Evening Medusa

A draft law abolishing urban and rural settlements was submitted to the Duma. The owner of Listvyazhnaya was arrested for two months. How Ingushetia argues over borders with Chechnya and North Ossetia

Good evening,

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Pulse

First, news about covid

• In Russia, 25 cases of omicron infection have been identified .
• The State Duma adopted in the first reading a bill on QR codes in public places .
• for Moscow schoolchildren New Year holidays will be extended : they will begin on December 27.

And now for everything else

• The owner of the Listvyazhnaya mine, Mikhail Fedyaev, was arrested for two months in connection with the death of 51 people. He is one of the richest people in Russia .
• to the State Duma was submitted A draft law on local self-government . He abolishes urban and rural settlements in Russia.
• The court overturned the sentence of blogger Edward Beal in the case of a major traffic accident in Moscow . The case file was sent back for a new trial.
• The founder of "Gazgolder" and the first producer of Basta received three years in prison .
• Former judge Elena Khakhaleva, whose daughter got married for five million rubles, left Russia . She is suspected of fraud and forgery.
• Reddit has filed for an IPO . The company is valued at $10 billion.

Texts of the day

The fourth "Matrix" is out! We tell how the sequel turned out, and remind you what was in general in the first three films

Anton Dolin in his review talks about the long-awaited sequel, first without spoilers, and then with them. And he says that regarding the fourth part, both the most optimistic and the most gloomy forecasts have come true. This is if very briefly. And we also retold the original trilogy so that you can not revise it, but go straight to the cinema. It didn't turn out very short.

Bonus: a special episode of the YouTube show "Radio Dolin" dedicated to "The Matrix".

Meduza tells the story of the Prigorodny district, which Ossetians and Ingush cannot divide

Prigorodny District is a disputed territory on the border of North Ossetia and Ingushetia. 30 years ago they fought here, today neighbors from the same village do not talk to each other, and their children go to different schools. Meduza special correspondent Sasha Sivtsova visited Prigorodnoye and explains why the conflict, which began with state repression, will not be resolved for many more years .

Podcast "What Happened"

Two years ago, people in Ingushetia protested over the transfer of land to Chechnya. The rallies were dispersed, the activists were imprisoned. Kadyrov won again?

Protest leaders received seven and a half to nine years in prison. They were found guilty of creating and participating in an extremist society, as well as attacking law enforcers. Rallies against the new border with Chechnya began in 2018. The most massive was held on March 26, 2019 in Magas: about ten thousand people took to the streets. The protests ended in a clash with the police, as a result of which about a hundred people received administrative punishment, more than 30 - criminal. What happens in the republic two years after the suppressed protest? We speak with journalist Vladimir Sevrinovsky.

Listen to What Happened on Meduza and YouTube , and subscribe to Apple Podcasts , Google Podcasts , Castbox , Yandex.Music and other podcast services.

Find of the day

Hermitage restorers found in the sleeve of the ball gown of the sister of Nicholas II ... candy. Bitten!

Yes, you read everything correctly: while ordinary people find forgotten 500 rubles in their jacket pocket, restorers found a 1903 candy in the dress of Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna. The candy was sewn into the sleeve . Also noteworthy is the monologue of the artist-restorer of the highest category Galina Fedorova:

“I didn’t begin to embroider it [sleeve]. Carefully climbed into the slot - it does not work. I had to take it off. It was evident that it was not sewn up capitally, but somehow very easily. I took off this thread, and something fell into my palm: something pinkish, irregularly shaped. And for some reason, probably, ancient instincts work - I licked this something.

Listen to your ancient instincts, your Medusa