Vesti 20.00 Main story - Azerbaijan said goodbye to Heydar Aliyev. Genre: reportage. The intonation is sympathetic. The correspondent talks about the civil memorial service and funeral of the ex-president. “The center of Baku is literally buried in flowers, there are even wreaths on the sidewalks,” he comments. Footage of the arrival in Baku of Vladimir Putin, who, according to the journalist, considered Heydar Aliyev a “personal friend,” is shown. “I didn’t just treat him with great respect, I treated him with love,” the Russian leader says in an interview.
Time 21.00 The main story is that Heydar Aliyev is buried in Baku, with whose name, according to the presenter, “the entire modern history of the republic is connected.” Genre: reportage. The intonation is official. Fragments of the farewell ceremony for the former President of Azerbaijan are shown. “About 250 thousand people gathered in the area of the Palace of the Republic, and not everyone was able to attend the ceremony,” notes the author of the story. It is reported that the Russian President is in Baku, who “flew in for just a few hours.” “Mourning in the republic will last four more days,” the reporter concludes. Country and world 22.00 The main story is that a group of Chechen militants broke into Dagestan. Genre: direct broadcast. The intonation is tense. “According to one version, they went for the winter from Chechnya to the Pankisi Gorge,” the presenter clarifies. A correspondent from the scene reports that “with the onset of darkness, the pursuit of militants and search and reconnaissance operations were stopped.” Continuing the topic, the presenters report about a militant who was blown up in the toilet of his own house in Chechnya, and the verdict for the organizers of the terrorist attack on the Vladikavkaz market.

Newspaper "Kommersant" No. 228 dated December 16, 2003, p. 2

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