The court in Novosibirsk sent to the colony of two followers of the Church of Jehovah's Witnesses on charges of extremism. The reason for the persecution was their religious affiliation. This was reported by the Church’s website in Russia. 52-year-olds Marina Chaplykin and Valery Malekov were sentenced to 4 and 6 years in the colony, respectively. They were taken into custody in the courtroom.

The United States and Finland signed an agreement on cooperation in the field of defense on December 18, which will provide American soldiers with wide access to military facilities in Finland. “Your story serves as a reminder of why it is so important for us to support Ukraine. Autocrats trying to change the state borders by force will almost certainly stop there,” Anthony Blinken Secretary of State said at the ceremony of signing an agreement in Washington.

On December 14, Vladimir Putin summed up the results of the year for more than four hours and answered numerous questions from journalists and Russian citizens. No revelations were made, except for the information that the Minister of Agriculture Dmitry Patrushev with eggs is all right. It is not entirely clear who is interested in what Patrushev has with eggs there. Apparently, it was a joke - so that the journalists had something to write about.

On December 19, the Russian Foreign Ministry called the Ambassador of Finland to Russia Anti Helanerey. The reason was the signing of an agreement on defense cooperation between Finland and the USA. This was reported on the website of the Russian Ministry. The call of the ambassador is one of the legal ways to show dissatisfaction with the actions of another country with diplomatic methods.

NASAMS air defense systems that have allocated the United States will soon be delivered to Ukraine. This was announced on Tuesday at his final press conference by the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky, not giving the exact number of complexes. Zelensky expressed confidence that in Washington they would eventually decide to provide Kyiv with additional assistance in confrontation with Russian invasion.

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Most Russians believe that it is not necessary to ban abortion in Russia. This is evidenced by the results of a survey of the research group Russian Field. According to group analysts, 67% of Russians surveyed would not support the ban on abortion in Russia, 25% would support such a restriction. Another 8% found it difficult to answer or refused to answer the question. Men more often women support abortion in Russia: 28% versus 22% - accordingly, researchers note.

The new head of the memoirs of the writer, historian, translator Alexander Goryanin Alexander Goryanin: Which person can be called "piece"? Not enough like others in their surroundings? But such, if you think about it, are not so rare. The piece person is unique in almost everything-he somehow lives otherwise, he initially has a biography different than that of his colleagues and acquaintances, and he usually builds this biography contrary to their common advice.

In the north-west of China, at least 116 people were killed as a result of an earthquake and more than 400 were injured. This was reported by Reuters with a reference to the state media of China. The earthquake occurred around midnight in the province of Gansu. More than a hundred people were killed there, there are victims in the neighboring province of Qinghai. As a result of the earthquake in both provinces, houses and infrastructure facilities were damaged.

The exchange of Russian pilot Konstantin Yaroshenko for the American marine infantryman Trevor Reed in April last year took place on the runway at Ankara airport. It is reported by The Wall Street Journal with reference to Turkish and American officials. According to the newspaper, on board from Russia to Turkey, Reed was accompanied by fighters of the FSB special forces "Alfa".

Mobilization in the Armed Forces of Ukraine *** Fights in the Belgorod region *** EU may deprive Hungary of the right of vote *** The flow of translations from Russia to Georgia has reduced *** Putin about what the national tax *** against Boris Akunin was instituted criminal cases

Russian troops are advancing in Kupyansky, Limansky and Bakhmut directions to capture new settlements of Donetsk and Kharkov regions. This was written in a telegram by the commander of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Alexander Syrsky , against the backdrop of messages in Ukrainian telegram channels about a number of tactical successes of Russian troops, especially under Bakhmut. According to Syrky, Russian troops now concentrate the main efforts in the Bakhmut direction.

The State Assembly of the Altai Republic (El Kurultai) approved a bill that allows you to kill homeless animals. This is written by Siberian Express and local telegram channels. According to the bill , animals will be caught and delivered to temporary detention centers. If the animal is not taken for 11 days, it will be killed or sent to shelters, which are already in a shortage.

Vladimir Putin on December 19, during a speech at an expanded meeting of the board of the Ministry of Defense, said that Russia was not going to fight with Europe and NATO. At the same time, he once again accused the West of "deceiving" Russia on the issue of expansion of NATO.

The Meshchansky District Court of Moscow sentenced the activist of the left-wing resistance movement to the two years of the colony and the former press secretary of the “For Human Rights” movement Lev Ponomarev Alena Krylova. She was found guilty of participating in the activities of an extremist community.