NOTE: In spite of yesterday’s horrific events at the Republican rally in Pennsylvania, in which Donald Trump was wounded in what appears to have been a political assassination attempt, and the shooter and at least one innocent bystander were killed . . . still, the rest of the world’s problems cannot be overlooked. And for me, that includes the ongoing tragedy of Vladimir Putin’s HOSTAGES. It is Sunday, and as promised, here is my weekly update.

And yes, I’m sorry to report that, again this week, there are more.

Journalists Konstantin Gabov and Sergey Karelin have, not unexpectedly, been detained on charges of “extremism” as a result of their allegedly having produced content for the late Alexei Navalny’s YouTube channel, “NavalnyLIVE.” Other members of Navalny’s team have been imprisoned or have fled Russia and are living in exile.

Gabov is said by the Moscow court more recently to be a producer for Reuters news agency, which has continued to operate in Russia since the invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Karelin, who was arrested in the Murmansk region of Russia a week ago, previously worked for a number of outlets, including the Associated Press (AP), and German publication Deutsche Welle (DW). (The latter was banned in Russia in 2022.)

Tragically, it doesn’t take much to qualify for my HOSTAGES list these days.

Just sayin’ . . .

*. *. *

And the wait for information about Vladimir Kara-Murza drags on. There was some hopeful news on Wednesday, when one of his legal team was allowed to see him at last. Still in the prison hospital, his condition was described by the attorney as “relatively stable” — though “the exact reasons for the examination at the hospital are being clarified.” Kara-Murza’s wife, Evgenia, said only that her husband was “alive and as well as can be expected.” Better than nothing, I suppose — but just barely. Perhaps tomorrow — when yet another weekend has passed — will bring better news.

And, as always, we pay our weekly tribute once more to all those HOSTAGES locked away in Russian prisons for strictly political reasons:

Vladimir Kara-Murza
Evan Gershkovich
Alsu Kurmasheva
Paul Whelan
Ilya Yashin
Staff Sgt. Gordon Black
Robert Woodland Romanov
Boris Akunin
Marc Hilliard Fogel
Asya Kazantseva
Ilya Barabanov
Aleksandr Skobov
Antonina Favorskaya
Oleg Orlov
Boris Kagarlitsky
Oleg Navalny
Ksenia Karelina
Ksenia Fadeyeva
Lilia Chanysheva
Vadim Ostanin
Sergei Udaltsov
Danuta Perednya
Olesya Krivtsova
Konstantin Gabov
Sergey Karelin
Sergey Mingazov

. . . and the hundreds of others whose names remain unknown to me. You have not been, and will not be, forgotten.

Brendochka
7/14/24