Photo: Chelyabinsk Regional Universal Scientific Library The electronic and audiobook service “Litres” removed about 4.5 thousand books from sale “out of caution”, fearing fines under the article on “drug propaganda”. The general director of the service, Sergei Anuriev, told Kommersant about this. According to him, publishers had “doubts in terms of what was there and how it was mentioned and how this content should be labeled,” so the books were withdrawn from sale.

Domestic political concerns mean that Russian anti-war activists in Türkiye face a precarious new reality A ship bound for Tripoli, Lebanon, carrying grain from the Ukrainian city of Odesa sails through Istanbul, Türkiye, 3 August 2022. Photo: EPA / Sedat Suna Türkiye was once a vibrant hub for the Russian opposition in exile, but its anti-war community is now coming under increasing pressure from forces both near and far.

Photo: Maxim Shipenkov / EPA Former deputy head of the Russian Presidential Administration Dmitry Kozak, in the first days of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, refused to carry out Vladimir Putin’s order and call on Kyiv to capitulate, declaring that he was “ready to be arrested or shot.” The New York Times writes about this, citing sources.

Alexey Sokolov in court on 18 December 2025. Photo: Mediazona A court in the city of Yekaterinburg has remanded Russian lawyer and human rights activist Alexey Sokolov in custody on charges of treason, independent news outlet Mediazona reported from court on Thursday.

Russia’s Kremlin-backed super-app MAX. Russians have been reporting being locked out of the online government services portal Gosuslugi for up to 72 hours after logging in from abroad or while using a virtual private network (VPN), according to Telegram news channels Moscow News and Exploit .

Kirill Martynov discussed with political scientist Dmitry Oreshkin how 2025 changed Russia, how the war will end and whether Putin will go to Europe How has 2025 changed Russia? How and when can the war end? Is the threat of attack on other countries real? What civilizational path is generally possible for Europe and Asia? These and other questions were discussed by the editor-in-chief of Novaya Gazeta Europe, Kirill Martynov, with political scientist and political geographer Dmitry Oreshkin.

Detailed instructions from “New-Europe” PACE President Theodoros Roussopoulos. Photo: Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly / Flickr Until January 5, 2026, applications are being collected for participation in the platform of Russian democratic forces under PACE. "Novaya Gazeta Europe" answers the most common questions related to the new political institution of anti-war Russians in Europe. What is PACE?

Russian intelligence has orchestrated a campaign of intimidation against Belgian politicians and senior financial executives to prevent the Bank of Russia's multibillion-dollar assets from being used to support Ukraine. The Guardian writes about this with reference to representatives of European intelligence agencies and security services.

A poster encouraging people to enlist in the Russian military glows at dawn in a residential district of Moscow, 4 December 2025. Photo: EPA / Maxim Shipenkov Russia’s Defence Ministry has for the first time disclosed state expenditure “directly related to the special military operation”, Faridaily, an independent Telegram news channel founded by ex-BBC Russian journalist Farida Rustamova, reported on Wednesday.

The Euroclear headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, 5 December 2025. Photo: EPA / OLIVIER MATTHYS Belgian politicians and senior finance executives are reportedly being targeted by Russian intelligence in an intimidation campaign aimed at dissuading the EU from using some €185 billion in frozen Russian assets to fund Ukraine’s defence, The Guardian reported on Wednesday.

“New Europe” contacted the school that Nevzorov advertised immediately after the murder of a child in the Moscow region. She denies having a business relationship with the publicist Illustration: “New newspaper Europe” On the morning of December 16, there was an attack on the Assumption Secondary School in Odintsovo. Ninth grade student Timofey K., armed with a knife and a pepper spray, easily neutralized the guard, who had no means of protection, and began to walk around the building.

Hayden Davies in court, Donetsk, Ukraine, 18 December 2025. Screenshot: Russian Prosecutor General’s Office A court in the Russian-occupied city of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine has sentenced a British citizen to 13 years in a high-security prison after finding him guilty of fighting as a mercenary in an armed conflict, the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office announced on Thursday.

Anti-government protesters hold up an EU flag during a protest in front of Georgian Parliament in Tbilisi, Georgia, 30 November 2024. Photo: EPA / David Mdzinarishvili The Georgian Parliament has approved legislative amendments that make it impossible for citizens to vote at overseas polling stations in future elections, Russian news agency Interfax reported on Wednesday.

Russians increasingly began to complain about blocking access to the State Services portal for 72 hours due to a “suspicious login attempt.” Habr and the Moscow News and Exploit telegram channels write about this. Media citing users note that their accounts were blocked when VPN was turned on or they attempted to log in outside of Russia.

Photo: Living Nail / YouTube The Savelovsky District Court of Moscow fined journalists Olga Bychkova and Alexey Kuznetsov ten thousand rubles each under a protocol on participation in the activities of an “undesirable” organization (Article 20.33 of the Administrative Code). Mediazona reported this.