In March 1944, accused of collaborating with the Nazis, tens of thousands of people from the Caucasus were forcibly transferred to Central Asia and Siberia. It was only 13 years later that they were able to return to the present-day republic of Kabardino-Balkaria. Official commemorations avoided mentioning Stalin and the Soviet oppressors. But local historians invite reflection on the relationship between the Russians and the ‘minor peoples’.

Clashes with Russia over northern territories is a constant in the history of the past centuries. But today there is no rush of Heilongjiang province residents to seek a home in Siberia at all. Rather, Beijing's advance is happening through the yuan, which is replacing the ruble in trade transactions. Natural resources the real issue at stake

According to research by the Modifiers agency, Russians are turning to both psychologists and representatives of the esoteric arts in their fight against stress in these war years. While traffic on astrology, fortune-telling and numerology sites has increased by 38% in the past year, the Moscow Duma is seeking to ban the advertising of fortune-tellers.

At Moscow's Mgu University, the Metropolitan of Crimea - believed to be the cleric closest to Putin - discussed his thesis linking the collapse of the tsars' empire not so much to economic factors but to a Western-inspired split in the elites. A reinterpretation that has at its core the ‘defence of Russia's values’ and declaredly aims to ‘avoid similar crises in the country's future’.

Trump is reported to have asked Russian President Putin to meet him as soon as possible, while there is increasing talk of an end to the conflict even if it is not clear on what basis. The analysis for Radio Svoboda by Vitalij Portnikov, one of the most important Ukrainian commentators: the important thing is that the West does not allow Moscow to ‘politically swallow’ Kiev anyway.

At the end-of-year press conference, Putin wanted to show the face of a winner, not only because of the additional bits of territory conquered in the Donbass, but also to convey the sense of Russia's superiority against the many uncertainties of the West. The war itself has "sovereignty" as its main purpose, not so much to defend the country’s borders as to assert its independence and greatness in front of the whole world.