How a RuNet pioneer found himself under criminal investigation and in the Kremlin’s crosshairs Anton Novoderezhkin / TASS The chairman of the Internet Development Foundation’s Supervisory Board, Alexey Soldatov (left), and the chairman of the Internet Operators’ Union, Marat Guriev. Moscow, September 21, 2015.

On Tverskaya Street in Moscow, 13 participants in single pickets in support of political prisoners were detained. One of the detainees, editor of the student magazine Doxa Masha Bezverkhaya, reported this to Mediazona. They were taken to the Troitsky police station, they want to draw up protocols on all of them for participation in an unapproved rally. At the picket, activists took turns standing with a banner “I, too, want a holiday. Release political prisoners! delo212.ru ".

Updated . The press service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation confirmed to Interfax that a traffic police inspector was killed during the attack in Magas. In Magas, Ingushetia, one policeman was killed in an attack on a road patrol post, TASS reports, citing the investigative team. One of the attackers was killed, another was wounded, and another traffic police officer was also wounded.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko and Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev have reached a last-minute, no-contract agreement on fossil fuel transport, narrowly avoiding a supply shutoff in the new year. The Belarusian news outlet BELTA reported on the hurried negotiations, citing Lukashenko’s press service. At issue in the talks were rail transport routes from Baltic Sea ports and alternative routes for the Druzhba pipeline.

On December 31, Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke over the phone with his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky, the Kremlin announced. The call was initiated by the Ukrainian administration. The two presidents discussed the importance of their new gas transport deal and the recent prisoner exchange between Kyiv and the breakaway republics of the Donbas region. The two leaders also wished each other a happy New Year.

The news agency Sputnik Estonia , which is owned by the Russian state media conglomerate Russia Today, has ground to a halt after every one of its 35 employees resigned. An announcement from Russia Today said the staff of Sputnik Estonia had been threatened with prosecution on the part of the Estonian government.

On December 28, a visitor to the Tate Gallery in London damaged Pablo Picasso's Bust of a Woman. This writes BBC News with reference to representatives of the gallery and the police. It is not known how much damage the painting received. Gallery staff removed the painting from the exhibition to assess the damage. Shaquille Messi, a 20-year-old resident of London, was arrested on charges of damaging the painting. He denied guilt.

Vladimir Putin’s annual New Year’s address to the Russian people noted that the country is “standing on the threshold of the third decade of the 21st century” in an era of contradictions. “We live in a turbulent, dynamic, dissonant time, but we can and must do everything possible for Russia to develop successfully and for everything in our lives to change for the better,” the president said.

The Sputnik Estonia news agency has temporarily stopped work due to the dismissal of all employees. This is stated in the statement of MIA "Russia Today" (it includes "Sputnik Estonia"). The statement says that the employees of the agency were forced to leave from January 1, 2020 under the threat of criminal prosecution by the Estonian authorities.

The alleged organizer of the mass sending of messages about the mining of Russian courts, schools and other institutions is called Sergey, he previously lived in Kyiv. A source close to the security forces told the BBC Russian Service about this. The publication's source also reported that the possible organizer had 120 bitcoins stuck on the Wex exchange . Two BBC sources in Moscow City Hall said that reports of bomb threats came from Ukrainian territory.

QUENTIN / UNSPLASH In order not to argue with each other, choosing songs at a New Year's party, just turn on the Medusa playlist - this year we have gathered eight hours of music again for you. This time we took the New Year's classics, pop blockbusters, impudent young musicians from Russia, hip-hop, old rock, hits of the 1980s and much more. Valery Meladze! Tima Belarusian! Taylor Swift!

Updated . Alexander Lukashenko agreed with Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev on the supply of hydrocarbons from January 1 without contracts. President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko instructed to complete negotiations with Russia on oil in the coming hours and start supplies from alternative sources. The BelTA news agency writes about this with reference to the press service of the Belarusian president.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, in his New Year's address, spoke about the controversial time in which Russia found itself "on the threshold of the third decade of the 21st century." The residents of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky were the first to see Putin's congratulations, where January 1 had already arrived.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on December 31 held a telephone conversation with Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky. The Kremlin announced this. The conversation took place at the initiative of the Ukrainian side. Putin and Zelensky noted the importance of the new contract gas transit and the recent prisoner exchange between Kiev and Donbass. The leaders of the two countries also congratulated each other on the New Year.

Supporters of the Iraqi Shiite militia broke into the territory of the US Embassy in Baghdad during a protest, breaking the fence, and then set fire to the territory of the diplomatic mission. AP reports. The agency correspondent noticed a fire next to the parking lot of the embassy. Earlier, the demonstrators threw Molotov cocktails on the territory of the diplomatic mission, and also set fire to three guards' trailers.