Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin has been diagnosed with coronavirus, the state-run RIA Novosti news agency reported Thursday, as seen in this screenshot from the social media app Telegram, used widely in Russia. Read the rest

In Russia, two human rights groups say Vladimir Putin's government has vastly expanded surveillance to enforce the nation's coronavirus lockdown, using facial recognition technology and collection of personal data. The groups say regulation is required to ensure that surveillance measures are both temporary and proportionate. Read the rest

“Putin’s Russia,” as ABC News reports today, would have featured the Russian President hunting, fishing, and generally being a very macho man outdoors. Read the rest

Gleg is a cyber-arms-dealer based in Moscow, selling zero-day vulnerabilities it has uncovered in widely used systems to companies that want to weaponize them. Read the rest

Russia's communications regulator says it has blocked IP addresses owned by Google and Amazon because Moscow claims the internet addresses are used by the Telegram messaging service that was banned by Putin's regime this week. Read the rest

Photo: Tanya Lokshina of Human Rights Watch

NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden invited human rights groups to meet him at Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport to discuss his options for seeking political asylum from the United States. He says his government is denying his right to seek asylum in retaliation for having exposed details of the NSA's previously secret spying programs.

At today's meeting, Snowden announced that he will apply for political asylum in Russia, despite Russian President Vladimir Putin's previously-stated condition that he stop publishing documents that harm America. According to tweets from people inside the meeting, Snowden's eventual goal is to reach one of the Latin American nations that has offered him asylum.

According to the Associated Press, the following people were among those at the meeting: Russian MP Vyacheslav Nikonov, Amnesty International Russia's Sergei Nikitin, Tanya Lokshina of Human Rights Watch, Russian presidential human rights ombudsman Vladimir Lukin, and attorney Genri Reznik.

Separately, Wikileaks identified another participant as one of their representatives. Wikileaks has also published a copy of Snowden's statement to human rights groups here.

The Guardian, which received leaked documents from Snowden and broke the news they revealed, has a liveblog covering the story.

Tanya Lokshina of Human Rights Watch captured the photo above, which is the first new photograph we've seen of Snowden since the story first spread weeks ago. HRW issued this statement earlier, supporting Snowden's right to asylum.

Wikileaks tweets that the person to the left of Snowden is "Wikileaks' Sarah Harrison." Read the rest

The highest court in Moscow has upheld a 100 year ban on gay pride parades. Read the rest