Fire at an Ozon logistics center in St. Petersburg during a drone att…

Investigative Committee chairman Alexander Bastrykin, in an interview with RIA Novosti, said the committee is building a rapid-analysis and multimedia evidence system modelled on Interpol's ICSE international child sexual exploitation database. It is to detect signs of child sexual exploitation, match faces and stable distinguishing features, and reveal links and serial patterns. He said the effort will use large language models. The ICSE database holds 6.7 million images and videos and, according to Interpol, has helped identify about 65,200 victims worldwide.

Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko, at the finals ceremony of the national mentoring contest in Tula, said 106 people from 39 Russian regions became winners. The final brought together 400 mentors from 67 regions. By number of winners, the Moscow region leads with 16, followed by Moscow with 15 and St Petersburg with 7. One outcome of the final was work on common mentoring principles, folded into a Mentor's Code. The contest is held under a directive from President Vladimir Putin and, since 2025, within the national project for youth and children.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov held talks in Manama with Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud and later met Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Jarrah al-Sabah. The meetings took place in the Bahraini capital on the sidelines of the 9th round of the Russia–GCC strategic dialogue and were closed to the press. Lavrov had arrived in Manama on Saturday.

The Russian Foreign Ministry press service said Sergey Lavrov will meet Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian during a working visit to Tehran on 19 October, with a candid and thorough exchange of views on bilateral cooperation and key international issues. He will also meet Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi — the fourth ministerial meeting this year — to discuss the situation in the Persian Gulf and ways out of what the ministry called an acute international crisis.

The Russian embassy in Denmark said Moscow has repeatedly proposed a bilateral agreement with Copenhagen on preventing incidents on the high seas and in the air, but Danish authorities ignore these initiatives. The embassy said such a document would create a legal basis for reducing risks in the Baltic, citing the recent close approach of a Danish Fennec helicopter to the Russian corvette Soobrazitelny, which fired warning flares. Diplomats also cited earlier episodes in the Kattegat and near Fehmarn in which Danish air force helicopters manoeuvred as close as ten metres from a ship's side. The embassy noted Denmark is among the few NATO countries without such an agreement with Russia.

US President Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social that Washington is negotiating an end to the conflict between Moscow and Kyiv and does not want to take foolish steps that would push Russia away from the negotiating table, noting significant progress. He accused Volodymyr Zelensky of targeting Russian refineries knowing this harms global diesel markets including the United States, and said Zelensky does not want to end the conflict and probably never did. The report notes that on 16 October Trump paused certain restrictions under the late Senator Lindsey Graham's law, which provides for 500% tariffs on Russian goods.

Belarusian Energy Minister Denis Moroz said the two countries already have a signed treaty and will shortly finalise the arrangement by signing the rules of a unified electricity market. He said electricity exchange between the countries will improve reliability and availability. The report gives no signing date or market size.

Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said Russian diesel will reach the US market within 15–20 days of commercial contracts being signed, and nearer markets even sooner. Russia is ready to raise supplies from 500,000 to 3.5 million tonnes a month if refineries keep running; the US Energy Department has designated buyer companies and commercial terms are being negotiated. He said sanctions relief under the Russia–US diesel deal lasts six months and the OFAC licence covers both transportation and insurance. The export resumption is possible because of a domestic surplus: to keep refineries from cutting runs for lack of storage, volumes must go to world markets.

According to an insurance broker's estimates, voluntary health insurance premiums in Russia will rise by at least 15% in 2027 and in some cases by 30% if programmes are kept unchanged — the steepest increase since 2024 (6–10% in 2024, 8–10% in 2025, 7–15% actually paid in 2026). Central Bank data show second-quarter 2026 VHI premiums up 7% year on year at 68.2 billion roubles, with payouts up about 19% at 61.8 billion roubles. The main driver is the rising cost of medical services: 90% of clinics plan to raise prices 10–20% in 2027. Employers are expected to rely more on deductibles and to drop expensive clinics.

Moscow police said a migration sweep in the north of the capital produced 1,406 reports, with 338 foreign nationals to be deported and 842 banned from entering Russia. Checks covered public places, streets, hostels, hotels and residential buildings. Investigators opened 13 criminal cases over illegal border crossing and forged documents plus 22 other criminal cases, and identified three foreign nationals wanted internationally.

According to Supreme Court judicial department statistics, 161,100 men were convicted in Russia in the first half of 2026 — less than half the figure for the same period of 2016 and 7% below a year earlier. Convicted women numbered 41,600, down 1% year on year but rising overall since 2021. Men sentenced by district and garrison military courts rose to 9,700 from 6,900 a year earlier. Convicted minors reached 6,600 in January–June, up 11% year on year.

St Petersburg Governor Alexander Beglov said a mass drone attack killed one person and left five in hospital; the air-danger regime has been lifted and the city is restoring damaged civilian infrastructure. He said 12 apartment buildings and two private houses were damaged, and residents evacuated overnight are returning home. Emercom crews continue fighting fires at the St Petersburg Oil Terminal, the Ruchyi oil depot and industrial warehouses in the Kolpino district, with the city's operational headquarters still working.

Leningrad region Governor Alexander Drozdenko announced the drone-danger regime had been lifted, saying 145 drones were shot down over the region overnight. According to him, debris fell on an apartment building in Gatchina; a house fire in the Vsevolozhsk district hospitalised a woman and three children; 55 cars were damaged in Novoselye in the Lomonosov district; and two houses caught fire in two gardening cooperatives in the Kirov district. An emergency power cut left 50 houses and about 20,000 people without electricity in Yanino.

The Belgorod region operational headquarters said seven people were injured in drone strikes. On the Belgorod–Shebekino highway a drone hit a car, injuring four men. In Novaya Tavolzhanka in the Shebekino district a man was injured when a drone detonated and a commercial building was damaged. Two more people were injured and hospitalised in a strike on an infrastructure facility. Citing the Defence Ministry, the report notes 41 drones were downed over Russian regions including Belgorod that day.

The Russian embassy in Belarus said two Turkish charter flights bound for Russia were diverted to Minsk on 18 October because of strikes on Russian airport infrastructure, carrying more than 400 passengers. Ambassador Boris Gryzlov and embassy staff are at Minsk National Airport assisting citizens, and free hot meals have been provided together with Belarusian partners. Several options for returning the Russians home are being worked out.

VK said a data centre it operates in the Leningrad region was attacked by drones, adding that VK services remain available to users as normal. Earlier on Sunday, regional governor Alexander Drozdenko reported 95 drones destroyed over the region and debris falling on residential buildings and power lines.

Aeroflot said it returned to its normal schedule at Sheremetyevo by the morning of 18 October, after restrictions imposed at Moscow airports on 16–17 October. The report notes Moscow and other Russian airports saw widespread restrictions in recent days amid Ukrainian drone attacks, with hundreds of flights cancelled or rescheduled and some aircraft diverted to alternate airfields.

Valery Bukhtiyarov, director of the Siberian Branch's Institute of Catalysis, said the Siberian Circular Photon Source (SKIF) will begin its first experiments before the end of the year, hoping a circulating beam appears in November or at the latest before New Year; commissioning work is under way. The first stage comprises seven experimental stations, eventually up to 30. SKIF will be the world's first 4+ generation synchrotron source at 3 GeV, with project cost rising from an initial 37.1 billion roubles to more than 76.7 billion roubles.

Russian figure skater Alina Gorbacheva won the Budapest Trophy Challenger Series event in Hungary with 203.35 points across the short and free programmes. Romania's Julia Sauter took second with 179.92 and Switzerland's Kimmy Repond third with 178.86. Gorbacheva, 19, is the bronze medallist of the 2025 Russian championships; Budapest was her debut in the Challenger Series.

Interfax, citing Ozon's press service, reports that on 18 October a fire broke out at an Ozon logistics facility in St. Petersburg during a drone attack; the company said all staff were promptly evacuated, no one was injured, and emergency services were working on site. Kommersant, in its same-day roundup, says one of the marketplace's logistics centers was damaged and caught fire, with the warehouse being doused from helicopters as of its publication time; the paper also records one death and five injuries in the city that day, with 12 apartment buildings and two private houses damaged. Neither report gives the warehouse's floor area, the value of goods stored, how long order fulfilment was affected, or when operations would resume.

Lenta.ru reports that during the overnight mass drone attack on the Leningrad Region on 18 October, one of the targets was a VK data center. VK's press service said the incident did not affect service operation and that, as of 06:00 Moscow time, all of the company's services were available to users as normal. Kommersant adds that the data center is located in the village of Novosergievka, Vsevolozhsky District, next to a major 330/220/110/35/10/6 kV "Vostochnaya" trunk substation. The reports do not state how much equipment was damaged, the repair timeline, or the impact on ad delivery or payment processing.

Kommersant, citing Pulkovo airport's press service, reports that after the overnight drone attack on 18 October the airport adjusted its schedule: more than 50 flights delayed, 26 cancelled, and 13 aircraft landed at diversion airports. The airport said ground services and airlines were restoring the schedule as quickly as possible; departing passengers were accommodated in the "Redmond" hall and Baltic provided 3,000 bottles of water. In its roundup the paper also states that as of 11:00 Moscow time 26 flights were cancelled and more than 50 delayed, with take-off and landing restrictions lifted at 09:59. Interfax at 08:56, citing Rosaviatsiya, reported the airport was operating by coordination and that schedule adjustments were possible, without figures. The reports do not quantify the impact on cargo flights or marketplace parcel shipments.

Vedomosti reports that Alexander Shokhin, head of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RSPP), said in an interview with TASS that Russian businesses are ready to co-fund the creation of new air defense systems to protect industrial facilities. "We are ready to chip in, so to speak. And the question, probably, is that this process needs to be stimulated. Let's start with a pilot on the tax investment deduction, at least. This is serious investment," he said. He added that even if agreements on the Ukraine conflict are reached soon, developing new air defense systems will still be necessary, and urged companies not to be afraid to invest in protecting production facilities. The report gives no amounts, no scope of participating companies, no pilot timeline, and does not say whether e-commerce warehouse facilities are covered.

Kommersant's radio desk reports that banks are concerned the Federal Tax Service is showing growing interest in clients' financial information and is no longer requesting it only during tax audits; since summer, credit institutions have more often received inspector requests within administrative proceedings. Under Article 26.10 of the Administrative Offences Code, such data can be obtained from banks within three days. The Association of Russian Banks has sent letters to the tax service and the Central Bank asking them to look into the practice. Independent financial analyst Andrey Barkhota expects the trend to widen, noting that under anti-fraud legislation adopted in recent years, in principle any data could be used for verification. Taxadvisor partner Dmitry Kostalgin says such a request can be challenged in court, citing the Supreme Court's 2025 practice review: Rosselkhozbank was asked to provide all client information and statements, lost at every lower instance, but the Supreme Court held that bank secrecy takes priority and overturned the earlier rulings. The article also cites tax service data showing first-half tax receipts up 8% to 31 trillion rubles. It does not say whether the practice affects non-resident corporate accounts.

Interfax reports that Russian businesses need to adapt their physical asset protection strategies to new challenges, according to Maxim Oreshkin, deputy head of the presidential administration. In an interview with Pavel Zarubin of the Vesti news programme, he said that in the new era of drones and autonomous craft — not only airborne but also surface and ground — the challenges are changing and all companies need to revise their security approaches; he added that challenges and threats must be kept in mind and one must be ready for them. The report contains no industry specifics, cost estimates, or policy measures.

The Bank of Russia official rates interface shows that a request for 18 October returns the rate set dated 17 October 2026: USD 83.6177, EUR 93.7187, CNY 12.4950 rubles (nominal 1); a request for 19 October returns the same set. In other words, no new set of rates was published on the coverage day, and this set remains in effect through 19 October. The interface does not return a publication time. The previous issue (coverage day 17 October) already reported these values and noted no new set that day; what is new here is that the same set continues to apply through 19 October.

Kommersant, citing estimates from insurance broker A.R.S. Consulting, reports that voluntary health insurance (VHI) prices in Russia will rise by at least 15% in 2027, and in some cases incumbent insurers are already warning of a minimum 30% increase if the coverage programme stays unchanged — the largest rise since 2024. The broker's data shows growth of 6–10% in 2024 and 8–10% in 2025; a Kommersant survey of market participants found employers paid 7–15% more for employee VHI in 2026. Central Bank data shows VHI premiums in Q2 2026 up 7% year on year to 68.2 billion rubles, with April–June claims up about 19% to 61.8 billion rubles (90.6% of premiums), and over 500,000 active contracts as of 1 July. The survey says 90% of clinics plan to index prices by 10–20% in 2027; Rosstat puts medical inflation at 12.08% in H1 2026 versus 6.3% general inflation. To control costs, most insurers are introducing deductibles for specific clinics, and about half for specific types of care, with deductibles set at no less than 20%. The article does not break figures down by industry or headcount and does not address non-resident employers.