On December 13, 2009, Vitaly Ustimenko, the mayor of Tuchkovo and the head of the Ruza district branch of the Union of Russian Paratroopers, was killed in his home, together with his wife. The inexperienced killer was immediately caught and took all the blame on himself: they say, he committed the murder because Ustimenko did not fulfill some election promises given to him.

On New Year's Eve it is customary to wish everyone success, happiness, and express hope for the best. A year ago, everything was different. They wanted to wish, but at the same time they meant that nothing good could be expected. God grant that everything just remains as it is - and that will be good. Everyone was waiting for the crisis like a wave approaching on the horizon - and it came in waves.

On the morning of the 7th, my neighbor greeted me with an unexpected greeting. Before our dogs had time to complete the usual ritual of morning sniffing, he said in a cheerful voice: “Christ is risen!” Judging by his wary and not entirely transparent look, I was not the first to whom he addressed such a categorical statement.

The year 2009 in world politics gave rise to processes, the results of which will appear in 2010 and will likely determine the international atmosphere for the coming years. This, for example, concerns Russian-American relations, the Iranian nuclear problem, the Middle East settlement, the fate of Iraq and Afghanistan and the evolution of the European Union.