In late September, Azerbaijan approved new school uniform rules, including a ban on “items inconsistent with the principle of secularism.” Inspections soon began at schools, and girls wearing hijabs were barred from classes. Protests broke out in Baku and other cities, with schoolgirls and their classmates demanding that everyone’s right to an education be upheld. On October 12, 37 people were detained in Baku. The Interior Ministry said protesters had tried to “grossly disrupt public order.” Meanwhile, users began reporting that they could not access TikTok and Instagram — the country’s two most popular social networks. Here’s a closer look at what is happening in Azerbaijan and what may be behind the ban.

Azerbaijan’s Cabinet of Ministers introduced the new school uniform rules in a September 21 decree. The decree prohibits “wearing items of clothing that disrupt the uniformity of the prescribed school uniform,” as well as clothing that is “inconsistent with the principle of secularism in general education.”

The decree does not explicitly mention hijabs. But during school inspections that began on October 9, girls with their heads covered were barred from classes, even though the decree does not authorize such measures. Female teachers were also required to remove their headscarves, Jam News reported.

Protests then broke out in Baku and other Azerbaijani cities. At some schools, boys also refused to attend classes in solidarity with girls wearing hijabs. In a village in Baku’s Sabunchu district, students protested with a sign bearing the slogan: “A hijab does not stand in the way of an education.”

A source at a Baku school told the BBC that boys in the upper grades were also required to shave their beards — even though, like hijabs, beards are not mentioned in the cabinet decree.

Videos of the protests appeared on social media. One shows students trying to smash school windows. The Telegram channel Minval Politika reported that a school principal’s car had been set on fire in the Garadag district.

On October 12, Azerbaijan’s Interior Ministry said it had detained 37 people for actions “grossly violating public order.” The ministry said “a group of individuals” had created “a conflict situation” with school staff over “compliance with a uniform dress code” and damaged schools. Authorities opened a criminal investigation into allegations of organizing acts that disrupted public order, an offense punishable by up to three years in prison. The ministry provided no further details, and it is unclear whether any of those detained are minors.

As the protests unfolded, Azerbaijanis began reporting that they could not access Instagram and TikTok — the country’s two most popular social networks. Some users could access them only through a VPN. Some directly link the disruption to the protests, although the authorities have not confirmed blocking the platforms.

Azerbaijan has seen protests against a hijab ban before. Jam News reported that a similar protest took place outside the Education Ministry in May 2011 and led to a criminal investigation. That same year, authorities detained activist Abgul Suleymanov, who was known for taking part in protests against the hijab ban. He was later sentenced to 11 years in prison on charges he denied.

The reasons for the current ban are unclear, the BBC reported. Neither the cabinet nor the Education Ministry has explained them or responded to journalists’ inquiries. Journalist Afgan Mukhtarli, a critic of the authorities, believes that hijabs pose no problems but that Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev “needs the specter of radical Islam to strengthen his hold on power.”

Supporters of the authorities, by contrast, see the ban as part of “strengthening the sovereignty of a country trying to free itself from the influence of other states.” It is unclear what influence they mean, but many believe Aliyev was referring to Turkey when he recently spoke about countering ideological interference from abroad, the BBC reported. On October 3, protesters gathered outside Azerbaijan’s consulate in Istanbul to demand an end to the ban on wearing hijabs in Azerbaijani schools.

From Meduza’s archives

• How a Russian region’s school hijab ban sparked a war of words between North Caucasian lawmakers, Kremlin propagandists, and nationalist bloggers

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EU leaders are unhappy with Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin’s deal to supply Russian diesel fuel to the U.S. They believe it undermines sanctions and allows the Kremlin to continue its war against Ukraine. In response, Trump says Europeans themselves have paid Moscow $250 billion for energy since the war began. Russia says that figure is too low; the EU says it is too high. By any estimate, however, the Kremlin continues to receive very large sums from the EU — despite repeated statements from Brussels about ending imports of Russian fuel. Here’s the short version.

Russia’s account (as presented by Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak): Russia received even more from the EU than Trump said. Since 2022, the EU has paid $320.7 billion for energy. In the first nine months of 2026 alone, Russia supplied Europe with $21.3 billion worth of energy.

The EU’s account (as presented by an unnamed European Commission representative): From March 2022 to July 2026, Russia supplied the EU with 197 billion euros ($209 billion) worth of energy. The plan to phase out Russian energy is working: Without it, the EU would have spent 475 billion euros on Russian oil and gas, more than twice as much.

What about before the war? In 2021, the EU paid Russia 99 billion euros for energy, according to official Eurostat data. For comparison, Russia’s sovereign assets frozen in European depositories are estimated at 210 billion euros. EU officials periodically discuss seizing those assets to fund Ukraine’s reconstruction.

From Meduza’s archives

• ‘We’re being used as a front,’ Zelensky says of Trump’s diesel deal with Putin
• Maritime trade in Russian oil continues despite sanctions Europe still buys millions of dollars of Russian fuel daily
• The bid to cap Russian oil prices The U.S. and its allies want to limit the price of Russian oil to hinder Moscow's ability to fund the war. Would that work?

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Ukraine’s Western partners again failed to warn it ahead of another Russian ballistic missile strike on Kyiv on the evening of October 13, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said.

He said the strike primarily targeted the city’s energy infrastructure, specifically the combined heat and power plant known as CHP-4. A residential building was damaged and caught fire.

A Russian ballistic missile attack on Kyiv. Once again, no early warning from our partners. The main target was energy infrastructure, specifically CHPP-4. Unfortunately, it was hit. A residential building was also damaged, and rescuers are currently putting out a fire there. Our… pic.twitter.com/6FKPx8PuFG

— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) October 13, 2026

Russia is preparing further missile strikes on Ukraine, Zelensky said, citing Ukrainian intelligence.

The previous day, Zelensky said Ukraine had received no warning from its Western allies about the Russian missile strike on the evening of October 12. Politico reported that the U.S. told Ukraine it had not provided intelligence because of bad weather.

Last week, the U.S. threatened to stop sharing intelligence with Ukraine unless Kyiv agreed to halt strikes on Russian oil refineries, the Financial Times reported. Washington has made no official announcement that it intends to stop sharing intelligence.

Read more

• European allies publicly back Zelensky after Trump says Ukraine needs a new president
• Russian missile strike on apartment building in Ukraine kills 14, including four children. Zelensky calls it the Russian army’s ‘birthday gift’ to Putin.
• Trump claimed that Russia and Ukraine had agreed to an energy truce. Neither side stopped the strikes.

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Historian Yury Dmitriev, 70, has been returned to Penal Colony No. 18 in Mordovia from a prison hospital, the human rights group ZPCh said, citing his support group. He was taken to the hospital in late September with a suspected stroke.

“He’s not feeling very well. They suspected a stroke, but there’s been no diagnosis: the hospital doesn’t have the equipment to diagnose it. Dmitriev was given a course of injections. We don’t know what they gave him,” the support group said.

Dmitriev’s supporters said he was prescribed bed rest until October 28. But until recently, staff at the penal colony were unaware of this and would not let him lie down, a woman from the support group told ZPCh.

“It’s hard to keep count of how many times he’s been put in a punishment cell. One time it’s because the top button on his shirt isn’t fastened, another because he sat on his bed, another because he fed a cat. Being in a damp, unheated room doesn’t do his health any good,” the support group said.

Yury Dmitriev is a historian and the former head of Memorial’s Karelia branch. In 1997, he discovered mass graves of victims of Soviet political repression in the Sandarmokh forest. He also compiled lists commemorating victims of political repression in Karelia.

Dmitriev has been imprisoned since 2016, when he was charged with producing pornography involving his underage adopted daughter, committing lewd acts against her, and illegally possessing a firearm component.

The case stemmed from photographs of his daughter found in his possession. He denied the charges and said he had taken the photographs solely for medical purposes, to track her development. In 2018, a court acquitted him on two of the charges. For the weapons possession offense, he received only a noncustodial sentence of 3.5 years of restricted freedom.

Karelia’s Supreme Court later overturned that verdict. Authorities opened another criminal investigation into Dmitriev, this time for sexual assault. He was sentenced to 13 years in a penal colony in that case. In December 2021, a court in Petrozavodsk combined his sentences and ordered him to serve 15 years in a high-security penal colony.

Dmitriev denied the charges in both cases. Memorial considers him a political prisoner. Scholars, cultural figures, and Nobel laureates have spoken out in his support.

From Meduza’s archives

• Next question ‘Meduza’ talks to the lawyers involved in historian Yuri Dmitriev’s case
• Nine photos Russia put a historian on trial twice for supposedly abusing his foster daughter sexually. Here’s how Yuri Dmitriev became a ‘political prisoner.’
• ‘It’s a threat to his life’ 64-year-old Gulag historian Yury Dmitriev was acquitted on child porn charges in 2018, but he’s still in jail on appeal. Now, his attorney fears COVID-19 could be the end.

At Meduza, we are committed to transparency about our use of artificial intelligence in the newsroom. The story you’re reading was written by one of our living, breathing journalists and translated from Russian using an AI model configured to follow our strict editorial standards. This translation process is the result of extensive testing and refinements to ensure our English-language coverage is timely and accurate. A Meduza editor reviews every draft before publication.

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Russia’s Ministry of Science and Higher Education plans to change university admissions rules to bar universities from readmitting expelled students for five years, TASS reported, citing a draft ministry order.

The restriction would apply to students expelled “as a disciplinary sanction,” the draft order says.

The order is expected to take effect on March 1, 2027, Kommersant reported. The five-year ban would begin on the date of expulsion.

University students can face disciplinary measures, including expulsion, for failing to comply with or violating their institution’s charter, internal rules (including classroom discipline and conduct requirements), dormitory rules, and other regulations. Students on sick leave, vacation, academic leave, or maternity leave are exempt from disciplinary measures, as are “students with disabilities.”

From Meduza’s archives

• ‘Only the most neutral titles’ As censorship tightens in Russia, some journalism students at St. Petersburg’s top university still find ways to write about the war

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Hungary’s parliament has approved amendments to the child protection law adopted in 2021 under Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. AFP called the move the first significant step toward lifting restrictions on the LGBTQ community since pro-European Prime Minister Péter Magyar came to power.

The original law prohibited material accessible to children from “depicting” or “promoting” sexual and gender diversity. The revised law aims to protect minors from content that could “seriously impair the child’s physical, intellectual, emotional or moral development.”

“Fundamentally, our goal was to move away from a flawed paradigm, linking child protection in any way to sexual orientation or gender identities, and shift to a framework that is truly about children and protecting children,” said Szilvia Gyurkó, state secretary at the Ministry of Social and Family Affairs.

Orbán’s Fidesz Party voted against the amendments, but Magyar’s ruling Tisza Party has a two-thirds majority in parliament. The amendments passed without opposition support.

Human rights advocates welcomed the amendments but called for a review of other discriminatory provisions in Hungarian law adopted under Orbán.

Orbán’s government gradually restricted LGBTQ rights under the pretext of protecting children. Among its last such measures were amendments to the constitution and the law on public assembly that banned the LGBTQ community from holding public events.

Read more

• Hungary’s new leader outlines sweeping changes after defeating Orban
• Hungary’s opposition wins landslide, unseating one of Putin’s closest allies in Europe

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Moscow’s Basmanny District Court sentenced blogger Michael Naki in absentia to five years in a penal colony for publicly calling for activities aimed at undermining Russia’s security (Article 280.4, Part 2, Paragraph “c” of the Criminal Code). It also barred him from administering websites for five years.

The prosecution stemmed from a video posted on Naki’s channel on May 7, 2024. According to Mediazona, the video was titled “Putin can now be eliminated. The day Putin stopped being president.” Prosecutors said the video contained signs of “incitement to overthrow the government in Russia.”

This is Naki’s second sentence in absentia. In 2023, the Basmanny District Court sentenced him to 11 years in a penal colony for spreading “fake news” about the army (Article 207.3, Part 2, Paragraph “d” of the Criminal Code). That case concerned a video in which Naki and Conflict Intelligence Team founder Ruslan Leviev recapped the ninth day of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

The court combined portions of the sentences in the two cases to impose a total term of 14 years in a penal colony.

At Meduza, we are committed to transparency about our use of artificial intelligence in the newsroom. The story you’re reading was written by one of our living, breathing journalists and translated from Russian using an AI model configured to follow our strict editorial standards. This translation process is the result of extensive testing and refinements to ensure our English-language coverage is timely and accurate. A Meduza editor reviews every draft before publication.

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Russian banks received millions of requests for information about debtors from the Federal Bailiff Service (FSSP) over three days between September 18 and 21, an unprecedented volume, the National Financial Market Council reported.

One regional bank received 12.8 million requests on September 19 alone — as many as it normally receives in a month.

The council’s head, Andrey Yemelin, said the volume of FSSP requests over those three days was at least 10 to 12 times the usual level, and up to 30 times at some banks. More than 90% of the requests concerned people who were not customers of the banks that received them, said Yelena Samokhina, director of the banking development department at the Association of Banks of Russia.

Experts believe technical errors may account for the volume of requests, which the FSSP generates automatically. “The service has previously acknowledged that it resends requests if a bank hasn’t confirmed receipt. If those confirmations were lost, the automated system could have sent banks the entire backlog, along with duplicate requests,” said Mikhail Bryukhanov, chairman of Pervouralskbank’s board of directors.

Banks are legally required to provide the requested information within three days or face fines of 50,000 to 100,000 rubles for each request. Given the volume, Yemelin said “the fines could add up to amounts that pose a real threat to the financial stability of some banks.”

The council asked the Central Bank to look into the situation. The Central Bank said it had “received the inquiry and will review it according to established procedures.”

From Meduza’s archives

• A seven-point crackdown To suppress opposition protests, Moscow has unleashed police, repo men, military recruiters, investigators, courts, prosecutors, and university administrators
• The evictors For the past five years, loan sharks have forced more than 500 Muscovites from their homes. Here’s how the industry works.

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The International Monetary Fund has lowered its forecast for Russia’s economic growth to 0.9% in both 2026 and 2027. The updated forecast, released on October 13, is down from its July projection of 1.1% for each year.

The IMF report says high global energy prices are supporting Russia’s economy despite a decline in supplies caused by Ukrainian strikes that damaged oil infrastructure.

The report says the overall outlook is weak for energy-intensive economies and those dependent on oil and gas imports. Russia, however, benefits from “favorable factors associated with increased defense spending” that partially offset this weakness.

In late September, Russia’s Economic Development Ministry raised its growth forecast for 2026 from 0.4% to 0.6%. The ministry expects growth to accelerate from 1.4% in 2027 to 2.4% in 2029. Russia’s central bank forecasts growth of 0 to 1% in 2026 and 1.5 to 2.5% in 2027.

In early October, the World Bank kept its forecast for Russian GDP growth in 2026 at 0.8%. It expects Russia’s economy to grow by 0.7% in both 2027 and 2028.

Read more

• Russia’s economy is growing faster than expected. It probably won’t last.
• How much damage can Russia’s fuel crisis do to the economy?
• High oil prices and tax hikes aren’t enough to offset war spending and keep Russia’s budget on track

At Meduza, we are committed to transparency about our use of artificial intelligence in the newsroom. The story you’re reading was written by one of our living, breathing journalists and translated from Russian using an AI model configured to follow our strict editorial standards. This translation process is the result of extensive testing and refinements to ensure our English-language coverage is timely and accurate. A Meduza editor reviews every draft before publication.

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