The draw for the 2022/2023 UEFA Nations League took place in Nyon, Switzerland on December 16. The Russian team ended up in the second group of League B. The opponents of Valery Karpin's team were Iceland, Israel and Albania. The group stage matches will be held from June 2 to September 27, 2022. In the first two Nations League draws, Russia also played in Division B. Both times, the team failed to achieve promotion, but also did not get relegated to a weaker division.

Director Alexander Sokurov wrote an appeal to the head of the Human Rights Council, Valery Fadeyev, in which he apologized for his statements at a meeting with President Vladimir Putin. This was reported by RBC, which reviewed the letter sent via the internal HRC mailing list. In the letter, Sokurov apologizes to Fadeev for what happened at the council’s meeting with the president. I see the outrage my behavior has caused in the national press and the administrative and security environment.

The first reading of a controversial draft bill on requiring QR-code vaccine passes for accessing public places in Russia led to a scuffle between Communist Party and United Russia lawmakers in the State Duma on Thursday, December 16.

Deputy of the Moscow City Duma from Yabloko Sergey Mitrokhin was detained in Moscow. This was reported by his assistant Maria Chuprina. According to Chuprina, Mitrokhin was detained during a meeting with residents of the Khamovniki district, dedicated to changing public transport routes in Moscow. The deputy was accused of organizing an uncoordinated public event (Part 2 of Article 20.2 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation).

Moscow court rules to keep former journalist Ivan Safronov in pre-trial detention into January 2022 Evgeny Razumny / Vedomosti / TASS A Moscow court has upheld the decision to prolong the detention of former journalist and Roscosmos communications advisor Ivan Safronov, who is awaiting trial for treason. For the first time in a long time, journalists were allowed to attend the hearing.

In the Leningrad Region, 90-year-old Klavdiya Petrova has died. In November, she performed surgery on herself due to the lack of timely medical care. This was reported by Komsomolskaya Pravda, citing the woman's granddaughter. According to Petrova's granddaughter, the official cause of death has not yet been announced, but according to preliminary data, the woman died of cancer. The operation most likely did not affect her. The coronavirus tests were also already negative.

Russia jails prominent businessman Mikhail Fedyaev in connection with deadly mine accident in Siberia Dmitry Azarov / Kommersant Mikhail Fedyaev giving Russian President Vladimir Putin a tour of the Chernigovets coal mine. August 27, 2018. One of the richest people in Russia, prominent businessman Mikhail Fedyaev was once predicted to take over as head of Siberia’s Kemerovo region.

The Bank of Russia is going to ban investments in cryptocurrencies in the country due to the risk of financial instability, which the regulator sees in the ever-increasing number of transactions with cryptocurrencies. It is reported by Reuters, citing sources close to the regulator. Now the Central Bank is discussing a possible ban with experts and market participants, the agency's interlocutors said.

The All-Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VTsIOM) conducted a survey on vaccination and Russians' attitudes toward it. During the survey, 42% of respondents reported that they had already been vaccinated. Another 27% of respondents expressed their willingness to be vaccinated with one of the vaccines available in Russia. 29% of respondents said they would not get vaccinated. The survey was conducted on December 12 among adult residents of Russia.

The head of the military-patriotic club "Paratrooper" Andrey Palachev was fined five thousand rubles because of a demonstration performance, during which club members smashed a dummy brick with the inscription "Death to faggots" with a sledgehammer. This decision, according to YarNews, was made by the justice of the peace of the Leninsky district of Yaroslavl.

Evgeny Reasonable / Vedomosti / TASS The first appeal court recognized the extension of the arrest to journalist Ivan Safronov, who is accused of treason. For the first time in a long time, journalists were allowed for a meeting. Safronov, before the announcement of the decision, congratulated all those gathered a Happy New Year and noted that he again received letters that were not transferred to him for several months at the request of the investigation.

A draft law abolishing urban and rural settlements was submitted to the Duma. The owner of Listvyazhnaya was arrested for two months. How Ingushetia argues over borders with Chechnya and North Ossetia Good evening, THIS MESSAGE (MATERIAL) IS CREATED AND (OR) DISTRIBUTED BY A FOREIGN MASS MEDIA PERFORMING THE FUNCTIONS OF A FOREIGN AGENT AND (OR) A RUSSIAN LEGAL ENTITY PERFORMING THE FUNCTIONS OF A FOREIGN AGENT This is Meduza's daily newsletter about the main news of the day.

The State Duma deputies from the Communist Party during the consideration in the first reading of the bill on the introduction of QR codes in public places arranged a protest action by deploying a poster of the Communist Party against QR-Fashism. This led to a brawl with United Russia. Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin called the action “circus” and complained that the deputies, “receiving half a million rubles, begin to arrange concerts.” The bill was adopted by 329 votes against 87.

Astrophysicist Sergey Bogachev answers naive questions about the Parker probe and explains that we may be in vain attracting the attention of aliens NASA Parker probe against the backdrop of the Sun. Illustration of the artist On December 15, the American Parker probe became the first spacecraft created by man to “touch” the sun . At the same time, he flew up to the sun at a distance of 10 million kilometers (and later it should get even closer - up to 6 million kilometers).

Group-IB founder Ilya Sachkov, who was arrested in a treason case, confirmed that his case was not related to the company itself and his work in it. This is stated in his appeal from the pre-trial detention center, which, through lawyers, was at the disposal of Interfax and RBC . According to him, this fact "inspires a certain hope" that the investigation will establish his innocence in this case.