Andrei Grigoryev is a correspondent for RFE/RL's Tatar-Bashkir Service.
Russia is expanding the use of a facial-recognition payment system for subway rides, with initial launches in Kazan and Nizhny Novgorod. Some rights advocates warn that the system facilitates government surveillance of citizens and have advised strict safeguards for civil rights.
A purported Kremlin election-strategy document leaked last month seems to show in detail how the authorities in Russia intend to produce 85 percent support for President Vladimir Putin in the March 15-17 vote.
Built in 1910, the Rajab is Kazan's oldest wooden mosque and boasts a long and eventful history, including a fire, the Bolshevik execution of its first imam, and forced closure by the Soviets.
Islamic leaders in Tatarstan have been asked to provide access to mosques in preparation for the launch of a surveillance system under orders from the Russian region's Ministry of Digital Development and Communications.
