The campaign under the motto “Don’t eat caviar, stop Russian poachers!” is gaining momentum in Europe. So, on the eve of the holidays, Swedish authorities conducted a raid on shops and restaurants in the country's second largest city, Gothenburg. It turned out that black caviar from Russia, the import of which has been prohibited into Sweden since 2003, was on sale in half of the outlets where the police visited.

Another convict has appeared in the YUKOS case. The former head of the Russian Federal Property Fund, Vladimir Malin, was found guilty of commercial bribery and abuse of power. In addition, the court deprived Malin of the right to hold public office for three years.

The plane with Russian sailors on board took off for London on Tuesday. After a transfer tomorrow morning on an Aeroflot flight, the sailors will arrive in Moscow. On December 14, 2005, the court decided to release the Russians, and a flight to Russia was scheduled for December 21. However, as it turned out for some reason only on the day of departure, during their stay in prison the sailors’ visas expired and they were unable to leave the country on time.

As Illarionov himself stated, “some time ago” he submitted a letter of resignation to his “employer”. He explained his decision, in particular, by restrictions on publicly expressing his point of view. “As long as there was an opportunity to do at least something, including talk, I considered it important to stay here,” the ex-adviser explained.

More than a hundred students of St. Petersburg universities and representatives of public organizations gathered on Tuesday morning in front of the Smolny Palace. The anti-fascist rally was organized in connection with the murder of a Cameroonian student on December 24, and in protest against the incitement of racial hatred in Russia. The rally participants demanded that the authorities ensure the safety of foreign students - both in the city and throughout the country.

There is only one step left before the adoption of one of the most scandalous laws of recent times - the president’s signature. Today, a draconian bill that effectively prohibits the work of representative offices of foreign non-profit organizations in Russia and imposes significant restrictions on the functioning of domestic ones has been approved by the Federation Council. 153 members of the upper house voted for its adoption. One senator spoke against it and one abstained from voting.

It would seem that the word “public” is a good word, but there is something wrong with it. It would seem that it could be better, because the word means “the whole society”, that is, “yours”, “mine”, “ours”... That is, “nobody’s”! It has no specific owner and is not normally controlled by anyone. At least, past Soviet life taught us this perception of the word “public”.