0715GMT//Siberian army recruiting bonus record; Putin's romantic side

CHINESE VISITOR: Chen Wenqing, the head of China's police and security services, met with Sergei Shoigu, the Secretary of Russia's Security Council, in Moscow on Tuesday. (COMMENT: Shoigu and Wenqing toured various Russian arms manufacturing sites in another "public show of affection" between the two allies. These trips to Russia by various Chinese government officials are important to the Kremlin because China is Russia's most consequential ally. Without China to provide financial and diplomatic support, Russia would be isolated.)

TRUMP CRITICISES PUTIN: Donald Trump said on Tuesday that Vladimir Putin was "playing with fire" for not going far enough to indulge his peace talks. (COMMENT: This continues Trump's apparent shift to criticising Putin. He has also threatened to slap more sanctions on Russia if Putin doesn't start negotiating in good faith soon.)

POWS DIE IN RUSSIA: More than 200 Ukrainian POWs have been killed in Russian prisons and had various organs removed to hide signs of torture, the AP reported on Tuesday by quoting Ukrainian government officials. (NOTE: This is important data. There have been regular reports of Ukrainian soldiers dying in Russian captivity, but no clear number until now. Bodies have been returned to Ukraine without vital organs and no clear explanation of the cause of death.)

CULTURE PURGE: Bookshops in Russia have been told by a publishing house to destroy 37 books which may anger the Kremlin for breaching anti-LGBT propaganda rules or for running down modern Russia, according to the BBC's Russian service. (COMMENT: This is part of Vladimir Putin's war on culture in Russia. He wants to differentiate his Russia, based on traditional values, from Europe, which he wants to paint as soft, corrupt and decadent. The purge of books also comes after executives at the Eksmo publishing house in Russia were arrested earlier this month for releasing "LGBT propaganda".)

CONNECTING UKRAINIAN NUCLEAR POWER PLANT TO GRID: Russia has started building a powerline to connect the captured Zaporizhia nuclear power plant up to its electricity grid, the New York Times reported by quoting Greenpeace. (COMMENT: This will be another 'first for Russia. If Russian officials do turn on the nuclear power plant and run electricity into their power grid, this will be the first example of a sovereign nation taking control of electricity production from another nation's nuclear power plant.)

PREGNANCY PAYMENT: Schoolgirls and students who become pregnant in the Altai region of Russia will receive a one-off payment of 100,000 roubles ($1,250), Russian media reported. (COMMENT: There is some evidence that this financial incentive by various Russian regions, pushed by the Kremlin, is driving up birth rates. In April, the Kemerovo region reported that the number of teenage birth rates had risen by a third since the scheme was introduced. The Kremlin is obsessed with reversing Russia's declining birth rate and has been handing out various incentives.)

PUTIN THE ROMANTIC: Putin showed off his rare romantic side on Tuesday when he batted away a proposal by a government official to introduce a scheme for people to send marriage proposals through an online platform. Putin said that it may save time but "it is better to do these sort of things in person, looking into each other's eyes and experiencing certain emotions".

POTATO SHORTAGE: Putin at a meeting with officials acknowledged Russia's shortage of potatoes and price rise for the first time. (COMMENT: This was a rare admission by Putin of the political problems that Russia is facing. Potatoes, a staple food in Russia, have risen by 200% in price over the past year. Putin said that he had spoken to Bealru's leader who said that he can't order more exports to Russia because Belarus also risks running short.)

MEGA PAYMENT: Russia's Khanty-Mansia region in Siberia has set a new record for one-off payments to men who agree to sign up to fight in the Russian Army in Ukraine. It boosted its payment to 2.65 million roubles (around $33,000) up from 2.2 million roubles. (COMMENT: This again shows just how much money regional governments are prepared to spend recruiting soldiers. The Kremlin is still pressuring regional governments to recruit soldiers, despite paying lip service to peace talks to end the war in Ukraine. Putin this year said that the Russian army was recruiting 40,000 new soldiers every month. With extra signing-on bonuses of 400,000 roubles from the federal budget and another 150,000 roubles from the municipal budget, a man in the Khanty-Mansia region will receive 3.2 million roubles ($40,000) for signing on – roughly 25 times larger than the average monthly salary in the region.)