Why is the Kremlin constantly ratcheting up tensions over Ukraine? Meduza’s sources say it’s to avoid ‘giving in’ to Washington. Maxar Technologies / AP / Scanpix / LETA Russian troops concentrated near the border with Ukraine. January 2022. The tensions over Ukraine are becoming more and more alarming by the day.

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky considers the decision of some Western countries to start evacuating their diplomats and their families from Ukraine due to a possible Russian invasion a mistake. Zelensky stated this during a meeting with representatives of foreign media, writes Ukrayinska Pravda. Yes, I believe it was a mistake. I speak frankly about this. I have no right to say that this is a mistake of the governments of respected states.

In 2021 , the natural population decline in Russia amounted to 1.043 million people. This was reported by Interfax, citing operational data from Rosstat. As the agency notes, this indicator of natural population decline has become the highest in the entire modern history of Russia. Before this, the maximum was recorded in 2000, when the natural population decline amounted to 958.5 thousand people. According to Rosstat, as of January 1, 2022, the population of Russia was 145.5 million people.

The Ministry of Defense of Belarus on January 28 Alexander Lukashenko addressed the annual message to the Belarusian people and parliament.

A local journalist reports on the hopes and fears of Kharkiv residents amid the looming threat of a Russian invasion Ukrainian Armed Forces / Reuters / Scanpix / LETA Military exercises in the Kharkiv region. Ukraine, December 20, 2021. The Ukrainian city of Kharkiv is located just 40 kilometers (25 miles) from the border with Russia. In 2014, it was among the main centers of a bitter standoff between supporters and opponents of the Maidan Revolution.

Updated . The court arrested Konovalov for two months. In St. Petersburg, Alexander Konovalov, an entrepreneur, the initiator of the boycott of QR codes by city establishments, was detained. The businessman's daughter-in-law Anzhelika Getshe and his lawyer Ivan Lyalitsky reported this to the Paper newspaper. The Department of the Investigative Committee for St.

Before the visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin to the Piskarevskoye cemetery in St. Petersburg, sanitary treatment of snowdrifts were reorganized there. About this Novaya Gazeta was told by a cemetery employee Margarita Nikolaev. “Snow has never been processed before,” she remarked. Nikolaev also noted that people who carried a wreath on behalf of the president were “brought from Moscow” in the cemetery, where they were on quarantine for two weeks.

The Russian authorities have developed retaliatory measures in connection with the obstruction of the work of the RT DE TV channel "by the German authorities and American digital monopolies." This was reported by a Kommersant source in the state structures of the Russian Federation. This was also confirmed by an unnamed TASS interlocutor in the government.

Putin speaks to Macron. Nazarbayev leaves another post. Anonymous Telegram channel monitors Chechen security forces 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 most important things that happened during the day. Let's start, as usual, with the most interesting.

Now the two countries finally reconciled Bandar Aljaloud / EPA / Scanpix / Leta Prime Minister Thailand Prand Chan Ocha (left) and Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Muhammad Bin Salman (right) during a meeting in Riyadh January 25, 2022 The Prime Minister of Thailand Praise Chan-Och and the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Muhammad Bin Salman agreed to normalize diplomatic relations and in the near future to appoint ambassadors in the capitals of the two countries.

The Yermolova Theater canceled the premiere of the play "Twelfth Night, or Anything", because of which the artistic director Oleg Menshikov had a conflict with the director Oleg Dolin. This was reported on the website of the theater. The joint decision to stop rehearsals and cancel the premiere was made by the participants in the production, the statement said. Among those who worked on the performance are the actors Oleg Menshikov, Alexander Petrov, Anton Lapenko, Alexandra Bortich.

The Mi-8 transport and combat helicopter made a hard landing in the Ulyanovsk region, Interfax reports with reference to the Russian Ministry of Defense. There were three crew members in the helicopter, all of them received injuries of varying severity. One of them died on the way to the hospital. The accident occurred near the village of Dubki during a planned flight. According to preliminary information from the Ministry of Defense, the cause could be a technical malfunction.

State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin said that "Russia will not fight with Ukraine," but this "does not suit Washington, which is doing everything to push our states against each other." “Russia and Ukraine need peace. The US and European countries do not need a nuclear war. Let's start from that. Any dialogue is always better. It must be built on the principles of mutual respect, defending the interests of its citizens,” Volodin wrote in his telegram.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and French President Emmanuel Macron held telephone conversations. This was reported by the press service of the Kremlin. In the conversation, Putin promised to "carefully study" US and NATO responses to Russian proposals for security guarantees, and then decide on further actions.

Maxar Technologies / AP / Scanpix / Leta concentration of Russian troops near the border with Ukraine. January 2022 The situation around Ukraine is more alarming. Russian troops have long been near the border, NATO countries are transferring additional forces to Eastern Europe, and politicians exchange mutual accusations in the escalation of the conflict. What is happening - and most importantly, what will happen in the near future - in fact, no one knows.