"With the start of a full -scale war, I started drawing 10 times more. I wrote icons before that and sent them to the front. The guys really want my icons at the front line." Ukrainian master Leo Skop writes icons on planks from ammunition drawers. Often he depicts saints in military uniform.

Vladimir Vysotsky (archive photo) In Odessa, on the night of December 31, a monument to the Soviet poet, bard and actor Vladimir Vysotsky was dismantled. A video of the dismantling was published online. The decision to demolish the monument became known at the end of September 2024. At the same time, the city executive committee decided to remove monuments to Pushkin, writers Isaac Babel and Maxim Gorky.

US Treasury The United States included in the sanctions list the Center for Geopolitical Expertise, founded by pro-Kremlin philosopher Alexander Dugin. The director of the center, Valery Korovin, and the judge of the Meshchansky Court of Moscow, Olesya Mendeleeva, were also subject to restrictions. According to the US Treasury Department, the Center for Geopolitical Expertise and Korovin tried to interfere in the 2024 presidential election.

On December 31, Gazprom began to reduce the volume of gas supplies to Europe through Ukraine. Reuters reports this with reference to a statement by the Russian concern. The reduction occurred the day before the expiration of the agreement on gas transit through Ukraine. If a new agreement is not concluded, gas supplies will cease completely from January 1.

We will discuss the results of 2024 with political scientist Dmitry Oreshkin.

An illustrative photo The hacker group sponsored by the Chinese government penetrated the US Department of Finance and gained access to working computers and unexpected documents. The representative of the Ministry of Finance reported this on December 30 to the Russian Voice Service. According to available, hacking was performed by the Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) group.

Ukrainian director Ivan Timchenko talks about the film "Oxygen Station" (repeat from 05/14/2024)

Telegram founder Pavel Durov said that access to a number of Russian media channels was limited in the European Union. According to Durov, this is due to compliance with European laws, including the Digital Services Regulation (DSA), and sanctions imposed against Russia. "Access to some Russian media has been restricted in the EU in accordance with DSA/sanction laws. Meanwhile, all Western Telegram media channels remain freely accessible in Russia," Durov wrote on his channel.

Illustrative photo On the night of December 31, Ukrainian drones attacked an oil depot in the Yartsevo district of the Smolensk region. A fire started shortly after the attack. Rescue services are on the scene. The governor of the Smolensk region, Vasily Anokhin, claims that all the drones were shot down, and the fire started from falling debris. “As a result, a fuel spill occurred and fuel and lubricants started to catch fire. There is no threat to residential buildings,” he wrote.

The world's largest genealogy service, MyHeritage, announced that it will cease operating in Russia; the credentials of Russians, including DNA tests, will be deleted from February 1, 2025. Users of the service received a corresponding notification. MyHeritage explained that they were forced to suspend their services in Russia due to local legislation. Russian account holders were advised to export their data before it is deleted.

News Radio Liberty: Final release

New Year's numbers on Times Square in New York Runet sums up the results of the year and shares the forecasts to the following: most often disappointing both. Victor Shenderovich: My personal year 2024 went well: I am still alive both at large, and my loved ones are also alive and healthy. He saw new beautiful edges, hugged good people, wrote a couple of good lines, was absolutely happy for a few seconds. The background on which this is my well-being, is still felt as catastrophic.

The size of one of the largest transfers made by victims of telephone scammers in the past year amounted to approximately 180 million rubles, the press center of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs reported. “Statistics on the amount of damage for each victim are not provided. In this regard, it is difficult to indicate the largest amount.

One of the affected beach areas The coastline of the beaches of the Black Sea coast of Kuban, contaminated with fuel oil after the crash of tankers in the Kerch Strait, is already 63 kilometers, the press service of the Ministry of Emergency Situations reported on Tuesday. Earlier it was reported that almost 70 thousand tons of contaminated sand and soil were collected from the coast.