The current subsistence minimum in Ukraine does not reflect the actual needs of citizens. Authorities are preparing to revise the indicator to align it with the real cost of living. 15.09.2025 Danylo Hetmantsev, head of the Verkhovna Rada’s Committee on Finance, Tax and Customs Policy, outlined the initiative in an interview with RBC-Ukraine. “We need …

More than 16,000 displaced people from Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) have received Armenian citizenship, says the country’s Ministry of Internal Affairs   05.09.2025   Article published on the arka.am website   As of 2 September this year, more than 16,000 Armenian citizenship applications have been received from people displaced from Nagorno-Karabakh, according to Armen Ghazaryan, Deputy Minister …

In Russia, the number of school starters has gone down by 25% in the last two years 01.09.2025 Article published on the moscowtimes.ru website   In September, around 1.5 million new starters will take their seats in classrooms across Russia. In total, 18 million pupils will be starting/returning to school, according to a Russian Government …

More than 20 Russian regions are introducing penalties for “encouraging women to have abortions”   01.09.2025   Article published on the moscowtimes.ru website   On 1 September, laws to prohibit “encouraging women to have abortions” came into force in the Bryansk and Kirov regions. According to the RBK, similar regulations are already in force in …

More than half of Tajikistan’s population have no access to drinking water.   A new water supply plan announced by Dushanbe has been greeted with scepticism   29.08.2025   Article published on the rus.azattyq.org website   The Tajikistan Government has announced a three billion somoni (approximately US$324 million) programme to provide 72% of the country’s …

An educational project “Your first apartment” has been launched to help teenagers leaving orphanages   26.08.2025   Article published on the ASI website   This project aims to help teenagers lead independent lives.   On 26 August, a public event to discuss the “Your First Apartment: How to Start Living an Independent Life After Leaving …

Persons forcibly displaced from the Nagorno-Karabakh region finally receive a year’s worth of unpaid pensions following the intervention of Armenia’s Human Rights Ombudsman   25.08.2025   Article published on the aysor.am/ru website   An official representative of people forcibly displaced from the Nagorno-Karabakh region submitted an appeal to the office of Armenia’s Human Rights Ombudsman …

Tips instead of decent wages? Kyrgyzstan proposes to legalise “voluntary tipping” to medical professionals   23.08.2025   Video article published on the rus.azattyq.org website   In Kyrgyzstan, there is a proposal to legalise “voluntary tipping” to doctors.   The Ministry of Justice believes there should be a transparent way for people to express their gratitude …

Results of a survey on who Russians help the most and how often   22.08.2025   Article published on the givingjournal.ru website   The Aimars communications group, the Sidorin Lab reputation management agency and the X5 Vyruchayem charity, have carried out research on people’s attitudes to charity.   Over a three-month period from 1 April …

Russia’s law enforcement agencies continue to report rising crime following the return of more than 130,000 participants in the war in Ukraine, including former prisoners   20.08.2025   Article published on the moscowtimes.ru website   During the first six months of this year, the Prosecutor General’s Office recorded 27,124 crimes in the Russian Federation, which …