A Russian businessman with a gun seized the throne in the Hermitage to address Putin
In St. Petersburg, a man armed with a knife broke into the Hermitage and ended up sitting on the imperial throne, where he addressed Putin. He spoke of financial difficulties and accused officials of corruption. Following the incident, he was detained by the Russian National Guard, according to Russian media reports.
A dramatic and at the same time bizarre incident occurred in the center of St. Petersburg: a man armed with a knife broke into the Hermitage, made his way to one of the museum’s most famous symbols—the Grand Imperial Throne in the St. George Hall—and, sitting upon it, began addressing Russian President Vladimir Putin, speaking of his own financial problems and the injustice of the system.
The man called himself a bankrupt entrepreneur and spoke of expensive loans, pressure, and corruption, while insisting that “there are no small matters,” urging the authorities to pay attention to his situation.
According to eyewitnesses, when a museum employee tried to approach and calm the man down, he pulled out a knife—which, according to preliminary reports, he had smuggled into the building hidden in his shoe—after which the situation escalated sharply.
Rosgvardia officers quickly arrived at the scene, evacuated visitors from the hall, and detained the man; according to the agency, he resisted arrest but was taken to the police station.
As the publication discovered, the detainee is 45 years old, originally from the Leningrad Region, resides in the village of Gorbunki, and his name is Alexander; according to the SPARK system, he had at least four business ventures, including a software development company that reported losses as of 2025.
It is also reported that some of his businesses were liquidated by the tax service, while others have not been actively operating recently, which likely served as the backdrop for his claims of a financial crisis that culminated in the high-profile incident at the museum.
Russia is running out of resources to continue the war against Ukraine, and losses on the front lines and sanctions are gradually eroding the economy and stability. This was stated by Estonian foreign intelligence, emphasizing that the Kremlin finds itself in a situation requiring a difficult choice.
In Europe, the debate over whether to talk to Russia about peace has intensified again. The Estonian Foreign Ministry is convinced that now is not the time for negotiations, but rather for applying maximum pressure on the Kremlin. They state that Russia is in a precarious position and is running out of resources to continue the war.
Estonia has extended the nighttime closure of border crossings with Russia for another three months. The restrictions will remain in effect at least until the end of August. Tallinn explains the decision simply: recently, the Russian side has shown “no goodwill,” so the country does not plan to ease controls.
The Estonian government has approved additional funding of 17 million euros to strengthen the border with Russia, specifically for modernizing surveillance systems and implementing artificial intelligence technologies.
Earlier, Estonia ordered additional HIMARS systems from the U.S. and may receive them as early as 2027—sooner than planned. At the same time, the country is developing its own defense infrastructure in collaboration with the American company Lockheed Martin. As a result, Tallinn is building a more flexible and long-range missile arsenal.
The Estonian Ministry of Defense wants to simplify the procedures for procuring and using drones in the military. To this end, it has prepared amendments to aviation regulations designed to make the process faster and more flexible. The government explains this by noting that drones are rapidly changing modern warfare, and regulations must keep pace.
