Women pulling carts on the destroyed streets of Grozny, 1995. Photo by ALEXANDER NEMENOV / AFP In 1996, humanitarian aid for children was brought to the courtyard of a school in the destroyed Grozny. KamAZ with gifts from the Red Cross: chocolate, cookies, notebooks. An eleven-year-old girl stood in line for two hours. She was pushed out, insulted, and never received a gift. And none of the adults could help her.

“If 2025 were an animal, it would need to be kept in a zoo,” says film critic and regular Republic contributor Vasily Stepanov. In response to the editor’s request to recommend films and TV series for the long weekend, he sent a long text about what the past year was like for the industry. About the deal between Warner and Netflix, “Minecraft in cinema” and the new Jarmusch, Alexander Sokurov and “Outsource”.

Bookstores in Hamburg will remain open over the Christmas holidays MARCUS BRANDT / DPA / dpa Picture-Alliance via AFP 2025 was a difficult year for the book market - it was marked by the “ publisher case ,” independent bookstores were issued huge fines throughout the year for selling books that inspection authorities saw as “LGBT propaganda,” and participants were expelled from supposedly independent fairs because of denunciations.

US President Donald Trump greets Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Palm Beach, Florida, December 28, 2025. AFP The year 2025 began with hopes for a quick end to the war in Ukraine - Trump promised a deal, Europe hesitated, Putin put forward ultimatums. The year ends without peace, but with a new reality: Europe is rearming in anticipation of a real war with Russia. At the same time, the front is holding, there has been no Russian breakthrough.

Photo from the Turnstile concert in Paris, November 16, 2025 Antoine Jaussaud / Hans Lucas / Hans Lucas via AFP Many Russian musicians released new albums at the end of 2025: from Husky to Oksimiron*, from Aigel to 3H Company, from Slava CPSU to Noize MC*. It is curious that none of these releases made it into the top 10 of music critic Nikolai Ovchinnikov. He recommends other music to Republic subscribers.