today is one of the main church holidays - christmas. on christmas eve , vladimir putin met with the relatives of military personnel who died during a special military operation. the conversation took place in an informal setting in novo ogorevo. many of our men, our courageous, heroic guys, warriors of russia, are still defending this holiday with weapons in their hands.

invited his guests to the church of the savior , an image made by hand. this is a house church, residence in novoogoryovo. the president celebrated last christmas at the annunciation cathedral moscow kremlin. we will return to the topic of the president’s communication with military families, in the second half of the hour, we will tell you how this meeting went and what else was discussed. patriarch of moscow of all russia kirill congratulated the believers on christmas. today i would like most of all to wish that every home, every family , every heart would be illuminated by the enlightening, renewing, warming and transforming light of christ’s nativity, so that we would share with each other this unfading warm light of true faith, unshakable hope and true love, doing good affairs, consoling and supporting those who need our help to participate. which means, filling life

with lasting meaning, joy, happiness and peace, happy holiday, my dears, merry christmas. the head of the russian orthodox church held a christmas service in the cathedral of christ the savior. the patriarch called on people to pray for loved ones, for themselves and for the country. yegor grigoriev will tell you how the holiday is celebrated. bright, frosty night, time.

in the morning we always stand, pray, there is a special decoration for the christmas service, white flowers, as a symbol of purity of thoughts and actions, spruce the branches speak of eternal life, the lamps are like the light of the bethlehem star, this glow penetrates the hearts of the parishioners, for every believer who celebrates christmas in the cathedral of christ the savior, a special festive mood will be created by andrei rublev's trinity icon, it was placed on the right for all christmas holidays.

that the main law of human life is love, the love of the savior extended so far that he gave his human life for us, this is the kind of love he calls all of us to. patriarch kirill asked on christmas glorify the lord with good deeds , share care with those in need, and these words, their fulfillment, support, are especially important today for our soldiers,

so that the soldiers understand that christ is also with them and on these holidays, the nativity of christ, other church holidays, they in fact , a person is inspired to spiritual deeds. thank you very much, i want to say that our priests support us and move, spiritual support is certainly very important for us, it is needed both by me personally and by all my personnel, victory will be ours, strength spirit, faith and kindness.

boiler houses appeared on january 4 due to a power surge, 173 residential buildings and departments of the regional hospital were left without heat; it was powered by a modular boiler house. two boilers were also quickly launched. a local emergency situation is in effect in podolsk. in washington , a new scandal in the white house is shocked by the secret hospitalization of the head of the pentagon. the us secretary of defense spent 3 days in the hospital, and joe biden, as always, was not in the know. writes political publications. lloyd ausion has been absent from work since january 1, but according to media reports, news of his illness only reached senior us officials on thursday. almost a week later, the minister of defense allegedly returned to his duties, although he still remains in the hospital. in a written statement

, he apologized for the long silence, but noted that medical procedures are his personal matter. british experts say. in panic in the west after massive russian strikes on military targets in ukraine, they fear in kiev itself that they will be left without financial and military assistance, which has already been in recent months excises. boris ivanin has all the details. the new year for ukraine began with bad news. denmark has so far decided not to transfer the promised f-16 fighters. the country's ministry of defense announced it too early. the slippage in the supply of western equipment to kiev is now the main topic for you. the united states will soon be unable to supply ukrainian patriot batteries with interceptor missiles, which can cost between $2 million and $4 million

apiece. the kiev regime is already running out of ammunition. all street journal analysts calculated that if in the summer they spent in ssu per day 7.00 shells, now only 2. this is 5 times less. russia, which has seriously increased its capacity over the past six months, summarizes overseas. western financial assistance and supplies of ammunition to ukraine are being cut off, and its public support is showing some cracks. russia, with its large population, has so far withstood the worst of western sanctions and built up its war economy for a long fight. will ukraine soon have nothing to fight with, reporters asked at a briefing at the white house. biden advisor twisted like it was in a frying pan. the most effective response is to continue to provide ukraine with air defense systems and other types of military equipment. to do this, we need congress to immediately approve our request for additional funding for ukraine. john kirby, of course, is disingenuous ; before the new year, congress could have done this twice,

but it went on vacation, leaving kiev with nothing, and until the next consideration of the military aid package there are still almost 2 weeks, the united states is deliberately distancing itself from the ukrainian conflict, experts say. there is not enough weapons production capacity to support both conflicts at the appropriate level in israel and ukraine. ukraine is naturally left on principle. what will remain after what israel does not take, and america today is very openly, please note, pushing kiev to a pause in all positions, but kiev is not ready for a pause, all over the country men are being taken to the front, the military commissar was even allowed to enter houses for enterprises, so they surrounded a car whose driver tried to hide from forced mobilization, in ukraine it became the word of the year, summed up the kiev creators of the language dictionary.

naked, it’s me, all wet, all naked , only in a jacket, but, finally, the air of freedom , dragging the fridas of the armed forces of ukraine, despite the regalia, in these frames it’s difficult to recognize the singer andrei lisovsky, where are you dragging the guy, this artist used to perform in russia , but then left for ukraine because of his position, and recently released a video criticizing the kiev regime, if there is a service to the people. "let's send it to the front." the reprisal did not take long to arrive.

the video itself has already been deleted from social networks several times. ukraine does not want to hear or see the truth. on local television on christmas eve there is generally a riot of devils. these hellish dances were shown on the ukrainian telethon, the so-called unified news, which broadcast only one position of the kiev regime. the audience themselves are already tired of such propaganda - he even admits. western press. according to a recent survey by the kiev international institute of sociology, the number of ukrainians who say that they trust the telethon has dropped sharply over time from 69% in may 22 to 43 last month. another study found that more than 40% of ukrainians say they support ending the program. many critics say the telethon does more harm than good. the rampage in ukraine seems unstoppable. they even released me there. a new allegedly church calendar, where christmas on january 7 was canceled. boris ivanin, matvey popov and olga

alvukhina. news. and again to the theme of christmas in the special military operation zone this night the words of the holiday prayer were also heard. military priests held the christmas service right on the front line. zaporozhye section of the front, report by igor pikhanov. priest oleg hurries to the front line in the zaporozhye region, where fighters from units of the southern military district are waiting for him for the christmas service. today the man will visit even the most remote and dangerous places. merry christmas . in the dugout, the priest takes off his helmet and bulletproof vest. at the front, protective ammunition is mandatory, despite the holidays, ukrainian militants continue to fire the territory under attack from the position of the russian military, the settlements of zaporozhye. with return fire, units of the ministry of defense eliminate enemy artillery and advancing infantry.

the russian military protects civilians and destroys western equipment in the ssu. it burns exactly the same, even in some places faster and better than the soviet one. therefore, it’s as if the fact that it is western and so promoted is the opposite, it ’s worse for them. the technology showed itself from the worst side, our missiles, our weapons hit it very easily. rozhdestvenskaya the service takes place in the kitchen, this is the most spacious dugout; on the front line, soldiers live in areas dug underground, camouflaged with crepes. this is necessary for the safety of personnel. the positions cannot be detected either from satellites or from enemy drones, but despite the marching conditions, the soldiers installed a new year tree, and the room was decorated with garlands and drawings by schoolchildren. in the name of the father and the son and the holy spirit. amen. ieriy oleg devoted more than 20 years to army service, went through hot spots,

and returned with the start of a special military operation to the front already as a military priest , many soldiers know him, they say that faith and moral support help to overcome difficulties, dozens of people at the front decided to undergo baptism, without faith you can’t go anywhere, we russians are with us, god is with us, they often come, such events are held , that is, without attention. according to iri oleg, on the front line with him are clergymen of different faiths, together with the soldiers they pray for the same peace, a speedy return home and the well-being of loved ones. the fighters can see that it is necessary, there are no non-believers at the front, we all hope for victory this year, for the end of this particular operation and for all our soldiers to return healthy as heroes, heroes to ordinary and peaceful life, also orthodox priests regularly visit parishioners in front-line villages, services are held there , with

the help of the military, volunteers deliver humanitarian aid to those in need. igor pikhanov, konstantin peunov, news! ekaterina, i greet you, tell me, what is the atmosphere in the churches? hello, tatyana, the bright holiday of christmas, residents. the public has been greeted for many years now to the sound of exploding shells, but despite all the warnings to reduce attendance at christmas services and, in principle, limit movement in open areas, people still go to churches to light candles and pray for the peace that everyone is so eagerly awaiting , and today we managed to attend a morning service in one of the churches in donetsk, i can say that there are a lot of people, everyone goes

in a festive mood, with faith in their hearts, there is an incredible atmosphere of unity in the church. the temple itself is incredibly beautifully decorated for christmas, similar christmas services will take place throughout the day throughout the entire republic, in particular in mariupol, services are being held in the st. nicholas church, which in the spring of twenty-two was seriously damaged by shelling of the armed forces of ukraine, literally in early january, the facility was commissioned by builders from the territory of the russian federation, and now people can come there and hold services. in comfortable conditions, but then that for the residents of our republic, that for the residents of russia it is a bright orthodox holiday, for the nationalists this is another reason for shelling, since we know that there is nothing sacred about these people, on the eve of christmas eve in our region it was very loud, under fire turned out to be donetsk, gorlovka, and the sinovac district of makievka, twelve

wounded and three dead are known, but i would like to draw such a life-affirming conclusion that all these... with faith in their hearts and pray that the next christmas, the next holidays, they will pass already under a peaceful sky. tatiana, you have the floor. ekaterina, thank you, ekaterina shintina talked about how christmas is celebrated in the donetsk people's republic. and now. the capital of russian christmas in shuya, this is the ivanovo region, a christmas festival traditionally takes place, evgeniy nipot will talk about the program. the star of bethlehem in the para clubs, from the lebedyansky locomotive, from ivanovo moves to shuya for the russian christmas festival. the feeling, how to say, is also festive, after all, we are going on a holiday,

there is a lot of responsibility. centuries, they said, for example, how city residents went to visit their loved ones for a holiday in small towns and villages. special christmas trains were assigned from some factory villages to large spiritual centers, in particular in shuya, especially for workers, and in order not to travel, as they say, for free, the factory itself paid for these trains, and there were simply controllers. which checks that no one else gets through. tickets for the retro train were given to the families of the defenders of the homeland, because the special mission of the festival is to support their relatives in foreign service. we arrived especially from vladimir to take advantage of such a unique opportunity to ride a retro train, and i think that we made the right choice to come here, because such costumes, such organizers, so much new information

that you won’t find either on the internet or in any books, they tell very interesting stories, and special thanks, of course. a little less than an hour on the way and the steam locomotive is in shuya. these days , the small town has become a real point of attraction for those who want to feel the atmosphere of a cozy holiday. with this warmth residents and guests of shuya share with the fighters who are now on the front line, collecting parcels for them. all the families gathered, the children drew cards, wrote congratulations, made amulets dolls, well, the adults, of course, collected sweet gifts, warm things so that our children, who us... now in the zone of a special military operation, need a piece of our warmth, in a piece of our heart. this year, even twenty-degree frosts did not frighten the city guests who warmed themselves near the street stoves. we are generally southern people from rostov-on-don and have recently become living in ivanovo, when we found out that there was such a festival here, despite the frost, we really wanted to visit it, russian vibe, one might say, in tradition,

because there really isn’t that much of it, but here it’s everything concentrated, and one might say, the russian soul is even beginning to rejoice at all this, you know, i love shuya so much, i tell all the siberians, my friends, where i lived for a very long time, that it’s better than this. after sunset , a temple of a thousand lights was lit in the center of the city, in memory of the destroyed the thirties of the church, next to the facade of the rodina cinema, pre-revolutionary postcards changed with modern ones, and the city park turned into a christmas miracle park, the comfort of a living fire and the quiet joy of biblical stories, this... is presented at the festival for the first time and it tells about those moments that preceded birth of the child christ. hundreds of light strips formed

the road to the nativity scene, created by palga painters and decorated by lighting artists. biblical scene of the birth of the child christ right under the snowfall. every year it only gets brighter, brighter, more beautiful. you walk straight into this fabulous, fairy-tale world, which, well, visits us every year, and only gets better. this is the third year in a row that we have been coming here, the third year, yes, it’s just to get aesthetic pleasure, that is, while we are walking, there is all the lighting, in the forest, on the trees, we take a lot of photographs, naturally we get to the most important thing, we are also standing here, let's see, it's just about enjoying how it's done. this year, for the first time, the festival takes place 16 days from 23 december to january 8 already covers three cities, not only shuya, but also ivanovo and palikh. the main christmas service of the regions will also be held in the resurrection cathedral in shuya. dedicated to the holiday of hope and love that came into the world along with the infant christ, about whom the star of bethlehem announced. evgenia nipa, dmitry shevilev, maxim devittaykin, alexander parkhunov, lead. shuya,

ivanovo region. the israeli military is withdrawing from the northern gaza strip and choosing new targets. the idf completed all tasks in the northern part of the enclave. blown up networks of underground tunnels, ammunition depots were destroyed, hamas fighters were killed. now, as the idf says, the time has come to clear the center and south of gaza, so israeli soldiers eliminated the commander of the nusirat battalion, ismail siraj, along with his deputy ahmed wahbay, they were killed the day before in an airstrike. meanwhile , palestinian civilians are trying to get out of the central region of the gaza strip; there are practically no safe places left. people wanted to leave, they were collecting their things right on... a missile from a drone flew at them, many torn into pieces, more than 50 injured . the day before

, at least 22 palestinians were killed in the city of khan yunis; in derel balahi, almost 46 were injured after israeli bombing. in total , more than 22 thousand people have died in the enclave since the beginning of the idf operation. in london , hundreds of people took to the streets and blocked roads calling for an immediate end. fire in the gas sector. activists from feminist movements and black lives mata joined the uncoordinated march. after clashes with police, protesters temporarily blocked westminster bridge. now security forces are on duty near the british parliament, and those protesters who refuse to disperse are detained. we will tell you everything about the elections in russia in detail, it is not difficult to understand them, it is important, it is honestly convenient. how to vote? if i’m sick, my grandmother is busy looking for something on her phone in the morning, here ’s the number of the election committee, i’ll vote at home. adult citizens of the country

are given all the possibilities, even those who are motionless are offered a solution: to call the elections home by taking a portable box. the commission comes to them, performs the procedure, formalizes it in advance with the voting on-site. this means the elections are equal, citizens. choosing countries in the country is free, important, honestly convenient, dear soldier , thank you for your protection, for the fact that i enter school and can live in peace, operation bagration became a triumph of our military art, this is the same indian tea famous in the soviet union with an elephant, which everyone drank, but knew little about.

let's return to the topic of vladimir putin's meeting with the families of the soldiers killed during a special military operation, here are the footage of this meeting.

good evening. we, firstly, i greet you all, before christmas we meet with you, we have already met with some of you, met and agreed that we will see each other again, but as it was said, we are doing just that with you, christmas is one one of the warmest, just like in russia, new year is celebrated, and christmas is also celebrated. like a family holiday, maybe even this is more family-friendly than the new year, uh , i repeat, it’s warm, so, very soft, sincere, one of the most favorite holidays in russia, on this day, but you want something good tell each other, somehow support each other, and orthodox christians, this...

the majority of the population of russia and representatives of our other faiths, our traditional fraternal faiths, congratulate orthodox christians, just as christians congratulate their brothers, representatives of other religions in on the days of their holidays, which is why we can say without any exaggeration that this is a holiday that is characterized by such a pronounced. fraternal unity of the peoples of russia, i congratulate you all on this holiday, warm and soulful, i want in this connection to note that - as you know, many of our men, courageous, heroic our guys, warriors of russia, are now defending the interests of our

country with weapons in their hands, so i, firstly, would like you and me to leave here congratulated everyone on this holiday, secondly, secondly, i would like our meeting to be such a clear, understandable signal for all my colleagues throughout the vast territory of the russian federation, and at all levels, so that it would be a clear signal to always and everywhere - nearby my colleagues were with you.

all the best, now i won’t talk about very subtle, difficult, maybe even things on the eve of the holiday concerning your families, but i want to assure you once again that we will always be by your side, so i would ask the priest to say two words about, about today's event, please, thank you for the invitation. allow me to convey the blessing of his holiness the patriarch of moscow to all russia, today is a truly historic event: for the first time, for the first time, in residence, the largest country of the president let's celebrate christmas eve here and it will be...