This week in Velikiye Luki, Pskov region, an Orthodox priest consecrated a monument to Joseph Stalin erected there. The Russian Orthodox Church has launched an internal investigation into this matter. On August 15, during the opening of the monument to Stalin on the territory of the Mikron plant, the rector of the temple in honor of the Icon of the Mother of God “Vsetsaritsa”, Priest Anthony (Tatarintsev), consecrated the monument.

In Chechnya, a case of “terrorism” was opened against human rights activist and former Team Against Torture lawyer Abubakar Yangulbaev. this He reported on his Telegram channel. According to Yangulbaev, the reason for initiating a criminal case was his post from 2022, in which he described the events that occurred on May 9, 2004, when Akhmat Kadyrov was killed, and wished the same death for his son, the current head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov.

Why do people start smoking and how to quit this habit Many people who smoke regularly try to quit but fail. Is it really possible to quit this habit once and for all? How to survive withdrawal syndrome? Does a person always gain weight when quitting smoking? “Kholod” talked about this with Mental Health Center psychologist Tatyana Volk. In order not to miss the main materials of “Cold”, subscribe to our Instagram and telegram . How is a habit formed?

The Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs has put journalist Karen Shainyan on the wanted list. The corresponding card appeared in the department’s search database, writes Mediazona. Shainyan himself told the publication that he still does not know under what article the criminal case was brought against him.

Member of the Human Rights Council Eva Merkacheva appealed to the director of the Federal Penitentiary Service Arkady Gostev with a request to transfer Nikita Zhuravel, accused of burning the Koran, to another region. The other day he said that in a pre-trial detention center he was beaten by the 15-year-old son of the head of Chechnya, Adam Kadyrov. “For security reasons, I ask you to urgently transfer Nikita Zhuravel to a FSIN institution in another region.

The Ukrainian army will not achieve the main goal of the current counteroffensive. This is what US intelligence thinks, writes The Washington Post, citing its own sources. According to them, the Ukrainian Armed Forces will most likely not be able to advance to Melitopol and cut the “land bridge” between Russia and annexed Crimea. According to the publication’s interlocutors, Ukrainian troops, who are now 80 kilometers from Melitopol, will stop a few kilometers from the city.

The Basmanny Court of Moscow arrested the co-chairman of the “Voice” movement, Grigory Melkonyants, for two months. this RTVI reports with reference to its own correspondent in the courtroom. The day before, Melkonyants was detained and taken away for questioning to the Investigative Committee. His home was searched.

Late in the evening of August 17, a naval drone attacked ships of the Black Sea Fleet in the southwestern part of the Black Sea, 237 km southwest of Sevastopol. This was stated by the Russian Ministry of Defense. “During repelling the attack, the enemy’s unmanned boat was destroyed by fire from the onboard weapons of the Black Sea Fleet ships - the patrol ship Pytlivy and the patrol ship Vasily Bykov, without reaching the target of the attack,” the department said in a statement.

Deputies from Chechnya supported the 15-year-old son of the local leader Ramzan Kadyrov, who beat up the person accused of burning the Koran in a pre-trial detention center.

Hundreds of medications will soon disappear from Russian hospitals and pharmacies. The Ministry of Health warned hospitals about this in a letter that was obtained by Kholod. It says that supply or production of almost 200 different drugs, including life-saving drugs, may soon cease.

The Lefortovo District Court of Moscow arrested US citizen Gene (Eugene) Spector, who was born in Russia, on espionage charges. this . reports TASS Mediazona found a file of this case on the court’s website, but the details of the charges are not indicated there. According to TASS, Spector was born and raised in Leningrad, but later moved to the United States and received citizenship there.

Lithuanian authorities denied political asylum to Belarusian human rights activist Olga Karach, calling her a “threat to national security.” She herself told Meduza about this. According to Karach, the Lithuanian authorities explained their decision by the fact that she interviewed the founder of the LDPR, Vladimir Zhirinovsky, and also participated in conferences in Russia, including those organized by the European Commission. As Meduza writes, Karach now lives in Lithuania.

Rosselkhoznadzor officials plan to hold negotiations with their colleagues from South Africa regarding the possible import of exotic animals from this country to Russian zoos. this TASS reports with reference to the department's press service. They clarified that we are talking about hippopotamuses, elephants, giraffes, zebras, antelopes and rhinoceroses, which are supposed to be caught in South African game reserves located in the provinces of Limpopo and Gauteng.

Film critic and film festival curator Alexei Medvedev was found dead in Mytishchi near Moscow. This was reported by search engines from the Lisa Alert detachment. “Found, dead. Condolences to family and friends,” the message says. The reasons for Medvedev's death are unknown. He stopped communicating on July 21st. about this on Facebook . wrote His wife Natalya Pylaeva Alexey Medvedev worked as a journalist, and since the early 2000s he has been organizing international film festivals.

Elon Musk has promised to remove the user blocking feature on Platform X, also known as Twitter. According to him, the ability to add people to the “black list” will remain only for personal messages, and anyone will be able to read and comment on messages from platform users. In early July, Musk announced that he had limited the number of posts on the social network that can be viewed per day.