Geopolitical Digest by Mikhail Azhgirevich - June 26, 2026!

Lavrov publicly humiliates Rubio - Alaska was an agreement, and everyone knows it

Lavrov delivered a detailed rebuttal to Rubio's claim that "Alaska produced only proposals": Putin read out the American initiatives point by point, Witkoff confirmed each one in the presence of Trump and Rubio - and to now claim "there was no agreement," Lavrov said, "comes across as not very elegant." This is diplomatic language for "you are lying and we can prove it" - stated on camera, in full, with names attached. Lavrov publicly called out Rubio - effectively accusing him of rewriting history in real time, in front of everyone.

Kushner and Witkoff visit to Moscow cancelled - relations have turned negative

The reciprocal visit of American congressional representatives to Moscow has been postponed indefinitely, with Trump's envoys unlikely to arrive in the foreseeable future. Talk of visa exchanges, restored trade and diplomatic normalisation is quietly fading. The diplomatic warming of early 2026 appears to have reached its ceiling and begun its retreat. The diplomatic thaw lasted six months. The freeze is quieter but just as complete.

Crimea and Sevastopol declare official state of emergency - fuel crisis formally acknowledged

Crimea and Sevastopol authorities officially declared a state of emergency - which had been de facto in place for several days. Deputy PM Novak simultaneously assured the public that "everything is under control and balancing is underway." The fuel crisis has moved from unofficial pump limits to a formal emergency declaration in three weeks, with restrictions now covering Crimea, St. Petersburg, Belgorod, Tyumen, Irkutsk and Omsk. State of emergency declared in Crimea - Novak says everything is under control. Both statements are accurate and contradict each other.

Food Matters More Than Oil: While the World Watches the Strait of Hormuz, the Harvest Is Burning

Russia to build a nuclear power plant on the Moon by 2036

Roscosmos published a draft presidential decree on constructing a lunar nuclear power station by 2036 to supply Russian lunar infrastructure and international projects. The country is managing a fuel crisis that has reached Siberia, Gazprom shares at a 17-year low, and the Moscow Exchange in freefall - and a lunar reactor decree arrives. Russia plans a nuclear station on the Moon while imposing 40-litre fuel limits on Earth. Cosmic ambition is independent of terrestrial supply chains.

Sergei Ivanov has died - former Defence Minister, age 73

Sergei Ivanov passed away - the man who served as Russia's Defence Minister from 2001 to 2007, one of Putin's closest colleagues since the KGB era, and later head of the presidential administration. Ivanov was one of the few figures in the Russian elite who could be described not merely as an official but as a genuine political heavyweight. The generation that built modern Russia is departing. Ivanov was present at the creation of much of what is now unfolding.

Bastrykin wants to jail parents for bad child-rearing

Investigative Committee chief Alexander Bastrykin endorsed the idea of criminal liability for parents whose children are "improperly raised": "Let them answer in full." The country is managing a war, a fuel emergency, a diplomatic collapse with Washington - and Bastrykin has turned to pedagogy. Bastrykin has found the root of all problems - bad parents. A timely discovery.