At the official awards ceremony for the men's teams following the results of the relay race at the Biathlon World Championships, the Russian anthem was mixed up. Instead of the current version with the melody of Alexander Alexandrov, the previous national anthem sounded from the stage - with the melody of Mikhail Glinka. After the music stopped, commentator Dmitry Guberniev ran up to the athletes, gave them a microphone and asked them to sing the anthem a cappella.

SpaceX has pushed back the launch date for Mars to 2020. This was announced by the head of the company Gwynn Shotwell. SpaceX previously said the mission was scheduled for 2018. According to Shotwell, the company is going to spend more resources on preparing manned space flights and developing the Falcon Heavy launch vehicle. “We are more focused on 2020,” said Gwynne Shotwell. The Verge SpaceX's mission to Mars will be called the Red Dragon. While the project is under development.

Photo: Mikhail Sokolov / TASS Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on the official recognition of documents issued by the authorities of the self -proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics. It is announced that this is done temporarily - until the conflict in the east of Ukraine is resolved. The DPR and LPR passports in Russia were de facto recognized before, but now it will become mandatory for all companies and departments. And can lead to new sanctions.

SpaceX canceled the countdown before the launch of the Dragon cargo spacecraft to the ISS 13 seconds before launch. The founder of the company, Elon Musk , said that the cause was a malfunction in the engine of the upper stage of the Falcon 9 launch vehicle. The company's engineers are investigating the cause of the malfunction. The launch of the rocket was postponed to 17:38 Moscow time on February 19.

A rally was held in Samara, the participants of which demanded the restoration of social benefits and called for the dismissal of the governor of the Samara region Nikolai Merkushkin. According to the Pro City Samara publication, about a thousand people took part in the action. The Interfax news agency reports that the police estimated the number of protesters at 950 people.

The Russian team won the men's relay at the 2017 Biathlon World Championships, which takes place in Hochfilzen, Austria. The second to the finish line came the French, the third - the Austrians. Alexei Volkov, Maxim Tsvetkov, Anton Babikov and Anton Shipulin were part of the Russian national team. For all of them, the victory was the first in the world championships. The Russians have not won the men's relay at the World Championships since 2008.

Russia has recognized as valid identity documents issued by the authorities of the DNR and LNR. The corresponding decree was signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin. In addition to passports, educational documents, birth and death certificates, marriage and divorce certificates, as well as car registration plates are recognized as valid. On the basis of documents issued in the DPR and LPR, entry into Russia is allowed.

Near the railway station in the Belgian city of Leuven, a passenger train derailed. The police reported one dead, from 15 to 30 people were injured. Judging by the photographs from the crash site, one of the train cars turned over on its side. The cause of the accident has not yet been established. Traffic has been suspended on the railway line.

A procession was held in the center of Kyiv in memory of those killed in the clashes on the Maidan in 2014. About 500 people took part in the march. At the end of it, a rally was held on the Maidan with the participation of about 200 people. The Ukrainian police did not record any incidents during the action. Events in memory of those killed on the Maidan will continue in Ukraine until February 22.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that Russia will not lift sanctions against the European Union until the Minsk agreements on the settlement of the armed conflict in Donbass are implemented. “We also want the Minsk agreements to be implemented, and we will not remove our sanctions from the European Union until the Minsk agreements are implemented. This also needs to be understood,” Lavrov said at the Munich Security Conference.

The mother of the child spoke about the fight in the locker room In Podolsk, on February 11, 14-year-old hockey player Ilya Solnyshkin, a pupil of the Vityaz children's and youth sports school, died. According to the official version, the cause of death was SARS and pulmonary edema. The mother of the child said that her son was hit twice in the locker room by another hockey player. The Investigative Committee opened a case under the article on causing death by negligence.

Nike released a feminist video. Everything (well, almost everything) is delighted Frame: nikewomen / youtube As part of the new Nike Russia campaign, they released a motivating advertising video “What are our girls made of?” Video with the participation of star athletes calls on to abandon the stereotypes that surround women since childhood. There was no such expressive attempts at the feminist statement from a large brand in Russia.

Why is China the best and worst country on earth Photo: Li Xin / Sipa USA / Scanpix / Leta The “Shapito” section “Medusa” continues to explore countries that can be simultaneously called both the best and the worst on the planet. Following Australia and Japan, it was time to talk about China - the most populated and one of the largest planets in terms of area. Very resourceful people live there, but sometimes they fall into too stupid situations.

US Vice President Mike Pence declared Russia's responsibility for the armed conflict in the Donbass and demanded that it comply with the Minsk agreements. "The United States will continue to hold Russia accountable, even as we seek grounds for cooperation," Pence said at the Munich Security Conference. In his speech, Pence assured that the United States fully supports its NATO allies.

SpaceX's Dragon cargo ship, due to launch to the ISS on February 18, will deliver the superbug Staphylococcus aureus to the station. antibiotic-resistant During experiments on board the ISS, scientists are going to investigate the mutations of the microbe. It is assumed that microgravity accelerates this process - thus, in space conditions, it is possible to predict how a bacterium will mutate on Earth.