Pensioner gets Gosuslugi death notice, spends six months proving he's alive in court

Every day, many events happen around the world that are simply impossible to keep track of in the constant news flow. Therefore, we gather the main stories in this digest. Today, we sum up the events of January 27.

Moscow hit by snowfalls and traffic jams

Heavy snowfall hit the Russian capital, paralyzing traffic in many city districts and disrupting air travel. Sheremetyevo Airport temporarily limited flight arrivals.

Authorities called on city residents to avoid using personal vehicles if possible, as car journeys were taking 40–50 minutes longer than usual.

According to the city transport department, traffic was difficult on the outer side of the Moscow Ring Road (MKAD) near Volokolamskoye and Besedinskoye highways due to truck towing. Traffic jams were also observed on the inner side of the MKAD near Volokolamskoye Highway.

Difficult weather conditions will persist in the coming days. The Hydrometeorological Center noted that on January 27 and 28, Moscow and the Moscow region expect heavy snow, snowdrifts, and black ice at temperatures from -4 to -8 degrees Celsius (25 to 18 degrees Fahrenheit). An orange level of weather danger has been declared in the capital due to a cyclone, while a yellow level is in effect in the Moscow region.

Alimony proposed to be paid by the state

A bill has been submitted to the State Duma (Russia«s lower house of parliament) proposing that alimony be paid by the state. This would apply in cases where a parent-debtor has not transferred money for more than six months.

The initiative was put forward by deputies from the LDPR (Liberal Democratic Party of Russia) party, led by leader Leonid Slutsky. According to him, temporary payments are proposed to be made by guardianship authorities. The debtor will then be obliged to repay all this money to the state.

Slutsky also emphasized that at the beginning of 2026, Russia had over 300,000 parents evading alimony obligations. Many of them hide income, use legal loopholes, and deliberately drag out the recovery process, leaving children without regular financial support, reports Gazeta.Ru.

The State Duma believes that the absence of alimony directly affects a child«s quality of life and deprives them of funds necessary for normal development and upbringing. Deputies emphasized that thanks to their initiative, the child will be provided with everything necessary »here and now,« without waiting for lengthy procedures by bailiffs, and unscrupulous parents will in any case be obliged to repay the state the money paid on their behalf.

Unified federal register of pregnant women to launch in Russia

A register of data on pregnant women will appear in Russia. It will launch on March 1. Details were explained by Vasilina Kulieva, a member of the State Duma Committee on Family Protection, Fatherhood, Maternity, and Childhood (LDPR).

«In Russia, from March 1, 2026, a register of data on pregnant women will begin to function, which is one of the measures provided for by the Strategy for Actions on Implementing Family and Demographic Policy until 2036. In fact, this register will contain information about patients receiving medical care in the field of »obstetrics and gynecology« in connection with pregnancy,» said Kulieva.

The register will include information on those who registered for pregnancy monitoring within 12 weeks. It will record the outcome of the pregnancy, the presence of critical obstetric conditions, including data on children who developed certain conditions in the perinatal period, as well as congenital anomalies diagnosed after birth.

All this will help assess the childbirth situation and improve the quality of medical care, as well as strengthen maternal and child health, Kulieva said in a conversation with RIA Novosti.

Russians may get right to demand compensation from telecom operators for fraud

Russians may be given the right to demand compensation from telecom operators for damage caused by fraudsters if they did not provide appropriate protection to their subscriber. The initiative was put forward by the National Council of the Financial Market association. The proposal has already been sent to the head of the Ministry of Digital Development, Maksut Shadayev, reports RIA Novosti.

The issue is that if a telecom operator does not transmit information about fraudulent calls or messages to the Anti-Fraud state information system (GIS), this will complicate the process of detecting bank transactions conducted without customer consent, consequently increasing the risk of damage from fraudsters.

The authors of the initiative emphasized that fraud is most often aimed at illegally obtaining money that is not in the subscriber«s account with the telecom provider but in their bank accounts.

If in the case of fraud, telecom operators are to be held responsible, then in the case of threats of UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) attacks, the opposite will apply. Mobile operators will be obliged to cut off communications at the request of the FSB (Federal Security Service).

In such a situation, they will not be liable to subscribers for cutting off calls and the internet. Moreover, people will still have to pay for services. More details we explained here.

State Duma comments on imminent blocking of Telegram

In Russia, Telegram may be completely blocked using the same scheme as the YouTube video hosting service. Such assumptions were made by Mikhail Delyagin, deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee on Economic Policy.

«I expect Telegram to be closed according to the YouTube scheme by around the elections (September 2026). But part of the audience will remain anyway, this we see from the example of Instagram (recognized as an extremist organization, its activities are prohibited in the Russian Federation), where about half of the audience remained,» the parliamentarian noted in the NSN press center.

In this case, the messenger will be completely replaced by MAX, which is actively developing. It will also become available for business.

Delyagin emphasized that in a changing environment, entrepreneurs will have to look for new ways and adapt to changes to occupy niches that will help Russians maintain their previous standard of living. At the same time, the deputy clarified that this is just a hypothesis, and he does not have exact information about restricting the messenger.

Russian woman defeats deadly disease with the help of neural network

While vacationing in Thailand, a resident of Yoshkar-Ola (Republic of Mari El, Russia) cured rat typhus. The woman turned for help not to doctors, but to the ChatGPT neural network.

According to the Telegram channel Shot, the tourist was staying in a rented villa and encountered a rat there. A few days after contact with the rodent, she developed a fever, delirium, severe headaches, and shortness of breath.

The patient called an ambulance. Then doctors gave her a preliminary diagnosis of «dengue fever» and prescribed medications that did not help.

She was getting worse: pains in the lungs and intestines appeared, and her leg began to go numb. Refusing hospitalization, she decided to engage in self-diagnosis.

She uploaded all the results of medical tests into the ChatGPT neural network. The artificial intelligence analyzed the data and suggested that the cause of the illness was rat typhus, recommending a course of antibiotics. After this treatment, the woman felt improvement within four days.

In Stavropol region, child picks up explosive toy on the street

A boy from the Stavropol region (southern Russia) picked up a toy on the street that resembled a plastic grenade and brought it home. The device detonated in the apartment.

An ambulance was called for the child, doctors examined him and decided to hospitalize him. The boy was taken to the ophthalmology department of the regional children«s hospital. He is now under the supervision of specialists and receiving all necessary medical care. Doctors assess his condition as stable. Fortunately, serious consequences for life and health were avoided.

After this incident, city mayor Ivan Ulyanchenko said in his Telegram channel that law enforcement agencies are investigating. Following the inspection, the incident will be given a legal assessment.

The city head separately warned parents about safety rules and urged them to convince children not to pick up any objects, toys, or money on the street.

Cubans die in a hostel in the Moscow region

A fire broke out in the morning in a three-story cottage in Balashikha (Moscow region). As a result, a 15-year-old teenager was injured and taken to the hospital with carbon monoxide poisoning, according to the Main Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee for the Moscow Region.

Six people evacuated the building on their own. After the fire was extinguished, rescuers found the bodies of four people: two men and two women. According to preliminary information, the deceased could be labor migrants from Cuba.

Investigators note that the cause of the fire could have been careless handling of fire. Operational services said that hostel residents were burning a fire indoors to keep warm. Apparently, the electricity in the building had been cut off for non-payment, reports REN.TV.

The editorial office of MSK1.RU found out that the cottage was rented out. According to data from classifieds websites, there are 17 rooms in the house. The property has a sauna, a barbecue area, and a gazebo.

«Beds in rooms for 2, 4, 8 people are available for rent, rooms by the day or by the month. The number of people is negotiable,» the ad text says.

The price for one sleeping place per day varied from 600 rubles (about $6 at current rates). Renting a whole room could be done from 1,200 rubles (about $12 at current rates) per day. According to information, the property owner lives abroad.

A criminal case has been initiated on causing death by negligence, resulting in the death of two or more persons (Part 3 of Article 109 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). The maximum punishment under this article is 4 years in prison.

Pensioner from Omsk spent six months proving in court that he is alive

A 62-year-old man from Omsk (Siberia) went to another city and there received a message from Gosuslugi (State Services portal) about his death. Because of this, his bank cards and account on the website were blocked.

«This information was confirmed when he personally applied to banking organizations, state bodies, and budgetary institutions. The reason for recognizing the citizen as deceased were violations of patient identification procedures committed by healthcare institutions,» reports the portal NGS55.RU.

The issue is that the man«s data was mistakenly entered into medical documents when an ambulance brought an unidentified man to the hospital. Information about the Omsk resident also appeared in the primary medical examination.

«Based on the medical documents, the civil registration office performed state registration of the death of a living person,» the message says.

The man applied to the prosecutor«s office and spent six months trying to prove that he was actually alive. The prosecutor»s office issued a representation to the medical organization and went to court to legally challenge the pensioner«s »death« and change the documents.

The court granted the demands. The man was paid compensation for moral damages in the amount of 40,000 rubles (about $400 at current rates).