I have often wondered if a a very small Ion thruster, used intermittently, gravitationally stabilised, could be used to offset the variable atmospheric drag caused by inflation/deflation of the tenuous upper atmosphere to extend satellite life. It would add a little weight at launch but could extend orbital life by many years. It would need fractions of a gram of thrust, run off the current solar electricity budget, and could easily make them endure for 10+ years. When the satellite had failed or aged out, it could be used for improved de-orbiting at end of life.
I also suspect that a mobile stream at a lower frequency could be added that would provide intermittent stream down loads of news directly to the Russian people via recently tested cell phone comms ability