At least three US states have been cyberattacked by Russian hackers, which has affected several US federal agencies. This was reported by Bloomberg, citing sources familiar with the investigation. Which states are in question is not specified. The US Cybersecurity Agency reported on December 17 that the hackers carried out their attack in a complex, knowledge-intensive manner.

French police have detained Jean-Luc Brunel, owner of the modeling agency MC2 Model Management, at the Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris, Bloomberg reports, citing the prosecutor's office. Brunel, 74, was charged with rape, sexual assault of a minor and human trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation and was held for questioning for 96 hours.

The Spanish police detained several Russian businessmen in the case of money laundering of the Russian mafia. Among the detainees was businessman Alexei Shirokov (or Sirokov), the Spanish newspapers El Pais and ABC reported . Publications describe Shirokov as a lawyer who provided various illegal legal services, for example, he helped simplify the procedure for obtaining a residence permit in Spain.

Journalists respond to Putin’s allegations linking their work to Western intelligence agencies Natalya Kolesnikova / AFP / Scanpix / LETA During his annual press conference on December 17, Russian President Vladimir Putin commented on two major journalistic investigations — both of which came out in December and concerned the president directly.

Rescuers have found a group of tourists, which included eight children, who went missing in the Syany caves in the Domodedovo area near Moscow, RIA Novosti reports, citing emergency services. According to the Telegram channel "112", the children came out of the cave to the rescuers themselves, their lives are not in danger. "Interfax" writes, citing a source, that the children came out to meet the rescuers. Their condition is assessed as satisfactory.

A group of 10 people involved in orienteering, including eight children, did not emerge from the Syanovskie caves near Domodedovo in the Moscow region, RIA Novosti reports, citing the Ministry of Emergency Situations. A group of tourists headed into the caves at about 11 a.m. on December 17, after which they stopped communicating, TASS reports , citing a source in emergency services. Interfax writes that the people were supposed to leave at 7 p.m.

Crime boss Levan Abuladze, known as Levan Sukhumi, escaped from a courthouse in Vladimir, the Prime Crime news agency reported, without specifying the source of the information. Levan Sukhumsky, 45, was taken to court on December 16 to extend his arrest, which had expired two days earlier. At the request of the lawyers, the convoy removed the handcuffs from him, after which the thief in law went to the toilet and then disappeared in an unknown direction.

In conversation with RBC, Putin’s alleged former son-in-law, billionaire Kirill Shamalov, commented on a recent journalistic investigation alleging that he acquired hundreds of millions of dollars in shares in Russia’s largest petrochemical company (Sibur) for just $100. The conditions for my participation in the program [Sibur’s incentive program for top management] didn’t differ from the conditions for […] other top managers.

When Russia opens the boundaries. Why Vladimir Putin did not vaccinate. The king of Sweden called the unsuccessful strategy for the fight against pandemia Good evening, This is the Medusa newsletter about the coronavirus during the pandemic. She comes out on weekdays instead of the "evening jellyfish." If one of your friends sent this letter to you and you have not yet been subscribed to the newsletter, subscribe here . If you read this on the site, share a link on social networks.

The highlights from Putin’s annual press conference, in a nutshell On Thursday, December 17, Russian President Vladimir Putin held his sixteenth annual marathon press conference — albeit via video link. He answered questions from journalists for nearly five hours straight, covering everything from Russia’s “Sputnik V” coronavirus vaccine, to the latest allegations about opposition figure Alexey Navalny’s poisoning, and New Year’s benefits for families. Here are the highlights, in a nutshell.

But this place is great! Five years ago, the Swedish Cecilia Bloomdal moved to the Norwegian city of Longyearbyen, which is located on the Svalbard archipelago - from there to the North Pole a little more than a thousand kilometers. It's VERY cold and VERY dark in here. But not a single case of coronavirus infection has been reported. Bloomdal does not want to leave, because every day in Svalbard becomes an adventure. Take at least walking the dogs.

Your Browser Does Not Support the Audio Element. The mayor of Kharkov Kernes died. Many remembered him as a memegla “gap”, but actually he was a politician, because of which the Kharkov People's Republic did not appear On December 17, it became known about the death of the mayor of Kharkov Gennady Kernes. He was 61 years old. The cause of death is the complications after coronavirus, which Kernes fell ill in September.

Putin accused of working on the Western intelligence services of the authors of investigations about the poisoning of Navalny and the president’s family. We asked them to answer Putin Natalya Kolesnikova / AFP / Scanpix / Leta At his annual large press conference, Vladimir Putin commented on two high-profile journalistic investigations-both came out in December and directly concern the president.

The alleged former son-in-law of the Russian President, CEO of Ladoga Management, Kirill Shamalov, commented on the Important Stories investigation , which stated that he paid $100 to purchase a 3.8% stake in Sibur. His comment was published by RBC. The conditions of my participation in the program [motivation for top management of Sibur] did not differ from the conditions of Dmitry Konov, Mikhail Karisalov, Pavel Maly, Mikhail Mikhailov and other top managers.

Chemical weapons expert investigating the poisoning of the Skripals - about how Navalny managed to survive after several attempts Archive of Mark Bloom On December 14, Bellingcat, The Insider, CNN and Der Spiegel published an investigation about who could stand for the poisoning of Alexei Navalny in August 2020 by a military with a novice group.