"We hope and pray that you return alive and healthy [and] that you return victorious, having defended the security and independence of our country."

– Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin,
announcing the end to mobilization in the capital.

The Russian military has assured local governments that they don't need to worry about canceling New Years' festivities because of the mobilization and conflict in Ukraine.

Ukraine continues to press forward in its major counteroffensive against Russia, recapturing villages and towns along the way. 

Protests erupted across Russia after Putin announces mobilization.

The iconic and wacky Millennium of Russia monument in Veliky Novgorod turns 160 this month.

The Russian military's morale weakens as Ukraine announces the liberation of two villages.

Law enforcement in Samara has begun regularly using leg shackles for courtroom defendants.

“There was a certain girl here who was handing out some permission to paint to artists, complete nonsense. I gave her this work, and the first thing she said was that it was a very dangerous job, because if Gorbachev saw it, he would not allow the unification of Germany and that she will send it to the senate of West Berlin, which was a different country, for approval.” 

                                   –  Dmitry Vrubel, the artist behind the Berlin Wall's "The Fraternal Kiss"

While resisting Russian forces in the invasion of Ukraine, the Azov Regiment has been declared a terrorist organization by the Russian Supreme Court. 

Moscow and St. Petersburg will see new shops filled with international goods where only top officials and their families can shop.

Record-breaking rainfall has caused flooding and destruction in Sochi.

“If the command of our army withdraws people from certain points of the front where the enemy has the greatest fire superiority — in particular this applies to Lysychansk — it means only one thing: we will return thanks to our tactics, thanks to the increase in the supply of modern weapons.”

– Ukrainian President Zelensky, addressing the loss of Lysychansk to Russian forces