This was Russia today Monday, December 15, 2025

Howdy, folks. Today, I’m reminded of Yekaterinburg’s May 2019 protests over a planned cathedral and how a similar standoff is now unfolding in Krasnodar. Keep reading for news about the Assad family’s joyous life in Moscow and MI6’s new no-nonsense director. And don’t miss the latest Naked Pravda episode. Yours, Kevin.

Krasnodar officials try to force through a construction project by recasting it as a war monument, but locals push back

For several days in mid-May 2019, Russia’s news media swung its attention to Yekaterinburg, where popular protests erupted against a construction project that would have swallowed up one of the city’s last remaining public spaces. More than six years later, a similar confrontation is unfolding roughly 2,000 miles away, in a residential district of Krasnodar. In both cases, a cathedral is at the center of the planned construction. In recent weeks, residents of Krasnodar’s Yubileyny district have escalated protests against plans to build a massive Russian Orthodox church complex on their neighborhood’s waterfront. Though the plans were first drafted in 2021, before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the project’s advocates now bill it as a monument to the war’s heroes. If built, the cathedral will gobble up 3,200 square meters (0.79 acres) of precious “green zone” that locals say was previously promised as a park and promenade.

Yubileyny residents are now eager to get their message to Vladimir Putin before the president’s end-of-year marathon television broadcast on Friday, December 19, when he’ll field hours of questions from journalists and members of the public. Last month, more than a thousand people gathered in Yubileyny to record a video appeal to Putin, which they plan to submit to the Kremlin for Friday’s show.

Public hearings in October drew nearly 2,000 participants, with almost 80 percent reportedly voting against the construction plan, though the objections were ultimately dismissed. As the conflict has escalated, residents have petitioned the region’s governor and demanded the mayor’s resignation. So far, public officials have ignored the demonstrators, but some pro-government media outlets and Orthodox activists have tried to portray the protesters as anti-religious and politically subversive, alleging “Maidan” and Communist Party influences.

The construction project’s supporters announced plans to stage a counterprotest on December 14, but the organizers canceled it shortly afterward, claiming they didn’t want to inflame tensions that had attracted the attention of the “foreign-agent media and undesirable organizations.” “Once degenerates from abroad started whipping up this issue, it became clear they had a plan, and I’m not going to play along,” said Krasnodar City Duma deputy Sergey Klimov, one of the construction project’s public supporters.

Protesters in Yubileyny say they intend to continue demonstrations and vow to resist construction “all the way to the bulldozers.” In their appeal to the president, the district’s residents chant “Yubileyny is against development!” and “Putin, help!” Most locals told the news outlet 93.ru that they don’t expect the TV networks to broadcast their video, but that it’s their only hope amid the local authorities’ complete indifference.

The Archive Collection: Nothing can stop Meduza from releasing anniversary merch — even if we have to make it ourselves. Check out our latest drop now!

We have a new tradition here at Meduza: every year on our birthday, we update the merch in our online store, Magaz. In 2025, we turned 11 — and despite the considerable challenges we’ve faced this year, we’ve found a pretty original way to bring you a new collection. Here’s a look at the latest clothing and accessories you can buy to rep Meduza and support our work.

News you don’t want to miss today

🇸🇾 How the Assad family lives in Russian luxury after their regime’s fall 👑

Leaked data and sources say Bashar al-Assad and his family are living quietly in Moscow and the UAE after fleeing Syria, cut off from politics but insulated by wealth.

• Life in exile: Assad is reportedly studying Russian and revisiting ophthalmology, while the family resides among Moscow’s elite under tight Kremlin restrictions that bar him from public or political activity.
• Family fortunes: Despite sanctions, the Assads preserved much of their wealth in Russia. Their children attend elite schools, shop luxury brands, and travel frequently to the UAE, even as former regime allies accuse Bashar of abandoning them during Syria’s collapse. | The Guardian

🕵️‍♀️ UK MI6 chief warns of aggressive Russia threat 🇬🇧

Britain’s new intelligence chief says Moscow is escalating pressure on Ukraine and NATO while dragging out peace talks.

• Hybrid tactics: In her first public speech, MI6 head Blaise Metreweli called Russia an “aggressive, expansionist, and revisionist” threat, accusing it of cyberattacks, sabotage, drone incursions near airports and bases, and covert operations above and below the sea — actions deliberately kept “just below the threshold of war.”
• What’s next: Metreweli said Britain’s support for Ukraine is “enduring,” warned that technological advances like AI and drones are reshaping security risks, and pledged a more active, risk-taking MI6 posture to counter Russia’s tactics. | Reuters

🎧 The Naked Pravda: Pavel Durov’s tech-bro feudalism | The episode examines how Telegram’s founder Pavel Durov has built a highly profitable, tightly controlled platform while promoting conservative views and a personal vision of tech power that blurs the line between corporate governance and political influence, drawing on insights from journalist Nikolay Kononov on Telegram’s finances, moderation choices, and long-term ambitions.

🛢️ Oil-soaked sands and rescued animals: One year after the Kerch Strait spill, beaches in southern Russia remain polluted | A year after a tanker wreck dumped thousands of tons of oil into the Black Sea, fuel still coats beaches near Anapa, cleanup work continues largely on volunteers’ shoulders, wildlife rehabilitation is ongoing, and experts warn the damaged ecosystem may take another five to six years to recover.

✉️ These Meduza readers emigrated from Russia. Here’s what strikes them when they visit home. | Readers who emigrated from Russia say that returning home now feels disorienting and heavy, marked by economic strain, pervasive anxiety, and a society that largely avoids confronting the war even as its consequences become harder to ignore.

🇧🇾 In return for Trump lifting sanctions, Belarus freed 123 political prisoners — then expelled most to Ukraine without passports | After being freed as part of a U.S. sanctions deal, most of the released Belarusians were abruptly deported without passports to an unprepared Ukraine, where prominent figures described the move as unexpected and urged continued attention to those still imprisoned at home.

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