"Excessive Barriers Hinder Progress, While Russia Is Eternal": Putin Urges Lawmakers Not to "Fixate Only on Bans and Restrictions"
Russia's odd policy moves and snowstorm chaos spark public backlash
Moscow and the surrounding region were hit by an April snowstorm: the city has faced transport disruptions all day, with traffic jams and road closures, while hundreds of vehicles were damaged by falling trees (experts have explained how to claim insurance for such incidents). Power outages were reported in several districts due to the severe weather.
Russian schools and workplaces may soon see the return of Lenin rooms—spaces once used for political education and leisure activities. The idea's author, 40-year-old Senator Airat Gibatdinov, admitted to Pod'yom that he had never been a Young Pioneer or an Oktyabrata (Soviet children's organization) member himself. He justified his proposal by saying he wanted his children to "grow up in precisely this kind of patriotic environment."
Residents of Sarov noticed that Crimea and the newly incorporated territories were missing from a banner proclaiming, "Our Great Nation." Authorities explained that the banner was old and featured only "symbolic outlines." It later emerged that Kaliningrad was also "omitted" from the design.
Officials at the Sirius educational center defended the decision to position benches along the Imeretinskaya Embankment facing a fence—rather than the mountains—as a matter of "aesthetics and safety." The benches had previously been oriented "toward the mountains."
