You will probably laugh, but another “St. Petersburg” has become a member of the Federation Council from a region very far from the banks of the Neva. Following Grigory Zabaikalsky came Yuri Amursky: most recently, ex-State Duma deputy Grigory Tomchin became a senator from Chita, and now ex-head of the St. Petersburg United Russia and dean of the Faculty of Philosophy at St. Petersburg State University Yuri Solonin became a senator from Khabarovsk...

Last week, the Ministry of Health in Moscow finished summing up the results of the annual Doctor of the Year competition. The winner was Valery Vasiliev, a doctor from an outpatient clinic in the village of Radofinnikovo, Tosnensky district. In February, the village doctor will receive a large bonus, a video camera and a crystal figurine of the ancient Greek goddess of health Hygia. Now he is helping his fellow villagers survive the consequences of the barbaric monetization of benefits.

The recent death of State Duma deputy and prominent businessman Kirill Ragozin immediately became surrounded by ominous rumors. Last Saturday, Ragozin, along with his friend Viktor Dolgov, fell through the ice while snowmobiling along the Gulf of Finland near Vyborg. In St. Petersburg, they started talking about the redistribution of the vodka business, one of the generally recognized kings of which was considered a United Russia deputy.

...Merry Village, Bolshevikov Avenue, Dalnevostochny Avenue. The place, frankly speaking, is so-so - especially in winter: the sidewalks along the roadway are not even cleaned, let alone in the courtyards... Either there is ice - or knee-deep snow porridge. But no matter how cold and slippery it is, old people come and go here in an endless crowd.

The city parliament changed its mind and yesterday refused to approve a request to the Constitutional Court regarding Law No. 122 - on the monetization of benefits. Thus, the reserve of courage among the deputies, who unanimously voted on January 26 to approve the request in the first reading, lasted exactly a week... Only 10 people voted for sending the request, another 6 were against or abstained, and the remaining 25 registered deputies did not take part in the vote at all.

This week began with a significant event for the St. Petersburg opposition. A pilot trial against “extremist forces” who allegedly organized unauthorized rallies and pickets in the city ended in triumph for the accused. Perhaps the main rebel and troublemaker, according to the authorities, one of the leaders of the Civil Initiatives Movement, Vladimir Soloveichik, was completely acquitted.