Yesterday's tragedy in Kerch, Crimea, where 20 people were killed and scores were wounded in a shooting and an explosion orchestrated by a student at the Kerch Polytechnic College, topped the headlines in the Russian media on Thursday. A criminal case was initially opened on terrorism charges, but was later reclassified as murder.

According to Kommersant, the alleged shooter, Vladislav Roslyakov, had to have been plotting the crime for more than two months. The motives behind this unprecedented attack for Russia, according to the newspaper, will be clarified by a special group headed by Major General Sergey Golkin, who oversaw the investigations into the terrorist attack on the St. Petersburg subway in 2017 and the 2018 Kemerovo shopping mall fire.

Nevertheless, according to Kommersant's sources, Roslyakov is now being checked for links to Ukrainian extremists from the "Right Sector" and UNA-UNSO that are banned in Russia. The latter organization was already caught plotting a terrorist attack in an educational institution in Russia, the newspaper wrote. So far, however, the assumptions that Roslyakov could have been an extremist have not been confirmed by any concrete facts. "It could have been a conflict with other students or teachers," a source close to the investigation told Kommersant.

Deputy Head of the State Duma Security Committee Anatoly Vyborny told Izvestia that he did not rule out extremist organizations being involved in the tragedy. "Most likely, he has been preparing for this for a long time and carefully. It is possible that he was led by those who are recruiting for terrorist and extremist activities," he told the newspaper.

Former Chairman of the Federation Council Committee on Judicial and Legal Affairs Anatoly Lyskov told Vedomosti that initially, from the scale and number of victims, the incident looked like an act of intimidation in order to pressure society and the authorities, but later it became clear that murder was the main motive. Lyskov believes that the reclassification makes sense, and that it will also help avoid speculations related to Russian-Ukrainian relations. "However, they could not be completely avoided: the habit of quickly finding the enemy seems to have become a reflex with some representatives of the political establishment," Vedomosti wrote.

According to Vedomosti, the tragedy in Kerch could be a new terrible episode of mass school shootings, similar to the Columbine High School massacre in Colorado, US back in 1999.

Kommersant: US LNG won't replace Gazprom’s supplies to Poland

The statements by Poland's oil and gas conglomerate, PGNiG, about purchases of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the United States being cheaper than pipe gas from Gazprom, are utterly unrealistic, Kommersant wrote. The declared gain of 20-30% is achieved only by comparing the price of LNG when it is shipped to a tanker in the US with Gazprom's final price for PGNiG. As a result, American gas is unlikely to replace Russian supplies to the Polish market, since upon delivering LNG to Poland; the benefit for PGNiG is almost zero. Therefore, it is more efficient to resell. However, this looks more like a political deal for Poland, and the US is directly interested in it - their LNG plants have not yet been built, and such contracts are necessary to secure funding.

Kommersant's sources in EU companies, which are also in talks with the US' Venture Global to buy LNG, say that the Americans are now offering a liquefaction cost of $3 per mln BTUs (MBTU). Thus, PGNiG could receive gas at $235 per 1,000 cubic meters, which is approximately 20% less than the price of Russian gas for Poland in the fourth quarter - around $295, according to the newspaper.

However, taking into account the cost of delivering LNG from the Gulf of Mexico to Poland ($1 per MBTU) and its regasification in Swinoujscie ($0.4 per MBTU), the cost would almost be the same as gas from Russia.

Given the current gas price climate in Europe and Asia, PGNiG will hardly want to supply gas from the United States to the Polish market, Maria Belova from Vygon Consulting told Kommersant. "Most likely, this gas will go to Asia, and Poland will be able to profit from such transactions, unlike from the deliveries to Poland, where the profitability at current prices will be near zero," the expert said.

Izvestia: Estonia still pursuing ‘Soviet occupation’ compensation

Estonia has concluded its ‘damage’ estimates from its Soviet-era ‘occupation’. According to the Ministry of Justice, the losses amounted to more than 1 bln euro. Izvestia reports that among its claims are repression, the loss of territories, environmental problems, and some astounding points - like a gap with Finland in the life expectancy of its citizens. This is not the first time, Tallinn has been talking about occupation and compensation, the newspaper wrote.

Estonia estimated the damage from the ‘Soviet occupation’ at 92 bln rubles - 1.2 bln euro at the current rate. The Ministry of Justice report states that in 1948-1985, Estonia also lost 1 mln hectares of agricultural land, and noted that among human casualties: 49,500 suffered from repression, while 24,100 people in Estonia died during World War II, in addition to the 139,400 people forced to leave the country. The report argues that these human casualties can be considered genocide. There are utterly bewildering claims like, Tallinn blaming the Soviet Union for the fact that the standard of living in Estonia is lower than in Finland.

Experts interviewed by the newspaper noted that the report comes right during the run-up to the parliamentary elections in March 2019. "There is clear timing, which is based on the election campaign. No need to look at the campaign on the streets, or visit the Parliament’s website. The most accurate indicator is talk about ‘Soviet occupation’," political scientist and President of the Russian Association of Baltic Studies Nikolai Mezhevich told the newspaper.

"Conservatives, nationalists, and patriots - there are a lot of politicians - and the electorate are limited. There is nothing to boast about as far as the economy is concerned. So they have to employ historical issues," the expert added.

Izvestia: Russia’s investment in US debt plunges to historic low

Russia is shifting its investment preference gears. Moscow is decreasing its funding of America’s national debt, so US government bonds may be replaced by deposits into banks of more friendly countries or investments in gold, according to experts interviewed by Izvestia. Reducing investment in US debt fits into the logic of de-dollarization. However, such investments are formed based on the import structure: a country should have access to money in the currency that it uses most actively, Izvestia wrote.