On December 19, Alexander Nesterenko — Candidate of Philosophical Sciences and associate professor at Bauman Moscow State Technical University — was sentenced to three years in prison for Ukrainian songs included in his playlist in the VKontakte social network. T-invariant reports how exactly the philosophy department lecturer and amateur historian reacted to his verdict, what he said in his final statement, and what his wife — whom he met at rockabilly jive dance classes shortly before his arrest and married while already in pretrial detention — now plans to do.

Summing up the results of the year as editor-in-chief, I reflect on the path I have traveled in this field over the past five years. At the end of 2019, I accepted the invitation from Pleiades Publishing to lead the journal, which at that time was called Review Journal of Chemistry. I agreed because I firmly believed in the importance of continuing publishing activities and preserving national scientific journals in the countries of the former USSR—especially in Russia, where the main scientific potential of the former superpower remains concentrated.

The DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) policy and Trump’s actions to eliminate such initiatives are sparking heated debates among scholars. Some see DEI principles as the politicization of science, a form of censorship, and a violation of meritocracy. Others strongly disagree. T-invariant spoke with sociologist and historian Dmitry Dubrovsky about how DEI mechanisms worked in the United States, why they face so much criticism from the academic community, and what Trump’s policy on inclusion and diversity will lead to.

For the first time in Russian history, a court is about to issue a sentence typically given to real terrorists and serial killers, solely for allegedly intending to commit a crime. State prosecutor Madina Dolgieva has requested 34-year-old physicist Artem Khoroshilov be sentenced to 25 years in prison on charges of treason, DDoS attack, and preparation of sabotage. To date, this is the record term requested for a member of the scientific community. “The system is turning feral — especially in cases related to the ‘SVO’. And the claim that the defendant’s high intellect is an aggravating circumstance has left us all reeling,” say scientists interviewed by T-invariant. (‘SVO’ is the official euphemism for the invasion of Ukraine. — T-invariant)