Hello! This week our top story is the arrest and intimidation of supporters of opposition leader Alexei Navalny ahead of another round of nationwide protests Sunday. We also look at how Russia’s state propaganda machine has tried to explain evidence of ‘Putin’s palace’, and increasing government efforts to control rising food prices.

The editor-in-chief of Mediazona Sergei Smirnov, who was detained this afternoon, was released from the police department on a promise to appear in court on February 3. The reason for the detention and the administrative case under the article on violation of the rules for holding rallies was a retweet of a joke about the action on January 23.

Businessman Arkady Rotenberg declared himself the owner of “Putin’s palace.” In an interview with Mash, which yesterday published a video allegedly from that same mansion near Gelendzhik, Putin’s childhood friend said that an apart-hotel was being built there. The same version was presented yesterday by the state TV channel Rossiya 1. Let's figure out what's wrong with her.

Roskomnadzor demanded that Telegram stop the illegal distribution of personal data. Earlier, there were reports that a channel appeared in the messenger, where they published the names and photos of security officials who participated in detentions at rallies.

Today in Moscow it was detained and at least a day left in the cell in the police department, the editor -in -chief of the mediazona publication Sergei Smirnov. He is charged with a repeated violation of the law on rallies, although on the day of the action on January 23, Smirnov was at home all day. We consider Smirnov the detention of pressure and an attempt to prevent his professional activity and demand his immediate release.

Arkady Rotenberg, in an interview with Mash, called himself the owner of "Putin's palace" near Gelendzhik and said that an apart-hotel was being built there, repeating yesterday's thesis of the Rossiya 1 TV channel. “I am the beneficiary. There was a rather complicated object there, there were many creditors, and I managed to become a beneficiary.

In Moscow, was detained the editor-in-chief of Mediazona, Sergei Smirnov, at the exit from the house. He is charged with violating the law on rallies (Article 20.2 of the Code of Administrative Offenses). Smirnov did not participate in the action on January 23, being at home all day. Nevertheless, he was left in the OVD for a day. According to Mediazona, the security forces were waiting for Smirnov at the entrance when he went out for a walk with his son.

France, the Czech Republic and Germany have restricted the entry of foreigners to slow the spread of the coronavirus. France will ban entry from outside the European Union from January 31, except in urgent cases, reports Reuters. For entry from EU countries, everyone, except residents of border areas and truck drivers, will need a negative PCR test for COVID-19.

This week's headline battle between armchair investors and hedge funds is another indication of growing intolerance in the U.S. towards other views, . Bridgewater founder Ray Dalio told The Washington Post At the same time, the "King of Hedge Funds" spoke warmly about the zoomer investors who rebelled against Wall Street, reminding him of himself in his youth. Dalio noted that the new army of investors from Reddit is simply using the mechanisms of the market and pushing shorts out of it.

Roskomnadzor summoned representatives of Telegram, TikTok, Facebook and VKontakte to clarify the responsibility for not removing calls for participation in uncoordinated actions, according to a message on the regulator's website. The agency recalled that social networks for disseminating information aimed at attracting minors to participate in unauthorized protests face a fine of 800,000 to 4 million rubles in accordance with Art. 13.41 of the Code of Administrative Offenses.

The Investigative Committee opened a criminal case on fraud on an especially large scale (part 4 of article 159 of the Criminal Code) against the head of Stroy Engineering LLC and VIP Service LLC Alexander Khomenko. According to the department, he provided financial support to the Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK) of Alexei Navalny. Khomenko is accused of three counts of fraud and put on the wanted list. According to the Investigative Committee, he is now hiding on the territory of Ukraine.