“Figures vary, but at a conservative estimate, since the start of Russia's 'special military operation' [in Ukraine] at least 1,500 people are now in prison having spoken out against current state policy. That's three times more than during the savage days of the KGB in the USSR.

“ensuring the security of Russia

“All those political experts who say 'Putin thinks this' or 'Putin is scared of that'…they're all charlatans. It's in the same league with astrology. Nobody knows what's going on in Vladimir Putin's head. And I don't know. I see things only as a journalist. I study big data. And since the beginning of the year the need to use nuclear weapons has been mentioned more than 500 times. When wackos say this, I pay no attention. But I've heard it discussed on state TV. And at the St Petersburg International Economic Forum, a state-run event, one of the speakers talked up the use of nuclear weapons as something favourable, something good.

“the woman was acting on orders from Ukraine's intelligence services

““There have been widespread reports of shortages of basic supplies, water contamination, plumbing issues, deteriorating mental health, deck safety concerns, and disruptions in the mail system, which have caused many care packages in route to the ship to be lost in transit for months,”

Richard Blumenthal

Sen. (R-Conn.)

New York Post - News · Aug 13
Direct quote

“Sorry, I don't believe all this talk about a split among members of the elite, about secret conspiracies. The country is run by Vladimir Putin. They're frightened of him. And this fear is reinforced in every way by his main support base: the Federal Security Service (FSB).

“An explosion killed a Russian service member in the Crimean port city of Sevastopol on Thursday

“What worries me most right now is that no one in the world is interested in the political prisoners who were first to speak out against the land grab in our neighbouring country