An internal investigation has begun in the State Duma regarding the sale of seats for participation in Duma round tables. Presumably, this was done by assistants to deputies - the latter may now be deprived of their mandates. State Duma Chairman Vyacheslav Volodin stated this at a meeting on December 17, Vedomosti writes , citing sources. The publication names three deputies who are likely involved in the sale of seats.

US President Donald Trump signed a decree expanding the list of countries whose citizens are prohibited from entering the United States. For another 15 countries, the document introduces partial restrictions. The presidential order completely restricts entry into the United States for citizens of seven other countries: Burkina Faso, Laos, Mali, Niger, Sierra Leone, South Sudan and Syria. Previously, this ban applied to holders of passports from 12 countries .

Investigations Roman Dobrokhotov , Anastasia Mikhailova December 17, 2025 While Germany is canceling humanitarian visas for anti-war Russians, Kadyrov’s men, who had previously received a residence permit in Germany on humanitarian grounds, are shuttling between Chechnya and Germany as if nothing had happened. Among them is Kadyrov’s official representative in Hamburg, Khusein Agayev, who is actively involved in disputes between criminal groups.

The Kremlin disinformation network “Matryoshka,” after the mass shooting of Hanukkah celebrations on a beach in Australia, talks about allegedly finding a “Ukrainian trace” and scares residents of Europe with new terrorist attacks. The Bot Blocker project told The Insider about this. One of the videos, distributed through the social networks Twitter (X) and BlueSky, is disguised as content released by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).

The British authorities demanded that businessman Roman Abramovich send £2.5 billion ($3.35 billion) proceeds from the sale of the Chelsea football club to “any assistance” to Ukraine, threatening otherwise to take the case to court. This is stated in a statement published on December 17 by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Foreign Minister Yvette Cooper, and Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves. “Time has passed.

The Russian Prosecutor General's Office included the German non-governmental organization Russischsprachige Demokratinnen und Demokraten eV (Russian-speaking Democrats and Democrats of Saxony) in the list of “undesirable” organizations. This was reported in the press service of the department.

First Deputy Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada Alexander Kornienko headed the Servant of the People party. This was announced by the head of the parliamentary faction of the party, David Arakhamia. According to Arakhamia, Kornienko replaced Elena Shulyak in this post. The head of the faction thanked her “for her high-quality and honest work” and wished the new party leader further success and inspiration.

The Oscars, which have aired on ABC since 1976, will air on YouTube starting in 2029. The American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced this on Wednesday. Under the agreement, YouTube will have exclusive global rights to broadcast the awards until at least 2033. Until 2028, including the 100th anniversary ceremony, the Oscars will continue to air on ABC, owned by Disney.

In 2024, at a congress in Grozny, the “refugee” Agaev appeared on official Chechen television as the “representative of the Chechen diaspora in Germany” — evidently, after the sanctions imposed on Dugazaev, the authorities removed the risky “representative of Kadyrov” from their emissary’s unofficial title. At the congress, Agaev stressed that Chechens should be proud of Kadyrov.

The organization Reporters Without Borders (RSF), together with the Eastern European group RESIDENT.NGO, has discovered previously unknown spyware that the KGB of Belarus uses, among other things, against journalists and media workers. According to RSF, the exposure of this program was a serious blow to intelligence operations, especially given that the software had been in use for several years.

The Trump administration on Tuesday announced the dissolution of the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Colorado, one of the key federal scientific institutions involved in climate research, Reuters reports .

News The Insider December 17, 2025 #Military report In today's summary: The Russian Ministry of Defense again announces the capture of Kupyansk and the enemy’s unsuccessful attempts to regain control of the city "Voenkor" Vladimir Romanov - the Russian group was surrounded in the center of Kupyansk On the Seversky ledge, with the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops, the battle for Seversk is gradually ending In the southern Donetsk direction, the Russian Ministry of Defense reports significant

State budget spending, which is directly related to the war against Ukraine, will reach 5.1% of GDP in 2025. Defense Minister Andrei Belousov announced this at a department board; the relevant data was shown in his presentation, noted the Faridaily Telegram channel. As noted in it, the Ministry of Economic Development predicts that Russia’s GDP this year will amount to 217.3 trillion rubles. Based on this, military spending can be estimated at approximately 11.1 trillion rubles.

Antifake Putin's fake: in 2025, Russian troops “liberated” several large cities in Ukraine The Insider December 17, 2025 At an extended meeting of the board of the Russian Ministry of Defense, Vladimir Putin said: “This year, over 300 settlements have already been liberated, including large cities, which the enemy turned into fortified centers full of long-term fortifications.

The Russian Ambassador to Tajikistan Semyon Grigoriev was summoned to the country's Foreign Ministry after the murder of fourth-grader Kobiljon Aliyev at the Assumption School in Gorki-2 near Moscow. This is stated in a statement on the ministry's website.