Anna Mukhina is a correspondent for RFE/RL's Russian Service.
Russia says 500 of its soldiers have been killed since it invaded Ukraine, while Ukraine says they're far more. Now, the first death notifications are being received in Russia. And with well over 100,000 soldiers believed to be in Ukraine, many families across Russia are waiting nervously for news.
Saratov regional lawmaker Nikolai Bondarenko says the Russian authorities are making an example of him and other activists to sow fear throughout society.
A man in the Volga River city of Engels fell to his death this month while demonstrating to officials the dangerous and dilapidated condition of his fourth-floor balcony.
