Syrian rebels, who established power in the country, desecrated the mausoleum of Hafez al-Assad, the father of the overthrown Bashar al-Assad. BBC News reports this. The mausoleum is located in the city of Kardaha in the north-west of the province of Latakia. Not only Hafez al-Assad is buried there, but also his wife Anisa and eldest son Basil. The latter was supposed to inherit power, but died in a car accident in 1994.

The 2nd Western District Military Court sentenced 13 years and 4.4 years in prison to two residents of the Nizhny Novgorod region in the case of attempting to arson a military registration and enlistment office. RIA Novosti reports this with reference to the FSB press service. According to the prosecution, on November 15, 2023, a mother and her then 17-year-old son threw a Molotov cocktail at the window of the military registration and enlistment office building in the city of Shakhunya.

The 2nd Eastern District Military Court sentenced from 17 to 20 years in prison to two Transbaikal residents in the case of planning a terrorist attack at a gold mining enterprise (clause “b” of Part 3 of Article 205 of the Criminal Code with the application of Part 1 of Article 30 of the Criminal Code). This was reported by the press service of the court. According to court records , the verdict was handed down on December 9.

State Duma deputy Vasily Piskarev warned that receiving grants from NATO countries could be classified by Russian security forces as high treason. His words are quoted by the Duma commission to investigate the facts of interference of foreign states in the internal affairs of Russia, which is headed by a deputy.

A long-range bomber Tu-22M3 at the Khmeimim airbase. Photo: Russian Ministry of Defence / TASS The new Syrian authorities have taken full control of Tartus and Latakia, two cities hosting key Russian military facilities: the Khmeimim airbase and the naval base at the Port of Tartus. “Thousands” of Russian troops remain in Syria, according to Kremlin-aligned channels. While the new regime has not attacked these bases, it is unlikely to tolerate their indefinite presence.

State Duma deputies adopted in the first reading a bill that introduces criminal liability for the “illegal implementation of investigative and operational search actions” carried out in Russia by international organizations. The document was published in the database of the lower house of parliament.

Art: Mediazona Sergei Savchenko, 33, was mobilised to the Russian army in the autumn of 2022 and from the very start he said that he will not shoot at people. He served as a nurse anaesthetist in a field hospital and as an evacuator in a brigade that transports the wounded from the battlefield.

The Borzinsky garrison military court in Transbaikalia fined Yulia Podoynitsyna 3 million rubles, finding her guilty under the article on “fake news” about the army. Mediazona was informed about this by the press service of the court. The verdict was handed down on December 9. A source familiar with the situation told Mediazona that Podoynitsyna served with the rank of junior sergeant in unit 06705 stationed in Borza.

The Ukrainian Armed Forces attacked a military airfield in Taganrog using ATACMS missiles, the Russian Ministry of Defense reported . The department claims that the Ukrainian military fired six missiles at the airfield, two of them were shot down by the Pantsir anti-aircraft system, and the rest were “rejected by electronic warfare means.” Personnel were injured when missile fragments fell, the Ministry of Defense said in a statement.

A man died after falling from a window of the Investigative Committee building in Krasnoyarsk, Channel 7 Krasnoyarsk reports , citing the regional department of the department. The video of the man was published by the telegram channel “ChP Krasnoyarsk”. The recording shows how a man dangles his legs from the window of a multi-story building and after a while falls onto the roof of a neighboring building, and then rescuers pull his body out of the hole.

The 235th Garrison Military Court arrested a warrant officer in a rape case (Article 131 of the Criminal Code), the press service of the court told Mediazona. Other details of the case and details of the defendant’s biography were not disclosed in court. At the end of October, the commander of the Chechen special forces "Akhmat" Apti Alaudinov said that the police recorded 187 crimes committed by the Russian military in the Kursk region. Among the crimes, Alaudinov mentioned murder and rape.

The Vologda City Court fined 42-year-old local resident Vladimir Skvortsov, who is in a pre-trial detention center, a thousand rubles for printing the symbols of the Freedom of Russia Legion on a printer. The decision was published on the court’s website, Mediazona noted. Judge Gubina found Skvortsov guilty under the protocol of “production of prohibited symbols” (Part 2 of Article 20.3 of the Administrative Code) - she made this decision on November 21.

The Avtozavodsky District Court of Nizhny Novgorod released from punishment the former detective of police department No. 1 Roman Lonskov, who had persecuted his colleague. This was reported by the human rights project “Traumpunkt”. Lonskov was found guilty of intentional damage to property and sentenced to 10 months of correctional labor, but was released from it due to the expiration of the statute of limitations for criminal prosecution.

The Maykop District Court sentenced local resident Andrei Filimonov to a fine of 300 thousand rubles in the case of financing extremist activities (Part 1 of Article 282.3 of the Criminal Code), the joint press service of the courts of Adygea told Mediazona. As the press service clarified, Filimonov was accused of financing FBK. A fine of 300 thousand rubles is the minimum punishment under this article .

Russia convinced Bashar al-Assad to leave Syria; the departure of the ousted president and his relatives was organized by members of the Russian special services, three sources familiar with the situation told Bloomberg . Two of the agency's interlocutors, who wished to remain anonymous, told reporters that Assad and his relatives were taken through a Russian airbase in Syria. The plane's transponder was turned off to avoid surveillance, one of the sources said.