TODAY: Ruble and oil price falling; Europe to be hit by anti-Russia sanctions; Gazprom losing European customers; crude deliveries to China hit new record; Chinese media lashes out at Western criticism of friendship with Russia; Moldova bans Russian television stations; Putin says rights groups turn a blind eye to Ukraine hardships, Kremlin official alleges uncovering of mass graves.

The ruble continues to hit new lows against the euro and dollar this week, and national reserves are at a four-year-low thanks to the Central Bank’s spending in an effort to support it.  Vladimir Putin has not ruled out cuts to this year’s budget,  which loses $2 billion for every dollar the oil price falls, according to a Finance Ministry analyst.  But Europe could also take a hit, standing to lose €90 billion as a result of  sanctions imposed against Russia from 2014-2015.  Gazprom reported second-quarter profits up 13%, but the company is losing customers in Poland and Bulgaria – not just because they are worried about the security of its supply, but also because of its prices, which are much higher than those at European trading hubs.  On the bright side, plunging oil prices may end up producing ‘an extraordinary peace dividend,’ says The Times.  A new exhibition in Moscow puts Pussy Riot into the context of a ‘long lineage’ of Russian performance art.