TODAY: Duma debates adoption ban as adoptive families remain caught in uncertainty; Kadyrov to appear on Magnitsky List; $1 billion to Bangladesh for arms purchases; Polonsky probe ongoing; Yuriev switches to U.S. market; private energy companies could be given access to continental shelf; Russian Railways suing Apple; moon, spies, domestic violence.

The Duma has returned from its New Year’s holiday, debating whether or not to abolish its ban on U.S. adoptions of Russian children. A Just Russia members Dmitry Gudkov and Ilya Ponomaryov submitted a bill that would eliminate the ban, but do not expect it to be approved, saying that it marks their agreement with the 130,000 people who signed a petition calling for the measure to be reversed.  Despite assurances from Dmitry Peskov that adoptions with court approval would be allowed to go forward, many families awaiting the adoptees are still in the dark.  The full list of officials that will appear on the U.S.‘s Magnitsky List has not yet been published, but Ramzan Kadyrov is apparently among those to be sanctioned.  Russia has granted a $1 billion loan to Bangladesh for as yet unspecified arms purchases.  Pussy Riot member Maria Alyokhina is appealing her sentence at a Perm city court today.  The victims have dropped their claims against him, but a Cambodian judge says he will keep open the probe into businessman Sergei Polonsky and his fellow travelers on the initial charges of malicious physical violence and deprivation of freedom.