My Fellow Russians,

The past few seasons within the Empire have been as exciting as they have been tense.

The Tsar addressed the masses in St. Petersburg last month with the most joyous of news - a royal heir, Prince Feodor, has been born to the Tsar and Tsarina. Reports released from the Royal Doctors indicate that Prince Feodor is in good health and high spirits.

On a more sombre note, trouble has struck in the Øresund as Russian coastal batteries mistook a Danish passenger vessel for a contraband smuggler attempting to circumvent routine cargo checks by Russian naval authorities and was fired upon, resulting in the loss of the ship and all 267 Danish lives on board. When asked about this grave tragedy, Admiral Pyotor Kravchenko replied: 'The Imperial Navy is not a court. The Imperial Navy is the defense of the Empire and Her interests as the Imperial Army is. It is obliged to defend the Empire and protect it from Her enemies, even if the sword does by chance sometimes fall upon the heads of the innocent.'

Occupied Copenhagen in response has seen numerous peaceful demonstrations about the actions of the Empire in the region, but so far these have been dispersed with relative ease and minimal casualties by Russian peace-keeping troops stationed in the city.

And finally on a lighter note, King Oscar II of Sweden has formally announced a program in which Tsarist advisers may temporarily enter the Swedish Court in order to both teach the ways of our glorious political process as well as learn the machinations of the Swedish political landscape. This program will no doubt be of mutual benefit to both of our proud nations. [META: This is a lore-friendly way of explaining while I'll be RP-ing Sweden while /u/Derpyfish129 is out of town.]

Long live Russia! Long live the Tsar!