With increased international tensions, and the escalation of the Russian-Ukraine war, November was certainly an eventful month in Russian politics. Brig presents a compressive overview of Russian politics in 2024, featuring the Russian-Ukraine war, international relations, and domestic policies.
October 31- November 1: Russia fines google more than the entire worlds GDP
A Russian court has fined Google a staggering two undecillion rubles (equivalent to $20 decillion), an amount that dwarfs the global GDP, estimated at $110 trillion.
If one were to write out $20 decillion, it would look like this: $20,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000. That’s crazy money!
This fine results from a long-standing dispute over Google’s refusal to restore Russian state-linked media channels banned on YouTube following the 2020 U.S. sanctions.
The penalty started as a daily fine of 100,000 rubles and escalated exponentially by doubling each week.
The astronomical sum is entirely symbolic, acknowledged even by Kremlin officials who noted the impracticality of enforcement but stressed the need for Google to reconsider its policies.
November 7: anti-war Russian teenager faces five years of imprisonment
Arseny Turbin, one of Russia’s youngest political prisoners, lost his appeal to overturn a five-year sentence in a juvenile colony.
Arrested at age 15 in 2023, Russian authorities accused him of joining the Freedom of Russia Legion. The group is known as a paramilitary organisation fighting against the Russian army.
Turbin denied the charges, admitting only to distributing leaflets critical of Vladimir Putin but insisting he acted independently, not associated with the Legion.
Turbin has been politically active on social media, supporting Russian opposition figures and openly criticise the Russian government and Putin at school.
Despite evidence from his peers suggesting no link to the Legion, Turbin faced interrogation without legal representation.
His mother, Irina, claims his alleged confession was fabricated by FSB agents. The FSB (Federal Security Service) is a Russian security service, known in the Russia language as Federal’naya Sluzhba Bezopasnosti.
November 7: Putin comments on Trump’s presidential victory
Russian president Vladimir Putin has congratulated Trump on his second presidential victory, describing him as a “courageous man”.
This was two days after Trump won the 2024 presidential election, defeating Kamala Harris in both the electoral college and popular vote.
At a speaking event Sochi, Russia, Putin said that Trump was “hounded from all sides” during his first term in the White House (2017-2021).
Putin also commented on Trump’s assassination attempt in July this year, saying it made an “impression on him”.
“He behaved, in my opinion, in a very correct way, courageously, like a man,” Putin said.
Throughout his presidential campaign, Trump has promised to quickly end the war in Ukraine in one day, but the details to this plan are not clear.
In the past, Russia has been accused of interfering in the 2016 presidential election, which saw Trump defeat Hillary Clinton. However, after the three year Mueller report, no evidence was found of a Russian conspiracy.
November 19: Missiles hit Russia
Ukraine has used U.S.supplied Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) to strike Russian territory for the first time, targeting the Bryansk region near the Ukrainian border.
The Russian government claims five of six missiles were intercepted, with fragments causing a fire at a military site. However, U.S. officials suggest Russia intercepted only two of eight missiles, leaving discrepancies in reported figures.
The attacks come a day after Washington approved Kyiv’s use of these long-range precision missiles, marking a significant escalation in the conflict. Ukraine confirmed a strike on an ammunition depot in Bryansk, causing multiple explosions.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov condemned the strikes, accusing the U.S. of escalating the war and alleging American experts were directly involved.
Meanwhile, Moscow has amended its nuclear doctrine to classify attacks by non-nuclear states supported by nuclear powers as joint assaults, eliciting criticism from Western leaders, including U.S. and UK officials, who dismissed Russia’s rhetoric as irresponsible.
Concept of ‘This Month in politics’ created by Edward Jewsbury, Brig politics co-editor.
Featured Image Credit: Edward Jewsbury.
I am a third-year Politics and Journalism Studies student at the University of Stirling (2022-) and a writer and sub-editor for the Brig for over a year (Nov. 2023-), focusing mainly on political topics.
