Kontur https://konturnovosti.com/en_GB Kontur is comprised of a team of editors based in the United States and dozens of freelance reporters and content creators who live around the world. The mission of Kontur is to investigate and amplify stories of major importance that are often overlooked by local and regional media outlets. en-gb images/2026/06/04/56446-afp__20210208__92h3aj__v1__highres__russiahealthviruseducation-370_237.jpg Russia ordered universities to send 2% of students to war Russia's education minister quietly told university rectors to deliver 2% of their students to the military. One is already dead. http://konturnovosti.com/r/16a67 gc6/features/2026/06/04/feature-01 Thu, 4 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 images/2026/06/04/56442-books_tizer-370_237.jpg How Russia's book purge is undoing 30 years of public knowledge Russia's sweeping library purge, targeting books funded by now-banned organizations, could erase more than half of the country's public collections and push Russian society into state-controlled ignorance. http://konturnovosti.com/r/16a6p gc6/features/2026/06/04/feature-02 Thu, 4 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 images/2026/06/03/56409-afp__20190712__1in65u__v1__highres__russiapassport-370_237.jpg Russia expands passportization in Transnistria amid fears of forced conscription Russia's Transnistria gambit is loud -- and, so far, not working. http://konturnovosti.com/r/169wm gc6/features/2026/06/03/feature-01 Wed, 3 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 images/2026/06/03/56406-afp__20251118__84e48j8__v1__highres__russiapakistandiplomacy-370_237.jpg As Central Asian workers flee Russia, Moscow's pivot to Pakistan faces long odds Russia is trying to replace its shrinking Central Asian workforce with Pakistani professionals. Its own citizens aren't buying it. http://konturnovosti.com/r/169x4 gc6/features/2026/06/03/feature-02 Wed, 3 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 images/2026/06/02/56391-afp__20240101__349a3cr__v1__highres__russiaukraineconflict-370_237.jpg Putin writes off recruits' debts as Russia races to fill military ranks The Kremlin keeps sweetening the deal to join its war. The fact that it has to keeps getting harder to ignore. http://konturnovosti.com/r/169kp gc6/features/2026/06/02/feature-01 Tue, 2 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 images/2026/06/02/56389-afp__20221025__32m2239__v1__highres__hongkongchinarussiapoliticseconomicssanction-370_237.jpg Russia's billionaires hit a record high -- and the war is why Russia's billionaire count nearly doubled since the invasion. The wealth of 155 people now exceeds the country's entire federal budget. http://konturnovosti.com/r/169l7 gc6/features/2026/06/02/feature-02 Tue, 2 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 images/2026/06/01/56370-img_leleka_1-370_237.jpg Eurovision: how the song contest reshapes Ukraine's image in Europe While diplomats negotiated, Ukrainian singers changed minds. http://konturnovosti.com/r/169a4 gc6/features/2026/06/01/feature-01 Mon, 1 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 images/2026/05/29/56346-afp__20251212__87wc4g4__v1__highres__russiaukraineconflictdrone-370_237.jpg 'It's time to stop, old man': How Ukraine brought the war to Moscow's doorstep Ukraine's long-range strikes are exposing gaps in Russian air defense and cracking the Kremlin's promise of security at home. http://konturnovosti.com/r/168v6 gc6/features/2026/05/29/feature-01 Fri, 29 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000 images/2026/05/29/56343-afp__20260410__a7d48nq__v1__highres__russialifestyletourism-370_237.jpg Moscow silences its own citizens on drone strikes Moscow has criminalized citizen reporting on drone strikes, but Russians say the information is already out there, and the world is watching anyway. http://konturnovosti.com/r/168vo gc6/features/2026/05/29/feature-02 Fri, 29 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000 images/2026/05/28/56327-afp__20250921__76b23wj__v1__highres__ukrainerussiaconflictwar-370_237.jpg Russia paves new highways with the ruins of Mariupol Four years after the siege, Mariupol's rubble has been ground into road fill -- along with the remains of people who were never identified. http://konturnovosti.com/r/168l8 gc6/features/2026/05/28/feature-01 Thu, 28 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000 images/2026/05/28/56330-afp__20220405__327k33k__v1__highres__russiaukraineconflictsanctionsautomobile-370_237.jpg Russians spend record share of income on food as discount stores multiply With Russians now spending the highest share of their income on groceries in 18 years, a boom in bare-bones discount stores is exposing how the war's economic toll is reshaping everyday life. http://konturnovosti.com/r/168lq gc6/features/2026/05/28/feature-02 Thu, 28 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000 images/2026/05/27/56308-afp__20240606__34vf7dn__v1__highres__ukrainerussiaconflictwar-370_237.jpg Russia drives occupied parts of Kherson region into humanitarian catastrophe Russian forces have cut off food, medicine, and escape routes to tens of thousands of Ukrainians and are hunting the civilians who try to bring supplies in. http://konturnovosti.com/r/168ah gc6/features/2026/05/27/feature-01 Wed, 27 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000