The resignation of Andrei Illarionov has been expected for exactly a year: since President Putin said that the purchase of Yuganskneftegaz was carried out using “absolutely market methods,” and Illarionov called the same deal “the scam of the year.” Here, as they say, you can preach atheism, but you cannot work in a seminary. Illarionov probably expected that he would be fired, and even ran into a scandal, because the bigger the scandal when he left, the higher his status in the opposition.

Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov also decided to intervene in the fateful gas scandal between Russia and Ukraine. He threatened that changing the terms of the Russian-Ukrainian agreement on the Black Sea Fleet could entail a revision of borders. I must say that I didn’t believe in the apocalyptic picture of Russian tanks invading the Lviv region. I didn’t even believe in the annexation of Crimea or Donetsk to Russia.

At a meeting with the president, Minister of Communications Leonid Reiman reported on the results of his department’s work over the past year, saying, among other things, that 84% of Russians use mobile phones. As it turned out, the head of state was not among them. Vladimir Putin admitted that he does not have a cell phone. Having unwittingly given the idea of ​​a New Year's gift to his subordinates, the president will most likely be able to open a full-fledged mobile phone store in January.

A resident of Nikolaev came out to the square with a poster that read: “The journalist asks for asylum from the Yushchenko regime.” Apparently, considering what was happening to be an unauthorized rally, the law enforcement officers decided to take the woman to the police station.

Starting January 9, the fee for a single-entry visa for Lithuanian citizens who decide to come to Russia will rise from 20 to 42 dollars. The new tariff is being introduced on the principle of reciprocity. In addition, from now on, Lithuanians will need to take out a medical insurance policy to travel to the Russian Federation. The visa will be issued for a period not exceeding the validity period of the policy.

The photocopies, signed by the Deputy Prefect of the Western District of the capital, Alexander Elizarov, report that the leaders of illegal armed groups may be preparing terrorist attacks in the Moscow region. The city authorities denied the existence of such a document. Elizarov himself stated that even if such a document existed in reality, it would not be posted for public viewing.

The governor of Chukotka was among the top ten of the Russian elite for the first time in 5 years. As today's Kommersant writes, such results were shown by the annual VTsIOM survey, conducted by order of the publication. Yuri Luzhkov takes 4th place. In 5th and 6th places are Sergei Shoigu and Vladimir Zhirinovsky. Over the course of a year, Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov rose from 24th to 8th place.

The last few seasons, journalists writing about television and illuminating the television process on the radio, after a huge list of minuses of domestic TV in the section of a few advantages, the first number was called documentary.

On Friday, Prime Minister of Ukraine Yuriy Yekhanurov said that the country has money to buy gas, and the problem is not finance, but civilized relations between countries. On Thursday, the Russian side rejected all 12 points of Ukrainian proposals to resolve the gas crisis.