The Real Russia. Today. After tragic struggles, Sochi Olympic champion Yulia Lipnitskaya retires at 19; the number of Russian speakers worldwide has plummeted 50 million people; and Putin's alleged daughter is warned

Story of the day

The tragic tale of Russia’s Sochi figure skating darling. At the age of 19, Sochi Winter Olympics champion Yulia Lipnitskaya announced this Monday that she is retiring from figure skating. According to Lipnitskaya’s mother, Daniela, she informed Russia’s Figure Skating Federation of her decision back in April, after returning from three months of treatment for anorexia. Meduza reviews this star athlete’s career following her breakout success at the Sochi Olympics in 2014. Story in English

Russia and the world

Moscow’s privatized geopolitics. Further revelations regarding the role of Russian private military contractors in Syria exposes how, under Putin, “state” and “private” are often one and the same thing. “Mercenaries are illegal under Russian law, but that doesn’t stop them from being a central element of the Kremlin’s geopolitical adventurism, whether in Ukraine or, even more clearly, Syria,” writes Mark Galeotti. “The tale of Wagner, a St Petersburg outfit at the heart of the fighting in Syria, says much about the privatisation of statecraft and the mobilisation of private enterprise in modern Russia.” Op-ed at OpenDemocracy

So long, Russian speakers. The number of Russian speakers across the world has dropped by 50 million people in the past 25 years, State Duma deputy Vyacheslav Nikonov told journalists on Monday, August 28, crediting the loss to the virtual disappearance of mandatory Russian language education in Eastern Europe. “This is irreversible,” Nikonov stated. There are an estimated 300 million Russian language speakers left in the world, and roughly half live outside the Russian Federation. Story in Russian

No love for America’s reduced consular services in Russia. Someone driving a Mercedes by the U.S. consulate in St. Petersburg tossed a bucket of red paint at the building, striking the consulate and a vehicle with diplomatic license plates parked out front. According to local reports, the Mercedes is registered to an unemployed man from Tajikistan who lives near the consulate. Police reportedly went to the man’s home, but no one answered when they knocked on the door. An investigation is underway. Story in Russian

Losses of life

An arrest in the Gorky Park murder. Police have reportedly detained Kornei Makarov, the man suspected of attacking blogger Stanislav Dumkin in Moscow’s Gorky Park on August 13. After the beating, Dumkin was hospitalized in a coma. He died, several days later. Kornei Makarov is the son of Sergey Makarov, who played a role on “Interns,” a popular television show modeled on the U.S. series “Scrubs.” According to the Telegram channel Mash (which is affiliated with the pro-Kremlin tabloid Life), Dumkin was attacked because he was “dressed weird.” Story in English

When tragedy hit a Russian mining town. On Monday, August 28, Yakutiya declared a day of mourning for the miners killed in a recent flooding accident at the “Mir” diamond mine, owned by the “Alrosa” company. The August 4 incident forced the evacuation of 143 people and trapped eight miners underground. On August 15, rescue workers ended their search for four of the miners, and Alrosa called off the effort entirely, 11 days later. To learn more about what has been happening in the city of Mirny, where the mine is located, Meduza spoke to Alina Misnik, the daughter of Valentin Misnik, a foreman who died in the accident. Story in English

A deadly bus crash and the shady business that made it possible. On the morning of August 25, a bus carrying a construction crew from the company Tamanneftegaz crashed into the Kerch Strait. Nineteen people died in the incident. As of August 28, another 32 people were also recorded as having been injured in the crash, including 19 passengers who are still hospitalized. The authorities say faulty brakes are what caused the bus crash. Injured victims and families of those killed in the accident have been promised compensation. Story in English

Policing the “death groups.” Russia’s Interior Ministry has arrested two administrators of so-called online “death groups.” The suspects, a man and a woman, are charged with trying to drive a 21-year-old man in Moscow to kill himself. The suspects’ “death group” allegedly threatened to harm teenagers’ relatives, according to Interior Ministry spokespeople. Earlier this summer, Russian lawmakers introduced new criminal legislation against pressuring people to commit suicide. Story in Russian

Mr. Vladimir Putin

The last person you’d expect to get a warning from the Russian government. Russia’s Justice Ministry has issued a warning to the Foundation for Interdisciplinary Initiatives in the Field of Natural and Humanitarian Sciences, an organization created by Katerina Tikhonova, who is reportedly Vladimir Putin’s eldest daughter. Justice Ministry officials revealed the warning to Tikhonova’s group when the newspaper Sobesednik asked why her organization isn’t required to report its financial records to the government as an NGO. Tikhonova’s foundation has until September 18 to comply with Russian regulations on non-governmental organizations. Story in English

Putin can delight the young folks, too. Vladimir Putin plans to hold an “open lesson” at an elementary school in Yaroslavl on September 1, Kremlin sources told the newspaper Kommersant. The event will reportedly be livestreamed on the Internet, so it can be viewed around the country. After the lecture, the president will visit the “Future Intellectual Leaders of Russia” forum. Story in Russian

Also in the news