Media: Bucha incident may trigger further tensions between Russia and West

The European Union may introduce more sanctions against Russia, including a ban on oil and coal imports, over the situation in the Ukrainian town of Bucha, where war crimes allegedly took place, French President Emmanuel Macron stated. Russia has strongly denied any involvement in the killing of civilians in Bucha, Vedomosti writes.

The Bucha incident is turning into a trigger for a further escalation of the conflict between Russia and the EU, Valdai Discussion Club Program Director Ivan Timofeev noted. "The process of reducing the level of diplomatic relations has already been launched. Financial and transportation sanctions may be expanded. The EU is going to face issues when discussing an energy ban so some intermediate options are possible. As for the potential blockade of the Kaliningrad Region, it will create conditions for an escalation of the conflict between Russia and NATO," the expert specified.

The European Union may reduce the size of diplomatic missions, introduce logistics and visa restrictions and expand personal sanctions, Researcher at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations’ Center for European Studies Artem Sokolov pointed out. According to him, the situation has reached a point where any significant economic restrictions will directly affect EU citizens as well.

As for the continuation of Russian-Ukrainian negotiations, Kiev’s representatives may take advantage of the Bucha incident to disrupt some of the forthcoming rounds of talks, Head of the World Politics Department at Moscow State University Andrey Sidorov told Nezavisimaya Gazeta. These developments are most likely to be used in order to aggravate the overall moral and psychological environment. However, it will hardly be possible to hype it up to the level of the Srebrenica story. Considerable technical progress has been made since the 1990s. In particular, people now have cell phones so new videos involving the event’s participants may surface soon. Besides, another thing to understand is that Russia is not Serbia but a power capable of eliminating the West, Sidorov stressed.

 

Izvestia: Incumbent leaders triumph in Serbian, Hungarian elections

Russia got some good news over this past weekend. Incumbent leaders, who are sympathetic to Moscow, albeit to a different extent, won elections in Serbia and Hungary. In Serbia, President Aleksandar Vucic maintained his post and promised to continue sustaining friendly ties with Russia. Viktor Orban, who is going to become Hungary’s prime minister for the fourth time in a row, hasn’t said anything like that yet, but warm relations with Moscow are unlikely to end, Izvestia notes.

Associate Professor with the Department of International Relations, Political Science and Foreign Area Studies at the Russian State University for the Humanities Vadim Trukhachev believes that "things should remain the same" between Russia and Hungary. "The only difference will be that the European Union and NATO will twist Hungary’s arms even more than before despite the election’s outcome. Orban’s victory poured cold water on the West and they won’t leave that as is," the expert noted.

The results of the April 3 parliamentary and presidential elections in Serbia can also be viewed as good news for Moscow. "The majority of Serbs chose to support Russia in the Ukraine story, which is why some pro-Western candidates were cautious during the election campaign. Even the few politicians who said that Serbia needed to join sanctions against Russia made such statements in a low voice since they realized that it might impact their rating," Chief Editor of the Balkanist project Oleg Bondarneko stressed.

In his first speech following the election win, Orban opted to take a shot at his opponents, particularly mentioning the Ukrainian president as such, while Aleksandar Vucic started with friends. He emphasized that Belgrade would remain neutral in terms of military alliances and would also seek to maintain its partnership and friendly relations with Russia.

 

Rossiyskaya Gazeta: Anti-Russian sanctions may spark famine in Europe and Africa

The United Nations has called for reasonably assessing the risks created by the current anti-Russian sanctions because they will have consequences for the entire world. African countries are fearful of riots amid food shortages, Rossiyskaya Gazeta pointed out.

The possible reduction in wheat and corn supplies may lead to a situation where people won’t be able to buy food. It can spark civil unrest in Africa, President of the African Development Bank Group Akinwumi Adesina said earlier in an interview with The National. Rising energy prices will have an even bigger impact. In particular, Spanish European Parliament member Nicolas Gonzalez Casares stated recently that fuel prices are crucial for the fish industry. Spanish fishermen have already suspended their activities. Meanwhile, German restaurateurs are removing French fries from menus because sunflower oil is hard to find.

According to Director of the Moscow branch of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Oleg Kobyakov, one in ten people in the world are currently facing food supply issues. Whole regions depend on food imports from Russia and Ukraine. Poor countries are the hardest hit as wheat prices have skyrocketed by 40% over the past few months, there are supply problems and shortages are already obvious. The implications of the current situation will be long-term, the expert stressed.

FAO Chief Economist Maximo Torero has recently called for a reasonable assessment of the risks created by sanctions against Russia. He emphasized the need to ensure trade openness in terms of food, energy and fertilizers. The same goes for seeds and pesticides as it would help prevent a negative impact on the next planting season.

 

Izvestia: Russian cancer patients seek to continue participating in trials of new drugs

The Cancer is Curable public movement has drafted letters to the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross, asking them to make sure that Russians are not excluded from international clinical trials. Such a move would deny patients early access to the newest medications, experts point out. Pharmaceutical companies such as Pfizer, Lilly, AbbVie, Sanofi, MSD, Novartis and some others earlier limited their clinical trials in Russia, Izvestia writes.

Sanctions should not make patients suffer, the public movement stressed. "Since several major pharmaceutical companies have wrapped up trials, some cancer patients have lost their last hope. We would like to make it clear that it’s unacceptable to remove patients from international trials because of political instability and based on their nationality. It is discrimination," leader of the movement Olga Chernyak emphasized.

When it comes to cancer, standard therapy is not always effective, Member of the Board of the Russian Society of Clinical Oncology (RUSSCO) Nikolay Zhukov noted. In such cases, patients have a chance to join suitable trials and try a new drug. "Patients can choose between getting standard therapy, which is approved and registered, and trying to join clinical trials and receive another treatment, which may prove to be better than the standard one, earlier than others, before it is approved," Zhukov explained.

"It’s hard to stay out of politics in the current situation. People, including doctors, are facing difficult moral choices. However, the thing to remember is that military activities will end sooner or later, conflicts will be resolved and peace will be established," the movement said, expressing hope that the WHO, the Red Cross and the UN would help "save the lives and health of patients who are the most vulnerable and unprotected people."

 

Rossiyskaya Gazeta: Russian social media users, bloggers moving to new platforms

Russia’s blogosphere radically changed in March. Facebook and Instagram (Internet platforms outlawed in Russia since they are owned by Meta corporation deemed extremist by Russian authorities), as well as Twitter, were banned over a short period of time. TikTok temporarily suspended the publication of content from Russia. Bloggers and social media users are now taking stock of the changed circumstances, looking for new platforms, Rossiyskaya Gazeta writes.

While users simply moved to other platforms, content creators found themselves in a more difficult situation because a platform does not only mean an audience that takes years to attract but also a set of tools to make and promote content.

Professional users are coming to realize how the market has changed, said hello blogger Director General Tanya Ivanova. "TikTok failed to make a quick return, Instagram has been blocked, YouTube is one step away from being banned. In fact, many could not imagine just two weeks ago that they would have to consider alternative platforms as they were sure that advertisers would remain on Instagram," she noted.

Two Russian-developed platforms, Rossgram and Now, were announced right after Instagram had been blocked. However, there are two flaws to the new projects, which include the lack of an audience and weaker advertising tools. There is also room for improvement on RuTube, the Russian alternative to YouTube, as no "processes for communication with content makers and users" have been established there yet, Director of the Internet Protection Society Mikhail Klimarev explained.

According to Ivanova, bloggers are keeping a close eye on the platforms where advertisers have returned and seek to pull their audiences there. Telegram and VKontakte look the most promising.

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