News The Insider January 16, 2026

From mid-February, Belarusians will need an additional document to obtain driver's licenses, passports and ID cards. Men of military age are now required to present to the traffic police a certificate from the military registration and enlistment office about their status for military duty - the innovation will take effect on February 11, 2026, writes Ekonomicheskaya Gazeta. The changes are enshrined in the updated version of Alexander Lukashenko’s decree No.

The Paris Court of Appeal actually ruled in favor of Russia and declared the interim decision of the International Arbitration in The Hague invalid on Akhmetov’s claim against the Russian Federation. The arbitration is not subject to decisions of national courts, but the ruling means that the 2022 arbitration award has no force in France. It cannot be argued that the court overturned the arbitration decision; it does not have such powers.

The Supreme Anti-Corruption Court set Yulia Tymoshenko bail in the amount of 33 million hryvnia in the case of bribery of deputies. RBC-Ukraine reports this. As the publication clarifies, the prosecutor's office requested a bail of 50 million hryvnia. Tymoshenko was also prohibited from leaving the Kyiv region without the permission of the investigator and was required to surrender her international passport.

Accused of committing an explosion on the Crimean Bridge in October 2022. Photo: EPA Society Ivan Pavlov 16 January 2026 In 2025, Russian courts handed down a record number of verdicts in cases of espionage and treason, according to a study published at the end of December by the human rights project First Department and Parubets Analytics.

Oil exports through the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC), which pumps Kazakh and Russian oil, fell by 24% in December 2025 compared to November due to Ukrainian attacks on the company's infrastructure. This was reported by Reuters, citing a source familiar with the situation. At the same time, in the previous months of 2025, due to increased production at Kazakh enterprises, exports through the CPC only grew.

News The Insider January 16, 2026 #Military report In today's summary: In the Sumy direction, the “gray zone” is expanding along the state border in the north of the Sumy region In the Kupyansk direction, the Russian Ministry of Defense once again declares “control” over “all districts of Kupyansk” On the Seversky ledge, units of the Russian Armed Forces advance along the Seversky Donets towards the Liman In the Konstantinovsky direction, the flanks of the Ukrainian defense in the Konstantinovka

CIA Director John Ratcliffe met with acting Venezuelan President Delcy Rodriguez during a visit to Caracas. CNN reports this with reference to an anonymous American official. "During the meeting in Caracas, Ratcliffe discussed potential opportunities for economic cooperation and emphasized that Venezuela can no longer be a safe haven for America's adversaries, especially drug traffickers," the source told CNN.

Beijing completely stopped importing electricity from Russia on January 1. According to the Kommersant newspaper, this decision was made due to high export prices. China refused even the minimum contract volumes (about 12 megawatts), the publication's sources say. According to them, electricity exports to the country are unlikely to resume in 2026. The main reason is that the export price of supply since January of this year has exceeded the price of electricity on the domestic market.

Germany’s Federal Court of Justice has determined that Ukraine was responsible for the explosions on the Nord Stream gas pipelines in 2022, Der Spiegel reports , citing a court ruling dated Dec. 10 that was published on Thursday. The ruling says “with a high degree of probability” that the explosions on the pipelines were carried out “on the instructions of a foreign state.” Further down in the document, it becomes clear that the “foreign state” alluded to is Ukraine.

On Dec. 2, Russian forces attacked Ukraine’s gas infrastructure. Pro-Russian Telegram channels reported strikes on a gas storage facility in the Dnipropetrovsk Region. In the Odesa Region, drone attacks disrupted power supplies to 44,000 households. Power outages were also reported in the Chernihiv Region after drones struck energy facilities in the Koriukivka District. On Dec.

State Duma deputies introduced three bills “aimed at combating illegal migration” for consideration by the lower house of parliament. Among other things, they raise fines for refusing a medical examination and allow sanctions for this, including deportation from the country. The TASS agency and deputy Irina Yarovaya write about this.

An international team of paleontologists has discovered fossil evidence of a microscopic ecosystem that played a key role in the recovery of the world's oceans after one of the largest mass extinctions in Earth's history. Researchers from South Africa, Canada, France and the UK have found fossilized burrows and waste products of creatures so small that they lived in the spaces between grains of sand. The work was led by Dr Claire Browning, Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Cape Town.

Director for capital construction of Atomstroyexport (part of Rosatom), Mikhail Shcherbak, was detained on suspicion of financing the Armed Forces of Ukraine. His detention was confirmed by the press service of the corporation, Russian state agencies write ( 1 , 2 ). The Shot Telegram channel, close to the security forces, was one of the first to report Shcherbak’s arrest.

Another video, also falsely attributed to the ISW, claims that European politicians are allegedly planning “provocations” on their own territory that they intend to blame on Russia. The bot network again refers to the capture of the Venezuelan leader, arguing that the U.S. operation demonstrated a “policy of double standards” and “significantly complicates the work of European propaganda aimed at demonizing Russia.” Matryoshka has also circulated claims that the U.S.