Context

The current state of relations between Russia and the west is not a cold war – or at least not the Cold War 2.0.

Lexus and Vovan are fast gaining a reputation as the most mischievous men in Russia. The pair of professional prank callers, real names Alexei Stolyarov and Vladimir Kuznetsov, have claimed scalps as diverse as Elton John and Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in recent months.

U.S. Senators Rob Portman, an Ohio Republican, and Chris Murphy, a Connecticut Democrat, have introduced a bill aimed at countering propaganda from Russia, China and other countries, VOA News wrote.

The longtime director of the Russian State Archive has been removed from his post less than a year after he exposed a popular Soviet World War II legend to be “fiction” and railed against Soviet “myths” in front of top officials, Tom Balmforth wrote for RFE/RL.

The Russian propaganda machine has been targeting Germany for some time now. The aim of this disinformation is to unnerve society.

Latvian police have confirmed they have detained pro-Kremlin journalist Graham Phillips during the Latvian Legionnaire’s Remembrance Day events at the Freedom Monument in Riga.

A top presenter on Russian state TV has come out firmly in favour of Donald Trump in his bid to become US president, hailing him as an "anti-establishment" candidate who is ready to co-operate with Moscow, BBC Monitoring wrote.

The marks of violence on the body of Mikhail Lesin have renewed suspicion that the reasons for his death lead back to his powerful associates in Moscow, Simon Shuster wrote for Time.

The recent murder of a child in central Moscow has shocked us all. Why didn't Russian state media respond, Natalia Antonova wrote for oDR. The horror of it remains hard to process.

The Estonian Information Board – the country’s foreign intelligence service – warns in its “International Security and Estonia 2016” report that the policies of the current Russian government will remain the…