Advertisements appeared on Russian Telegram and other social network channels, recruiting extras to attend a concert and rally on February 22 in Moscow’s Luzhniki stadium. Putin is expected to attend the event, along with a number of Russian musical acts. The advertisements promised extras who attend the event 500 rubles (slightly less than $7.00) each, plus merch. On February 21, Putin will address the Federal Assembly.

Actor Bruce Willis, 67, has been diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia, said in a statement his family . In March 2022, Willis' relatives announced that he was ending his acting career due to aphasia (speech impairment). Since then, the disease has progressed, but now doctors have a more accurate diagnosis, according to the actor's family. Frontotemporal dementia is a brutal disease that many of us have never heard of and that can affect anyone.

YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki has announced her resignation. “Today I have made the decision to step down as head of YouTube and begin a new chapter [of my life] focusing on family, health and personal projects that I am passionate about,” she wrote on her blog on February 16. Wodcicki has led the company for nine years, since 2014. She was the longest-serving CEO in YouTube history. The new head of video hosting will be Neil Mohan, who has been the company's chief product officer since 2015.

Ukrainian politician Viktor Medvedchuk, who was handed over to Russia in September 2022 as part of a prisoner swap, told Russian state television network Channel One that he now resides in Moscow. “I used to come to Moscow for various matters, I’d arrive in the morning and leave in the evening. But now I live in Moscow permanently, I’m forced to. I didn’t leave Ukraine, I was traded,” he said during an interview.

In telegram channels and VK-publics for the recruitment of extras, advertisements appeared with an offer to take part in the rally-concert at Luzhniki on February 22, at which Vladimir Putin is expected to speak. The Siren publication drew attention to this. According to a typical announcement (for example, this one was published on the Massovki.net channel), “a patriotic concert dedicated to February 23” will begin at Luzhniki at 14:00.

The predicted spring offensive of the Russian army in Ukraine has already begun, Vladimir Zelensky said in an interview with BBC. “Russian attacks are already being held in several directions,” said the President of Ukraine. He noted that the Armed Forces of Ukraine will restrain attacks until they themselves go on a counterattack. But for this, Ukraine needs more Western weapons. “Weapons are the only language that Russia understands,” Zelensky emphasized.

The High Anti-Corruption Court of Ukraine fulfilled the justice ministry’s request to transfer to state ownership enterprises owned by Russian businessman Oleg Deripaska. The court decision concerns a metallurgy plant and several mining companies. The value of the property to be transferred to Ukraine exceeds 10 billion hryvnia (more than 20 billion rubles and 270 million USD).

The High Anti-Corruption Court of Ukraine upheld the claim of the Ministry of Justice for the transfer to state ownership of enterprises owned by Russian businessman Oleg Deripaska. This was reported by the Security Service of Ukraine. The court decision concerns the Nikolaevsky Alumina Refinery, as well as the subsoil mining companies Glukhovsky Quartzite Quarry, Khustsky Quarry and Zhezhelovsky Quarry.

Ukrainian politician Viktor Medvedchuk, who was transferred to Russia in September 2022 as part of a prisoner exchange, said in an interview with Channel One that he now lives in Moscow. "I used to come to Moscow for various reasons, I would come for one day, arrive in the morning, leave in the evening. But now I live in Moscow permanently, by force. I did not leave Ukraine, I was exchanged," Medvedchuk said.

By Will Mawhood for The Beet . Edited by Eilish Hart . Last December, three Latvian political parties came together to form a new government. The coalition negotiations had dragged on for more than two months. During the elections in October, incumbent Prime Minister  Krišjānis Kariņš’s center-right New Unity party came out on top with 19 percent of the vote. Analysts argued that Latvians sought continuity amid the fallout from Russia’s war against Ukraine.

Channel One began showing the program “Conversations about Important Things,” duplicating classes of the same name in Russian schools. New episodes will be published on the Good Morning program weekly on Mondays at 8:36, when similar lessons begin in schools.

The Russian authorities are considering whether to support Russian nationals fighting in Ukraine with private military companies. Putin raised the issue at a meeting with Children’s Rights Commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova, after she noted that the families of fighters serving in Ukraine with private military companies are not entitled to the same social guarantees as families of Ministry of Defense soldiers. “We’re looking into it now.

The Russian BBC Service spoke about the suspects in the undermining of the Crimean bridge. There is no evidence of their fault, lawyers say AP / Scanpix / Leta Early on the morning of October 8, 2022, an explosion occurred on the Crimean bridge. According to the investigation, the unidentified explosive device was hidden in a cargo with a construction plastic film, which was delivered from Odessa across the borders of Bulgaria, Georgia, Armenia and Russia.

The head of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs, Vladimir Kolokoltsev, fired two employees of the department for “a formal approach to considering citizens’ applications.” The press service of the ministry reports this.

The National Council (unicameral parliament) of Slovakia adopted a resolution recognizing the current Russian regime as “terrorist” and Russia as a “state supporting terrorism.” The deputies also condemned Russian aggression in Ukraine, including massive attacks on civilians, civilian objects and key energy infrastructure. In addition, the parliament expressed support for the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine.