In Kutaisi, the Memorial of Glory was blown up, dedicated to the victory in the Great Patriotic War. At the same time, according to the Imady television company, two people were killed. According to the preliminary version, security measures were violated. With official comment, it is expected to be the main prosecutor's office of Georgia in the near future. The Georgian opposition and the Russian authorities call the dismantling of the monument to barbarism.

The grandson of Stalin Yevgeny Dzhugashvili filed a lawsuit against the Echo of Moscow radio station. He believes that the program “Interception”, which was published in October, was offended by his grandfather's memory. The reason for the lawsuit was the phrase of Matvey Ganapolsky, which sounded after quoting the passage from the book Staliniad: "Stalin signed a decree that it is possible to shoot children from the age of 12.

The Georgian Foreign Ministry extended a statement regarding the demolition of the Glory Memorial in Kutaisi. "As for the memorial to the soldiers in Kutaisi, we want to note that the monument was badly damaged in the 90s, precisely at the time when the events inspired by Russia took place in Georgia. As a result of which this memorial requires the conduct of relevant rehabilitation work," the Georgian Foreign Ministry said in a commentary.

South Ossetia freed three Georgian teenagers detained in November. They were handed over to the ex-Prime Minister of Georgia, one of the leaders of the opposition Zuraba Nogaidel, reports the Air Force . Teenagers were accused of illegally crossing the border, storing weapons and theft. On December 2, the court took place. They were sentenced to the year of imprisonment with serving a sentence in a penal colony of general regime.

On December 18, in Veliky Novgorod, a court decision was suspended by the activities of the City Palace of Culture for 90 days. As stated in the press release of the State Duma, the official version of the closure is the lack of fire alarm. "One of the largest cultural institutions was stopped at the hottest period of activity.

The Security Service of Ukraine detained a citizen of Russia suspected of espionage in favor of China. According to the head of the SBU, Valentin Nalyvaichenko, the spy mined in Ukraine scientific and technical developments in the field of the military-industrial complex. Nalvaichenko also said that over the past six months in Ukraine, seven foreign reconnaissance diplomats have been exposed. In addition, three criminal cases were instituted, which are also held by citizens of Ukraine.

In the Moscow Hospital named after Burdenko, a 38-year-old woman died, who received burns as a result of a fire in the Perm nightclub "Lame Horse". Thus, the number of victims reached 150 people. The largest fire in modern history in the Perm nightclub occurred on the night of December 5. According to RSN, 80 victims are still in hospitals in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Chelyabinsk and Perm.

Prime Minister of Ukraine Yulia Tymoshenko once again stated that in Ukraine there should be only one state language, namely, Ukrainian. She expressed her opinion on December 18 on the air of one of the Ukrainian channels, reports REGNUM . "Everyone has the right to speak that language in Ukraine that is close to him, but the only state language is Ukrainian, because we are Ukraine and because we are obliged to appreciate our history, language, culture.

Today, December 19, the first nuclear fuel cassette was loaded into the reactor zone of the second power unit of the Rostov (Volgodonsk) nuclear power plant, which was the beginning of the work on the physical launch of the reactor, which from this moment becomes a nuclear energy installation.

The traffic police officer from the Moscow region Alexei Isaev made a video message in which he claims that the leadership was illegally trying to remove him from official duties and forcibly hospitalize him in a psychiatric hospital. As follows from the statement posted on the website of the Moscow Police Trade Union, these consequences led to his refusal to comply with the illegal orders of the commander. What exactly these orders were, it is not specified.

Mintimer Shaimiev will remain the President of Tatarstan for the fifth period, reports REGNUM , citing an unnamed source in the political elite of Moscow. Interested persons in Kazan confirm this information, the agency claims. According to the respondent in Kazan, the decision in the presidential administration was made on the basis of the principle of “horses at the crossing” - Mintimer Shaimiev in the current situation is completely satisfied with the country's leadership.

In Moscow today there is a farewell ceremony with Yegor Gaidar. From 12:00 Moscow time, a large mourning hall of the Central Clinical Hospital is opened for those who want to say goodbye to Gaidar. At 14:00, a civilian memorial service began. According to Vesti.Ru , hundreds of people came to the ceremony. In the center of the hall, a coffin with the body of the deceased is installed on the pedestal.

Six people suffered from low temperatures in the Russian capital over the past day, reports City FM . One person froze to death. In total, according to doctors, twenty people died from the beginning of the winter season from the frost. These are mainly persons without a specific place of residence.

Ukraine celebrates St. Nicholas Day. In honor of the holiday, the Kyiv city hall gave out white and red costumes to adolescents and arranged a "parade of Santa Morozov." For the official part of the event, the only snow removal appeared in Kyiv - the tractor cleared the site in front of the City Council and did not clean anything more. Walking grandfathers frosts suggested taking pictures for money.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev signed a federal law aimed at establishing additional restrictions on advertising medical services for artificial termination of pregnancy. The new law provides for a ban on the placement of advertising of medical services for artificial termination of pregnancy in minor print publications, audio and video products, in television and radio programs, in film and video services.