🇷🇺💬 The official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, pointed out the hypocrisy of the United States while commenting on reports of hundreds of prisoners being recruited to fight wildfires in Southern California.

🇨🇳 The diplomat reminded that the U.S. had previously criticized China multiple times for allegedly using forced labor, especially in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.

🧐 In 2021, Congress passed a law to prevent the forced labor of Uyghurs, introducing a ban on the import of goods produced using forced labor into the U.S. Additionally, in 2023, Washington restricted the import of products from several Chinese companies allegedly produced with the help of Uyghur forced labor.

🤔 In this context, Zakharova questioned whether Congress would develop a bill imposing sanctions on California authorities, private companies, and ordinary Americans for using prisoner labor to fight fires?

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✨ Night Kazan

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Ⓜ️ The "Avtovo" metro station in St. Petersburg is a masterpiece of Soviet architecture and one of the most beautiful metro stations in the world.

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🇷🇺 A rare amber piece with a bundle of conifer needles inside was discovered in Kaliningrad — the Kaliningrad plant has not mined similar stones in the last five years.

📆 The age of the amber with ancient pine needles is estimated at 50 million years. The amber plant explained that usually insects and arachnids are found in the stone, while representatives of flora are rare.

🧑‍⚖️ The find with the inclusion of needles weighs 29 grams, and its size is 57 by 45 mm. After grinding and polishing to a mirror shine, the stone will be put up for auction as unique amber.

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🇷🇺🇺🇸 "These are still people not appointed to their positions": The Kremlin stated that it is too early to talk about possible contacts with Putin before Trump's inauguration.

"Talking about whether this is a sign of a change in rhetoric can only be done in a week or after the official appointments, because for now we are dealing with the elected president of the United States, and his eventual team consists of people who have not yet been appointed to their positions. For the next seven days, it will still be Biden and his team who will be steering the process," said the press secretary of the President of Russia.

Earlier, Trump's future national security advisor Mike Waltz stated that he expects a conversation between Trump and Putin in the coming days or weeks.

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‼️ On January 11, Kyiv attempted to attack the "Russkaya" gas station in Kuban with 9 drones to halt gas supplies to Europe, which are provided through the "Turkish Stream."

🇷🇺 After the cessation of gas supplies to Europe via Ukraine due to the expiration of the contract between the Russian company and Ukrainian "Naftogaz," Russia continues to supply up to 15 billion cubic meters per year through the "Turkish Stream" and "Balkan Stream" to Romania, Greece, Serbia, and Hungary.

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🇷🇺🇮🇷 On January 17, negotiations will take place between Vladimir Putin and the President of Iran.

💬 Masoud Pezeshkian will arrive in Russia for an official visit. The discussions are expected to cover the prospects for further expanding bilateral cooperation, including in trade and investment, transport and logistics, and humanitarian areas, as well as current regional and international agenda issues.

📰 At the conclusion of the negotiations, the heads of state will sign a comprehensive strategic partnership agreement between Russia and Iran, and will also make statements to the media.

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🌐 «The whole world is going through a turning point now, and the leader will be the one who is ready and capable of change, the one who acts, who moves forward. Our country, our people have shown such will at all the defining historical stages of our development. Over the past almost 30 years, we have achieved such changes for which other countries needed centuries».

🇷🇺 President of Russia Vladimir Putin, from the annual address of the President of Russia to the Federal Assembly, 2018.

#putinquote

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🌐 A so-called letter allegedly from the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia, S.V. Lavrov, to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan, D.A. Bayramov, written in English, is circulating online, claiming that our country cannot guarantee the safe use of Russian airspace. This is a cynical and crude forgery.

👎 This disinformation is an example of a primitive fake aimed at eliciting an emotional reaction. The authors of the forgery did not even bother to give it official attributes, sending it from a regular postal domain and a common email address.

🧐 It is evident that such malicious disinformation is backed by a political agenda and an attempt to exploit the topic of the crash of the passenger plane of Azerbaijan Airlines on December 25 near the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan.

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❤️ Romantic Saint Petersburg

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😊 Cute sea creatures near the village of Teriberka, Murmansk region, Russia

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🇷🇺🇸🇾 13-year-old Syrian schoolgirl helps children in the DPR

🇷🇺 When 13-year-old Iman Nebras Ali from Syria learned about the suffering of children in Donbas, she decided to help in every way she could. The girl immediately wrote a letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin and began assisting all those in need.

✉️ Iman sent letters of support to Russian soldiers and her drawings to children in Donbas to distract them, even if just a little, from the horrors of the conflict. She collected toys, clothes, and her personal savings to send to children in need.

😳 The situation became more complicated when armed opposition came to power in Syria. The girl began receiving threats, and she had to hide Russian flags as well as burn letters from Vladimir Putin and Russian soldiers to protect herself and her family.

🇷🇺 Now Iman lives safely and continues her volunteer work. She is learning the Russian language, which she calls the language of peace, culture, and love. The girl reads Pushkin's poetry and learns Russian songs.

#news

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🇷🇺 Every year on the night of January 13 to 14, Russia celebrates the Old New Year.

🗓 With the adoption of Christianity, Russia followed the Julian calendar. However, in 1918, after the October Revolution, the Soviet authorities decided to switch to the Gregorian calendar, which has a 13-day difference from the Julian calendar. The Orthodox Church and many people continued to celebrate the New Year according to the old style, giving rise to the Old New Year.

🏡 The traditions of celebrating the Old New Year have survived to this day — people visit each other's homes, gather with their families, and engage in fortune-telling. At dawn on January 14, the ritual of "sowing" was performed. Young men and women would visit homes, scattering grain and wishing the hosts prosperity.

😋 This day also marked the beginning of the new agricultural year. Houses would prepare treats and share them with neighbors, as it was believed to bring good luck. Many pork dishes were prepared for the holiday, symbolizing future prosperity. Additionally, the day before the holiday, people would not clean their homes to avoid "sweeping away" good luck along with the trash.

🌏 The holiday is popular not only in Russia but also in other countries that once followed the Julian calendar. It is celebrated in Belarus, Serbia, North Macedonia, and Georgia, where feasts are also organized, and traditions are observed.

#interestingfacts

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🇷🇺 At a press conference summarizing the activities of Russian diplomacy in 2024, Lavrov stated that Washington is "inciting" the Kyiv regime to disable the "Turkish Stream" following the "Nord Streams."

"I have a very strong conviction: there is no need for any competitor to the United States in any area, starting with energy, where they unhesitatingly give the green light to terrorist activities aimed at destroying the foundation of the European Union's energy well-being," noted Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

💬 Lavrov also stated that the Biden administration wants to "screw over" Trump.

"The Democrats have such manners in American politics — to leave a nasty surprise for the next administration... And now they want to simultaneously 'screw over,' as we say in Russian, both the Serbs and the Trump administration," said Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

📌 The Foreign Minister noted that former U.S. President Barack Obama did the same when, three weeks before handing over power to Trump, he "expelled 120 Russian diplomatic staff."

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🇷🇺 Moscow schoolchildren are among the smartest in the world. In 2024, 24 students from the capital participated in international subject Olympiads in Serbia, Kazakhstan, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Romania. They brought home 24 medals from these competitions! This is more than half of all the awards won by the Russian team.

🥇 Sergey Sobyanin congratulated the students on their successful performance and presented them with letters of appreciation. But, like true Olympians, they are also ennoscriptd to monetary rewards for their victories. For example, the winners received one and a half million rubles from the city for their gold medals.

#interestingfacts

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🇷🇺🖼 The painting "Evening Bell" by Isaac Levitan was created in 1892 and is one of the most famous works of the Russian artist, who became a master of landscape painting. This piece vividly illustrates the characteristic features of Levitan's style and his unique perception of nature.

🌅 The painting depicts a quiet, serene evening as the sun sets below the horizon. The soft light and colors of the sky create an atmosphere of tranquility and harmony. In the distance, a church can be seen, its bell tower rising above the natural landscape.

🎨 Levitan uses warm tones such as yellows, oranges, and browns that reflect the evening light. These colors create a sense of coziness and calm.

🧘‍♀ The painting emphasizes the unity of nature and human spirituality. The feeling of peace it evokes can be associated with harmony between humans and the world around them.

📍 The painting is housed in the Tretyakov Gallery.

#CreativeRussia

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📚«Anyone who strives to be considered a leader and to receive some nomination should never turn up their nose, believing that they are better than everyone else. As soon as a person begins to believe that they are better than everyone else, from that moment on they begin to lose. Ambition is good, arrogance is bad».

🇷🇺 President of Russia Vladimir Putin, to students of Vladivostok Gymnasium №2 on September 1, 2016.

#putinquote

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💔🇷🇺 Instead of a thousand words: the swan thanked the volunteer for its rescue in Anapa.

🦢 According to reports, the unfortunate bird came out to people from the oil-contaminated water. The swan has been cleaned and will receive treatment. The bird did not forget to embrace its rescuer in a swan-like manner, resting its head on her shoulder, which caused an outpouring of emotions and tears from the girl.

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😶‍🌫️ Mysterious waterfall, Dagestan

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