Volha Shukaila / SOPA Images / LightRocket / Getty Images Maria Kalesnikava Maria Kalesnikava, a prominent Belarusian opposition figure and a central figure in the 2020 protests who spent more than 5 years in prison, has called on Europe to follow the United States’ lead and resume dialogue with Alexander Lukashenko. In a new interview with the Financial Times, she argued that such engagement would help secure the release of more Belarusian political prisoners and strengthen European security.

Updated. According to updated information, 13 people were injured in the village of New Adygea, said Murat Kumpilov. Nine victims were hospitalized, including two children. Judging by the videos ( 1 , 2 , 3 ), which were studied and geolocated by Meduza, the cause of the fire in an apartment building and in a parking lot in the village of New Adygea (we are talking about a house next to the Mega shopping center) was a missile from the Russian air defense system.

Special Representative of the President of the Russian Federation Kirill Dmitriev held talks with Special Envoy of the US President Steven Witkoff and the son-in-law of the American leader Jared Kushner, TASS reports. The meeting took place at the US House in Davos, Switzerland, where the international economic forum has been taking place since January 19. The negotiations lasted more than two hours; journalists were not invited to the meeting.

Residents and authorities of Greenland, amid threats from US President Donald Trump, should begin to prepare for a possible military invasion, even if this is an unlikely scenario, Greenland Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen said. “The use of military force is unlikely, but it cannot be ruled out. This has been clearly stated by the other side,” Nielsen said at a press conference in Nuuk. He was quoted by Bloomberg and AFP .

Since the beginning of the Russian-Ukrainian war in 2022, the value of gold reserves of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation has grown by more than $216 billion, Bloomberg calculated. This amount is comparable to the volume of Russian sovereign assets frozen in Europe. In December, the European Union approved an indefinite freeze of Russian assets worth $244 billion. This money is kept in Western countries. Most of the Russian assets are held in the Euroclear depository in Belgium.

On the eve of the visit, the US President published personal messages from Macron and the NATO Secretary General. What's going on? Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images The international economic forum is taking place in Davos on January 19. On January 21, the main guest, US President Donald Trump, is expected to arrive. The main topic is the conflict between the United States and Europe over Greenland.

Tetiana Dzhafarova / AFP / Scanpix / LETA The New Safe Confinement structure over the remains of the fourth reactor at the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant. December 22, 2025. Ukraine’s Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant lost all external power on Tuesday following overnight Russian strikes on the country’s energy infrastructure, according to Rafael Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Many in the Belarusian opposition are against it. What do they say to each other? Volha Shukaila / SOPA Images / LightRocket / Getty Images Belarusian oppositionist Maria Kolesnikova - one of the main protagonists of the 2020 protests, who spent more than five years in prison - called on Europe to follow the example of the United States and start talking to Alexander Lukashenko again. Kolesnikova believes that this will help free Belarusian political prisoners and strengthen European security.

Alexander Lukashenko signed a document on Belarus’ accession to the Peace Council created by US President Donald Trump. The document, a photo of which was published by the telegram channel “Pool of the First,” states that Belarus is ready to implement all provisions of the charter of the Peace Council from the date of signing.

Who brought forward Russia's invasion of Ukraine? Ilya Venyavkin talks about this in an interview with Katerina Gordeeva Journalist Katerina Gordeeva released an interview with historian of Stalinism Ilya Venyavkin on her YouTube channel. In 2025, the Meduza publishing house published his book “Temple of War.” It is a “portrait gallery” of famous (and not so famous) Russians who, with their ideas and actions, brought the war with Ukraine closer.

The Second Western District Military Court sentenced the defendants in the case of blowing up the car of former SBU officer Vasily Prozorov to long prison terms, TASS reports. Explosion of Prozorov's car Vasily Prozorov is a former lieutenant colonel of the SBU who, from 2014 to 2018, in his own words, collaborated with Russia “for ideological reasons.” Now he lives in Moscow.

The interdistrict prosecutor's office of Chertanovo accused a person who has nothing to do with the publication of collaborating with Meduza. An administrative protocol was drawn up against him under the article on participation in the activities of an “undesirable” organization. Mediazona writes about this. The protocol was drawn up against Alexey Uvarov. The basis for this was a post on the Meduza telegram channel about material written by historian Alexei Uvarov in October 2025.

Gabby Jones / Bloomberg / Getty Images As large language models have become more advanced, users around the world have increasingly begun turning to AI chatbots for intimacy and emotional connection in place of relationships with human partners — and Russia is no exception. The outlet Cherta spoke with two Russians who created AI “partners” about how those relationships took shape — and why they found chatbots easier to talk to than other people.

Yes, we don’t have another “thaw” for you Rosfinmonitoring has developed a draft resolution of the Russian government listing the types of “other income” of people on the departmental list of “extremists” and “terrorists.” They will be allowed to earn: on the sale of vegetables from the garden or honey from the apiary of your personal subsidiary plot or farm; individual entrepreneurship (with the exception of private transportation ); renting out an apartment (when registering self-employed

Macron gave a speech in Davos that could be called anti-American. The shortest retelling Ludovic MARIN / AFP / Scanpix / LETA What kind of text is this? This is a brief retelling of the speech of French President Emmanuel Macron at the World Economic Forum in Davos against the backdrop of worsening relations between the EU and the United States over Greenland.