May, down to just $14.9 billion from March holdings of $96.1 billion.”

InfoWars Plagiarized Russian Propaganda

1,000+

“Over the past three years, conspiracy site InfoWars has copied more than 1,000 articles produced by Russian state-sponsored broadcaster RT to its website — all without the permission of RT,” BuzzFeed News reports. “InfoWars is headed by radio host Alex Jones who propagated the false Pizzagate conspiracy theory, fueled hate against migrants, and pushed the unfounded theory that former president Barack Obama is not an American citizen.”

Trump Campaign Chair Indicted on 12 Counts

The Hill:

President Trump’s former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort turned himself in to the FBI on Monday after being indicted on 12 counts, including conspiracy against the United States.

Other counts in the indictment include conspiracy to launder money, false statements and seven counts of failing to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts…

The indictments were reportedly returned by a grand jury on Friday, and were unsealed after the defendents were permitted to surrender themselves, according to a statement from the FBI.

Russians Hacked Election Systems in 39 States

39

“Russia’s cyberattack on the U.S. electoral system before Donald Trump’s election was far more widespread than has been publicly revealed, including incursions into voter databases and software systems in almost twice as many states as previously reported,” Bloomberg reports. “Details of the wave of attacks, in the summer and fall of 2016, were provided by three people with direct knowledge of the U.S. investigation into the matter. In all, the Russian hackers hit systems in a total of 39 states, one of them said.”