At least 543 Russian military, intelligence officers and Wagner PMC fighters died in Syria from 2015 to 2024. Their names were determined by the BBC Russian Service using open data. According to journalists, among the dead were employees of Alpha, special forces of special operations forces, the FSB, GRU intelligence, as well as military pilots. Among the dead are one general, 10 colonels, 15 lieutenant colonels, 31 majors and 61 officers ranging from lieutenant to captain.

Notre Dame Cathedral reopened five years after the fire. How did the restoration go and why did it even cause a split in society? Notre Dame after restoration, Paris, France, December 8, 2024. Photo: Ludovic Marin / AFP / Scanpix / LETA At 19:00 on Saturday, December 7, the bells of Notre Dame rang on the Ile de la Cité in Paris. Parisian Archbishop Laurent Ulrich knocked three times with his staff on the gates of the cathedral - officially opening its doors to the public.

The rise and rise of Alexander Khinshtein, the newly appointed Kursk region governor Alexander Khinshtein. Photo: Sergey Shinov / Roscongress Following the resignation of Kursk Governor Alexey Smirnov, Vladimir Putin appointed Alexander Khinshtein, an already high-profile State Duma deputy who represents Russia’s Samara region, to be the region’s acting governor on Thursday, apparently believing him capable of changing the media narrative of a region in crisis.

Is this possible given the militants' seizure of power? Understanding the Orientalist Syrians holding opposition flags celebrate the capture of Damascus by rebels in Utrecht, Netherlands, December 8, 2024. Photo: Rob Engelaar/EPA On December 8, anti-government forces in Syria led by militants of the terrorist Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham seized power. This brought an end to Bashar al-Assad's 24-year authoritarian rule. He and his family fled to Russia.

Photo: Cindy Ord/EPA-EFE Russian actor Yura Borisov was nominated for a Golden Globe Award in the Best Supporting Actor category for his role in the film Anora. This is stated on the American Film Awards website. Thus, Borisov became the first Russian to be nominated for a Golden Globe. His opponents will be Denzel Washington (Gladiator 2), Edward Norton (Perfect Stranger), Guy Pearce (Brutalist), Jeremy Strong (The Apprentice) and Kieran Culkin (True Pain).

Great conversation between Ekaterina Shulman and Kirill Martynov Visiting the editor-in-chief of Novaya Gazeta Europe, Kirill Martynov, is a visiting lecturer at the Free University of Berlin, political scientist Ekaterina Shulman. What political, social and economic consequences await Russia after the suspension of the war? About this and more - in a long interview.

The aftermath of the car bombing in Russian-occupied Donetsk, 9 December 2024. Photo: Investigative Committee A car bomb in the Russian-occupied city of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine has killed the former director of a penal colony wanted by investigators in Kyiv in connection with a July 2022 massacre of Ukrainian prisoners of war, Telegram channel Mash wrote on Monday.

The Non/fiction literary fair took place in Moscow. Some publishers were banned from participating due to censorship Opening of the fair of intellectual literature non/fictio№26 in Gostiny Dvor, Moscow, December 5, 2024.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs proposed allowing investigators to block the bank accounts of those involved in criminal cases until the court pronounces a verdict. Such amendments will be discussed on December 9 by members of the government commission on legislative activities, Vedomosti reports , citing a source. The authors of the bill propose to introduce a new coercive measure into the Criminal Procedure Code in the form of suspension of transactions with funds.

The Il-72 plane crash, 24 January 2024. Photo: 7x7 / Telegram Russia has returned the bodies of the Ukrainian prisoners of war who were killed when the plane they were travelling in was downed over Russia’s southwestern Belgorod region in January, Russian Human Rights Commissioner Tatyana Moskalkova told state news agency RIA Novosti on Monday.

Syrians celebrate the rebel takeover of Damascus, in Copenhagen, Denmark, 8 December 2024. Photo: EPA-EFE / EMIL HELMS Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov has confirmed that deposed Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad is now in Moscow, following unconfirmed reports of his arrival in the Russian capital on Sunday evening, state-affiliated news agency Interfax reported on Monday.

The premiere of the play “Healing” took place in Estonia: how did the production turn out with Chulpan Khamatova and Yulia Aug about the intrigues around the charitable foundation Photo: Siim Vahur The general producer of the theater project Vaba Lava (Estonian “Free Stage”) Märt Meos is a master at coming up with all kinds of collaborations. Without them, his brainchild, completely deprived of government funding, despite the importance of the mission, would have closed long ago.

Russian propaganda stated that Russia fulfilled all its obligations to Syria - and the Assad regime fell due to the fact that the Syrian people do not want to “fight for their country.” The Agency drew attention to this. In “News of the Week” and “Evening with Vladimir Solovyov” the topic of Syria was brought to the fore.

The cost of a voluntary health insurance policy in 2025 will increase at the fastest rate since 2022, writes Kommersant with reference to insurance brokers. According to AST and Nobilis estimates, insurance prices will rise by 15–20%, and Mainsgroup expects prices to rise by up to 25%. For comparison: in 2022, the cost of corporate VHI policies increased by 5%, in 2023 the increase was 15–17%, and in 2024 – 10–11%.

Photo: SK In occupied Russian Donetsk, a car exploded, killing the former head of the colony in Yelenovka, Sergei Evsyukov. Mash writes about this. It is reported that an explosive device was planted under the bottom of the Toyota Land Cruiser. As a result of the explosion, the former head of the Yelenovskaya colony, Sergei Evsyukov, died. His wife was injured - her leg was torn off and she was hospitalized.