American actress Angelina Jolie has stepped down as special envoy of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). This was reported on the website of the organization. Jolie has worked with UNHCR since 2001. At first she was a goodwill ambassador, in 2012 she received the status of a special envoy of the organization. The actress has taken part in more than 60 UNHCR field missions. Among the last countries she visited were Yemen and Burkina Faso.

The Third Court of Appeal in Sochi has removed lawyer Mikhail Benyash from the case of the OMON Rosgvardiya officers who are trying to challenge their dismissal after refusing to fight in Ukraine. This was reported by Benyash himself. He posted a press release from the court's website on his Telegram channel. It states that the case materials of the National Guard officers contain information constituting a state secret.

On the territory of the Elansky district of the Volgograd region on the morning of December 16, several metal fragments fell, reported. V1.ru Local residents posted photos and videos on social media. One of the wreckage fell in a field, another in a forest, and a third hit an outbuilding. On one of them they noticed the inscription "Attention". “It's terrible, here all the trees have blown away. There are some tubes and boards lying around. Some more parts, ”V1.ru quotes local residents.

The Russian Ministry of Justice updated its list of “foreign agents.” This week’s additions include: Ivan Tyutrin, cofounder of the Free Russia Forum; Yulia Taratuta, editor-in-chief of the publication Wonderzine; Dmitry Lyubimov, journalist for publication 7×7; Dmitry Davydov; Irida, a Samara LGBTQ+ defense organization; the Sakhalin Environmental Watch organization; the Center for the Preservation and Study of Salmon Species and Their Habitats.

The studio of television channel TV3, whose facilities TV Rain broadcast from in Riga, will terminate its lease with the Russian network, TV3 spokesperson Karlis Poznyakov told Latvian publication Delfi.

How a new law from Moscow turned neighbor against neighbor in a remote Siberian village People of the Baikal Vershina Tutury Original story by People of the Baikal . Abridged translation by Sam Breazeale . The village of Vershina Tutury only has about 180 residents, many of them ethnic Evenks .

The Russian Justice Ministry has updated its list of "foreign agents." This week, it added: co-founder of the Free Russia Forum Ivan Tyutrin; Wonderzine editor-in-chief and Dozhd host Yulia Taratuta; Idel.Realii journalist Dmitry Lyubimov; Dmitry Davydov ; politician Natalia Gryaznevich; Samara LGBT support organization "Irida" public organization "Sakhalin Environmental Watch"; Non-profit organization "Center for the Conservation and Study of Salmon Species and Their Habitats".

The Official Journal of the European Union published the content of the ninth package of sanctions against Russia, which was approved on December 16 by the EU Council. In particular, the magazine published a list of Russian individuals and organizations subject to sanctions.

Russian courts have issued the first sentences based on laws about desertion and abandoning a unit without authorization during the period of mobilization and combat operations. The publication Mediazona discovered the sentencings on military courts’ websites. On December 14, a Murmansk military court sentenced Maxim Malyshev for deserting during the mobilization period, as well as for attempting an illegal border crossing.

The TV3 studio, from whose premises Dozhd was broadcast, will terminate its lease agreement with the TV channel. This was reported to Delfi by TV3 representative Karlis Poznyakov.

An assassination attempt was made on the director of the Russian House organization, Dmitry Syty , in the Central African Republic (CAR), the Russian Foreign Ministry announced . Syty opened the package, which was filled with explosives. He was taken to the hospital. He is in stable but serious condition, the Russian embassy in the Central African Republic told RBC.

Russian courts have begun to pass sentences on articles on desertion and unauthorized abandonment of a unit during mobilization and combat operations. This was discovered by Mediazona after studying the websites of garrison military courts. Thus, on December 14, the Murmansk Garrison Military Court sentenced Maxim Malyshev on charges of desertion during mobilization and attempted illegal border crossing.

Your Browser Does Not Support the Audio Element. Putin canceled this year a “direct line”, a large press conference and even a message. Is he really afraid of sudden uncomfortable questions? On December 12, it became known that in 2022 a large annual press conference of Putin, which has been held in December, will not be held in December. TASS later said that in 2022, the Presidential Message of the Federal Assembly was also under threat of cancellation.

The International Football Federation (FIFA) has refused to give Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky the opportunity to deliver a "message of world peace" ahead of the World Cup final in Qatar. This was told by a CNN source. According to him, the office of the Ukrainian president came up with the initiative. They offered to show Zelensky's video message at the stadium before the final match of the World Cup and were surprised by the refusal.

And now what conclusions did scientists come to AP / Scanpix / Leta Sociologists Anatoly Kropyvnytsky and Alya Denisenko compared the reaction of Russians to the war in Ukraine with the position of Americans about the invasion of Iraq . In their study, published by the project “after” , sociologists talk about why some of the Russians support the invasion of Ukraine, how “passive” supporters of the war explain their position and whether they can convince something. Medusa retold this article.