In St. Petersburg, a young man was detained for throwing a Molotov cocktail into the military registration and enlistment office building in the Central district of the city. Fontanka , REN TV and 78.ru report this with reference to sources. The publications claim that as a result, the door of the military registration and enlistment office caught fire and was extinguished.

The Main Bureau of Medical and Social Expertise for the Arkhangelsk Region and the Nenets Autonomous Okrug has established a third group disability for 18-year-old St. Petersburg resident Yegor Balazeikin, who was convicted in the case of attempting to set fire to two military registration and enlistment offices. This is stated in the response of the medical and sanitary unit No.

The St. Petersburg City Court recognized the track “It’s awesome to be Russian” by rapper Raskol as “extremist”. This was reported by the press service of the city courts. The military prosecutor's office of the Leningrad Military District demanded to ban the track and its text through the court. As a result, the court decided to block it on seven sites.

The St. Petersburg City Court, at the request of the prosecutor’s office, recognized the Church of Scientology of St. Petersburg as “extremist” and banned its activities in Russia. This was reported by the press service of the city courts. The prosecutor's office filed a lawsuit against the church itself and its leader Ivan Matsitsky.

Art critic and translator Elena Gordon, the mother of oppositionist Vladimir Kara-Murza, was hospitalized at the Charité clinic in Berlin with symptoms similar to the consequences of poisoning. The Agency reports this with reference to two of the politician’s colleagues. According to them, the initial test for chemical poisoning agents gave a negative result. The publication does not provide any other details.

The Krasnogvardeisky District Court of St. Petersburg registered a protocol on “discrediting” the Russian army, drawn up against musician Alexander Balunov, one of the founders of the group “The King and the Clown.” The publication Zaks.ru drew attention to it. The press service of the St. Petersburg courts told the publication that the protocol against Balunov was drawn up because of five posts in his Telegram channel, which were published from July to October 2024.

The track “Columbine” by rappers Slava CPSU (Vyacheslav Mashnov) and Zamai (Andrey Zamai) was added to the list of extremist materials; the song was declared extremist in October of this year by the decision of the Primorsky Regional Court. The First Deputy Military Prosecutor of the Pacific Fleet filed a lawsuit to ban the song, who, together with FSB officers, drew attention to the musicians’ track during the inspection.

Igor Kirillov during his Defence Ministry briefing in 2022. Photo: Vadim Savitsky / TASS On the morning of December 17, TASS reported an explosion on Ryazansky Prospekt in Moscow, with two people dead. The agency later confirmed that Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov, head of Russia’s Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Defence Troops (NBC), and his aide, Major Ilya Polikarpov, had been killed in the blast. Both died instantly. Ukrainian media published footage from a dashcam of a nearby parked car.

Judge of the Ostankino Court of Moscow Svetlana Yakovleva fined journalist Vladislav Gorin 10 thousand rubles under the article on participation in an “undesirable” organization (20.33 Code of Administrative Offenses). Defender Lidiya Anosova told Mediazona about this. The reason for drawing up the protocol was one of the episodes of the daily podcast “What Happened,” which Gorin hosts on Meduza.

Lawyer and human rights activist Vladimir Kazantsev, who helped regional environmental activists, died in correctional colony No. 11 in Kopeisk, Chelyabinsk region. Relatives of the deceased reported this on his Telegram channel. The exact cause of death is not yet known. In a conversation with 74.RU, the human rights activist’s wife said that he died due to heart problems. URA.RU, citing unnamed sources, writes that the preliminary cause of Kazantsev’s death was coronary heart disease.

The Birobidzhan District Court of the Jewish Autonomous Region arrested the American blogger Tommy Sabbatical (Thomas John Beard) for 15 days and fined 50 thousand rubles under protocols on resistance to the police and “discrediting” the Russian army (Articles 19.3 and 20.3.3 of the Administrative Code). This is stated in the court rulings, to which Mediazona drew attention. Both decisions were made on November 11.

State Duma deputies adopted in the second and third readings a bill aimed at “strengthening the fight against reconnaissance, subversive and sabotage and terrorist activities of the enemy.” This was reported on the website of the lower house of parliament.

Igor Kirillov during a briefing in 2022. Photo: Vadim Savitsky / TASS On the morning of December 17, TASS reported an explosion on Ryazansky Avenue, which killed two people. The agency later confirmed that the explosion killed the head of the Radiation, Chemical and Biological Defense Forces (RCBD), Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov, as well as his assistant, Major Ilya Polikarpov. Both died instantly. Ukrainian media published a video from the dash cam of a car parked nearby.

The First Court of Appeal of General Jurisdiction excluded aggravating circumstances in the case against 30-year-old UAF marine Miroslav Chernomor, but still upheld the life sentence. Mediazona became aware of this. Photo: Alexandra Astakhova / Mediazona Chernomor served in the reconnaissance company of the 36th Marine Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. In April 2022, like several hundred colleagues, he surrendered at the Azovmash plant in Mariupol.

In the Krasnodar Territory, near the Black Sea port of Kavkaz, the Volgoneft 109 tanker sent a distress signal on the night of December 17. This was reported by Baza and RIA Novosti with reference to their sources. According to Baza , Volgoneft 109 transports 4,000 tons of fuel oil. There was a leak in one of the tanker's tanks, but the ship remains sealed and no oil products entered the water. “There are 14 crew members on board, they are not in danger.