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Articles by Alexandra Odynova

Top Investigator Accuses Krymsk Officials of Lying

The country's top investigator accused Krymsk town officials on Wednesday of falsely saying they had warned residents about the flood that killed at least...

Canadian Shot Dead in Dagestan Anti-Terror Operation

A former boxer with Canadian citizenship is among seven suspected militants killed over the weekend in a special anti-terrorism operation in Dagestan...

OSCE Calls for Sanctions Against Suspects in Magnitsky Case

Lawmakers with the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe have called for sanctions against Russians implicated in the jail death of lawyer...

NGO Bill Questioned

Questions are mounting about the definition of "political activities" in a bill that aims to tighten the screws on foreign-funded NGOs after it passed...

Ukrainians Riot Over Russian-Language Bill

Ukrainians clashed with police Wednesday, a day after a bill that would place Russian on par with Ukrainian as the official language of 13 of the nation's...

TV, Film Industry Wants Social Networks to Be Liable for Content

The Film and Television Producers Association wants social networks to be responsible for the content that users upload, and the association is pressing...

SPIEF 2012: EU Loses Out to East at Economic Forum

Russia's relations with the EU usually earn the spotlight at the forum, but the dialogue skidded eastward Thursday as the Kremlin's vision of a Eurasian...

Tourism Brings Revenue and Conflict to Russia's Park System

Even before the October Revolution, Russia’s first protected natural area was set up around Lake Baikal in 1916, laying the foundation for a national...

150 Detained at Anti-Kremlin Rallies

About 150 people were detained Sunday as scores of people gathered for a series of anti-government demonstrations in Moscow and St. Petersburg.

Newsmaker: Medinsky a Solid Party Man as Head of Culture

New Culture Minister Vladimir Medinsky, a historian distant from the cultural world, is perhaps best known for writing a series of pro-Kremlin books...

Dozens Detained as Protesters Relocate

Round-the-clock opposition protests drew hundreds of people to the streets over the weekend for another creative stroll, and the police forced the camp...

Mysterious Photos Reveal an Unseen WWII

After the end of World War II, Paul Sadler returned home to Chicago with three German books and a photo album from the Dachau concentration camp.

Astrakhan Steals Protests' Thunder

This weekend marked the moment when the post-election opposition movement reached provincial Russia.

Shein Turns up Juice in Astrakhan

Hunger-striking former Astrakhan mayoral candidate Oleg Shein tempered his fast Thursday by drinking a glass of orange juice, but the post-election...

Election Officials Refuse to Overturn Astrakhan Vote

The Central Elections Commission and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said Wednesday that they see no reason to annul the results of a disputed mayoral...

Libya Asked to Free 2 Detained Russians

Moscow said Tuesday that it is seeking the release of two Russians on trial in Libya for allegedly aiding troops of former Libyan President Moammar...

Magnitsky Doctor No Longer Faces Charges

Criminal charges against a former prison doctor implicated in the death of lawyer Sergei Magnitsky have been dropped because the statute of limitations...

Bloggers Spot Patriarch's Pricey Watch

The Moscow Patriarchate apologized Thursday for a photo editor's "absurd mistake," an image of Patriarch Kirill badly photoshopped to disguise his...

UTair Flight Rolled Wildly Before Crash

Aviation officials said Tuesday that a preliminary inquiry into the UTair flight disaster that killed 31 people in Siberia showed that the plane's...

31 Killed in Siberian Air Crash

A French-made plane operated by UTair crashed minutes after takeoff in Siberia on Monday morning, killing 31 people aboard but miraculously leaving...

Assailant in London Shoots Expat Banker

London police have confirmed that the man shot several times in the business area of the East End last week is former Russian banker German Gorbuntsov...

NTV Film Provokes Opposition Fury

Dozens of people were detained over the weekend in a series of Moscow protests fueled by a pro-Kremlin documentary on state-run NTV television that suggested...

Man Dies In 'Savage' Police Beating

Promises of police reform suffered another setback Monday with the announcement of the death of a Kazan citizen allegedly assaulted by local police...

Prison Guard in Shooting Spree

Raising new questions about the fairness of the legal system, a prison official who opened fire on customers in a Kamchatka store, injuring three...

Tambov Gang Boss Jailed for 15 Years

A Moscow court ruled Tuesday that notorious St. Petersburg gangster Vladimir Barsukov will spend the next 15 years behind bars.

Tearful Putin Declares Victory at Rally

Vladimir Putin reclaimed the presidency Sunday in a landslide victory, winning more than 64 percent of the vote, according to early results. But widespread...

Putin Says Critics Want to Rig Vote

As thousands of opposition-minded Russians prepare to monitor the presidential election, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin accused the opposition Wednesday...

Putin Plan Targets Population Drop

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin unveiled his plan on social policy Monday, focusing on how Russia will boost its dwindling population amid a demographic...

Putin Article Advocates 'True Democracy'

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin published the fourth in a series of newspaper articles Monday, and in it, the odds-on favorite to win the presidency...

Investigator Expresses Doubts About Authenticity of Footage

Most of the videos purportedly showing violations committed during the December parliamentary elections were "edited" and distributed online from the...

Putin Says He's Prepared for Runoff

Prime Minister and leading presidential candidate Vladimir Putin acknowledged for the first time Wednesday that he might face a runoff in the March...

Opposition Fumes Over Secret Tape

Opposition politicians Gennady Gudkov and Vladimir Ryzhkov said Wednesday that they would seek criminal charges against those responsible for secretly...

NTV Journalist Forced Out After Censorship Spat

Prominent journalist Pavel Lobkov has been forced out of state-controlled NTV television after he unsuccessfully tried to broadcast footage about vote-rigging...

Police Bust Caviar Stash in St. Pete Morgue

Just as a Thanksgiving dinner does not count if there is no turkey, a Russian New Year's party is not complete without caviar. Even if it is a morgue party...

Udaltsov Arrest Comes at Bad Time

Radical opposition activist Sergei Udaltsov will meet the new year in a Moscow prison, a city judge decreed in a ruling that sparked protests outside the...

40,000 Sign Up for Saturday's Rally on Sakharova

They are arriving at Prospekt Akademika Sakharova with balloons and ribbons, to protest against the government and demand fair elections — again. PLUS:...

Rights Council: Free Khodorkovsky

In a stinging rebuke of the justice system, the Kremlin's human rights council said Wednesday that former Yukos CEO Mikhail Khodorkovsky and his business...

Strasbourg Awards Dubrovka Hostages $1.6M

Almost a decade after the deadly Dubrovka theater siege, the European Court of Human Rights on Tuesday fined the Russian government about 1.25 million...

IKEA Mired in Bribery Scandal

The Interior Ministry has charged a former senior IKEA executive in absentia of trying to extort $360,000 from a prospective tenant at the Teply Stan Mega...

Naryshkin, Zhukov Head to Duma

A government shuffle advanced Thursday with Kremlin chief of staff Sergei Naryshkin and Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Zhukov stepping down to take...

Sputnik Designer Dead at 99

Boris Chertok, a legendary rocket designer who was a key figure in the Soviet-era space program, died Wednesday at the age of 99.

Vlast Editor Fired Over Putin Insult

Censorship fears surfaced Tuesday after billionaire Alisher Usmanov, who owns the Kommersant Vlast weekly, fired its editor-in-chief over an obscene photo...

State TV Puts Neutral Spin on Duma Vote Protests

Much to the surprise of observers and regular Russian television viewers, state-run channels gave substantial coverage to Saturday's anti-government...

Protest Called Amazing, What’s Next?

Saturday's rally in Moscow marked an "amazing," even unprecedented, event for modern Russia. Yet though euphoria was palpable in the air, it came with...

In a First, Enemies March Side by Side

In the hours before Saturday's rally, fears were voiced that police might detain people who arrived at the initially authorized venue, Ploshchad Revolyutsii...

Foes Walk Side by Side to Rally Against Kremlin

A march from Ploshchad Revolyutsii, the original site of Saturday's protest, to the approved site at Bolotnaya Ploshchad offered a rare scene: activists...

Lavrov and Rogozin Rap NATO Missile Shield

Officials clashed at a NATO-Russia meeting over a missile defense shield in Europe, with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov reiterating a Kremlin threat to...

Urals Polling Station Kicks Out MT Reporter

Elections monitor Natalya Rakhimova spent her morning watching people plow their way through snowdrifts to get to their polling station and vote in a...

Teen Suicide Rate Ranks 3rd Highest

Russia has the third-highest number of suicides among teenagers in the world — followed only by Kazakhstan and Belarus — a troubling statistic...

Baby Box Saves First Unwanted Infant

For the first time in the country's history, an infant was given up for adoption through a baby box — a modern take on a medieval device for mothers...

'Reset' Is Threatened By Missiles

President Dmitry Medvedev warned Wednesday that Russia would quit the New START nuclear arms reduction pact with the United States if America continues...

Vote, Spoil, Rally: Opposition's Duma Choices

It's a hard time for opposition voters in Russia.
With the State Duma elections just two weeks away, it would seem that voters unhappy with United...

Tajiks May Back Down on Pilot

Tajikistan appeared ready to cave in to Kremlin pressure, as prosecutors asked a court to reduce harsh sentences against a Russian pilot jailed on murky...

Kremlin Says Tajik Hunt Not Political

Kremlin pressure on Tajikistan continued Monday as President Dmitry Medvedev denied that the deportation of Tajik migrants from Russia was a tit-for-tat...

Suspect in Mayor Shooting Acted in 'Desire of Fame'

Police have detained a suspect in the shooting death of Sergiyev Posad's mayor in August and believe he was driven by a desire for fame.

Iran Lobbies for Russian Support

Iran is making a strong push to secure Moscow's backing in a global diplomatic fight, asking Russia to build more nuclear reactors in Bushehr and permission...

Kazakhstan Facing Islamist Insurgency

Kazakhstan authorities acknowledged Wednesday that an Islamist insurgency has spread to the republic from the North Caucasus, fueled by restrictions...

Pilot Grounded for Marijuana

This is not what "getting high" is supposed to mean in aviation.
A Moscow-bound jet with 192 passengers on board was grounded in the Far Eastern city...

Killer Named After Lenin Goes on Trial

He was named after Lenin, learned to love Lermontov in Moscow, drew inspiration from Frederick Forsyth, and turned down the KGB in favor of the Islamists...

Party Links Voting To Funding – Again

A United Russia official in Udmurtia speaking at a televised event threatened funding cutbacks for a local town unless it voted for his party in the upcoming...

Planned Road to 'Putin's Ski Resort' Worries UNESCO

UNESCO and environmentalists are alarmed over a government plan to construct a paved road through a UNESCO World Heritage Site to an elite ski resort...

Medvedev Promises to Expand Cabinet as Prime Minister

President Dmitry Medvedev has promised to expand the Cabinet and to "seriously reconstruct" United Russia as prime minister next year. Medvedev's comments...

Airline Delays Flight for Its Tardy Executive

The Tatarstan airline acknowledged on Monday that its Kazan-Moscow flight was delayed for about an hour on Sept. 30 because the plane was waiting...

Dvorkovich Seeks Job in Medvedev Cabinet

President Dmitry Medvedev's aide Arkady Dvorkovich said he does not plan to stay in the Kremlin after the 2012 presidential election and hopes to join...

Foreign Ministry Complains About U.S. Warships

The Foreign Ministry on Thursday warned that a U.S. agreement to deploy warships off the Spanish coast as part of a NATO-wide anti-missile shield...

Magnitsky Foe Held On Bribery Charges

A police investigator implicated in the prosecution of Hermitage Capital lawyer Sergei Magnitsky has been charged with extorting a $3 million bribe...

Medvedev Sacks a General

A week after ousting the finance minister, President Dmitry Medvedev continued a government shuffle Monday by dismissing a general who reportedly...

Medvedev Says Putin Is More Popular and Authoritative

President Dmitry Medvedev has defended his decision to shelve his political ambitions in favor of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, saying Putin deserved...

Police Take Lawmaker's License

State Duma deputy Gennady Gudkov, a member of A Just Russia, who has campaigned for drivers' rights, lost his own license Thursday for violating traffic...

Anti-Drug Tsar Says, ‘Plant Cannabis’

The country's top anti-drug official said Wednesday that a good way to boost the agricultural sector would be to cultivate plantations of cannabis...

Navalny's Posh Car Bill Makes It to Duma With Communists' Support

The Communists beat the other political parties to a proposal by whistleblower Alexei Navalny, who called to prevent officials from buying cars worth more...

Prokhorov Blames Kremlin for Party ‘Coup’

Billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov called dozens of reporters to a hastily organized news conference in his ninth-floor office on Wednesday to declare that...

Top Court Hands Khodorkovsky Rare Token Victory

Former Yukos CEO Mikhail Khodorkovsky and his business partner Platon Lebedev were illegally held in detention for six months during their trial last...

Last Surviving Lokomotiv Player Galimov Dies in Hospital

Alexander Galimov, the sole surviving player from the Yak-42 crash that wiped out the Lokomotiv Yaroslavl ice hockey team last week, died on Monday...

Kremlin Offers to Subsidize Lease of New Planes

The Kremlin proposed to increase fines for flight safety violations and subsidize the lease of new aircraft following last week's Yak-42 crash that killed...

Medvedev Orders Airline Overhaul After Lokomotiv Tragedy

President Dmitry Medvedev declared on Thursday an urgent overhaul of domestic airlines following the Yak-42 plane crash that killed 43 people, robbing...

With Crash, Russia Has Deadliest Airspace

In the worst sports-related disaster in decades, one of Russia's best ice hockey teams, Lokomotiv Yaroslavl, was decimated Wednesday in a plane crash that...

'Missing' Brazilian Found Copying Holy Texts in Siberia

Five years ago, Brazilian citizen Ustina Chernishoff made her home in the Siberian taiga, doing random chores and copying by hand the holy texts of a...

WikiLeaks: Putin's 'Personal Gripe' With Estonia Result of WWII Betrayal

Estonian farmers betrayed the father of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin to the Nazis during World War II — and this is what is fueling tensions between...

Triple Suicide Bombing in Chechnya Embarrasses Kadyrov

A triple suicide bombing has rocked Grozny, killing nine people and badly embarrassing Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov on the final day of the Muslim...

WikiLeaks: Russian Foreign Ministry 'Bastion' of Sexism and Low Pay

"Sexism" and "low pay" are the name of the game at the Foreign Ministry, and the country's middle class is growing but remains devoid of a political...

Space Failures Raise Uneasy Questions

This year, Russia has celebrated the 50th anniversary of Yury Gagarin's first flight with much pomp. But a series of spacecraft-related incidents over...

'Secret Witness' Detained in Politkovskaya Killing

Investigators have detained the suspected organizer of the murder of journalist Anna Politkovskaya in 2006 — who, it turns out, was a mumbling secret...

Putin Ally Takes Over as Governor as Matviyenko Quits

Georgy Poltavchenko, a former KGB officer and staunch ally of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, emerged Monday as the prime pick for the St. Petersburg...

Bread and Circuses Beckon Matviyenko Voters in St. Petersburg

Two St. Petersburg districts rolled out bread and circuses to lure voters to polling stations Sunday, all but ensuring that Governor Valentina Matviyenko...

Blondes Courting First Lady

A first lady's ceremonial duties are many, but Svetlana Medvedeva may claim the oddest of all should she accept an invitation to chair the first national...

Gorbachev Says Putin's Time Is Up

Two days short of the 20th anniversary of the failed coup d'etat against him, former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev eagerly relived the twists and turns...

St. Pete Police Confiscate Newspapers Criticizing Matviyenko

Days ahead of municipal by-elections that are to launch St. Petersburg Governor Valentina Matviyenko into the Federation Council, local authorities...

Inquiry Blames Negligance, Errors for Riverboat Tragedy

The Bulgaria riverboat was flooded with 125 tons of water a minute last month because of an incompetent crew, a negligent ship owner and the captain's...

FSB Foiled Sapsan Train Attack

A group of North Caucasus insurgents attempted to bomb a Sapsan bullet train last month, but their plot was foiled by the Federal Security Service...

2 Prison Doctors Charged in Death of Lawyer

The Investigative Committee has filed the first charges in connection with the death of lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, 20 months after he died and two weeks...

College Head Ousted for ‘Ghost Students’

The president of a prestigious medical school in Moscow was sacked Wednesday and may face criminal charges after his school enrolled hundreds of "ghost...

Wreckage of Missing Plane Found

Debris from a 48-year-old cargo plane that disappeared from radar screens in the Magadan region has been found strewn across five kilometers of hilly...

An-12 Vanishes Over Taiga With 11 on Board

The oldest An-12 cargo plane in Russia's civilian fleet went missing over the Magadan region with 11 people on board Tuesday, shortly after the pilot...

Lavrov Derides Saakashvili as 'Pathological'

Russia's top diplomat called Georgia's president "a pathological case" who was "very badly brought up" on Monday, signaling no easing of tensions between...

Med School Denies 'Ghosts' Are Frauds

A top medical school in Moscow is deeply mired in a scandal over this year's new students — three-quarters of whom either don't exist or never applied...

Prosecutors: River Fleet 'Complicated'

Faulty paperwork, lack of staff and even counterfeit software are some of the things that endanger travelers on the country's waterways, prosecutors...

Tula Murder Motives Not Yet Clarified

Investigators seemed at a loss Tuesday for a motive in the slaying of a family of five in Tula, wavering between a business dispute gone awry and revenge...

Putin Scales Up a Wall at Seliger

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on Monday scaled a wall, cautioned against the abuse of Twitter, and pledged to lose half a kilo by next summer....

Medvedev’s Impossible Airplane Ban

Two fatal plane crashes within weeks have prompted President Dmitry Medvedev to put on his tough face and call for the grounding of the Soviet-made...

Green Light for Adoptions, Yellow Light for Visas

Russian children who are adopted by U.S. parents will be monitored by outside agencies and remain Russian citizens until they reach 18 under a long-negotiated...

Lavrov Eyes Missile Defense, Not Visas

While a U.S. diplomat has called agreements on visa rules and child adoptions the highlight of U.S.-Russian talks in Washington, Foreign Minister...

Some in Duma Irked After Record Session

United Russia oversaw the approval of a record 264 federal laws and three constitutional amendments during the State Duma's spring session, but the other...

American Says 'Cheese' in Moscow Region

When New York native Jay Close crossed Russia's border on a Red Cross humanitarian visa in 1993, little did he know that he would wind up in a small...

Prison Blogger Wins Appeal in Top Court

A businessman who blogs about his prison experiences from behind bars may walk free after the Supreme Court unexpectedly backed his appeal.

Anti-Corruption Law Doesn't Cover Presidential Legislation

Indeed, all legislation originating from Medvedev's desk has been immune to the anti-corruption checks — a fact that surprised even the president when...

Inquiry: Magnitsky Beaten by Guards

Eight prison guards severely beat lawyer Sergei Magnitsky shortly before his 2009 death in pretrial detention, an activist said Tuesday, providing a new...

Senator Disputes Top Dogs’ Immunity

A sweeping effort to instill the rule of law may result in the creation of a new agency whose sole task would be to investigate the wrongdoings...

Matviyenko to Run for Councilwoman

Governor Valentina Matviyenko is preparing to become a councilwoman in one of St. Petersburg's 111 district councils — a step that will pave the way...

In Tit-for-Tat, Russia Wants to Blacklist Foreigners

With the United States considering sanctions on Russian officials implicated in the prison death of lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, the Foreign Ministry...

After Waffling, Matviyenko Agrees to Lead Senate

Three days weren't enough for St. Petersburg Governor Valentina Matviyenko to make up her mind. But a closed-door Kremlin meeting with President Dmitry...

New Investigators Take Up Browder Case

Under a barrage of pressure from Hermitage Capital, a tax evasion case against the fund's head, William Browder, has been transferred from the Interior...

Medvedev Backs Matviyenko for Senate

President Dmitry Medvedev has backed Valentina Matviyenko, the increasingly unpopular St. Petersburg governor, as the new speaker of the Federation...

Opposition Party Denied Duma Run

The Justice Ministry has refused to register the opposition Party of People's Freedom on the grounds that it had submitted a membership list with...

Substitute Pilot at Controls in Crash

A plane and flight crew that crashed while trying to land in thick fog at Karelia's capital, killing 44 of the 52 people on board, were provided...

Olympic Organizers Faked Mascot Entry

Using absurdity to protest the authorities is a long-standing Russian tradition, and nowhere did it blossom so splendidly as during a contest for the...

Police Weigh Charges for Student Cheating

Cheating during exams can lead to a reprimand, bad grades or expulsion. But after this month's high school finals, some of those involved in cheating...

Afghanistan Looms Over SCO Forum

President Dmitry Medvedev joined other heads of state in the Kazakh capital on Tuesday evening for the opening of a two-day summit of the Shanghai...

Ex-Yukos Investigator Asked to Check Khodorkovsky's Appeal

A senior investigator who briefly headed the probe into the second Yukos case has been assigned to check reports that the verdict in the case was...

2 Parties Challenge Putin's New Front

The Communist and Just Russia parties are creating organizations to counter Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's All-Russia People's Front ahead of State...

Defense Minister Vows Not to Draft Postgraduate Students

Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov promised Wednesday not to draft postgraduate students into the army after a group of students who fell victim of a...

Politkovskaya's Suspected Killer Held

The Chechen man accused of trailing reporter Anna Politkovskaya into her apartment building late one Saturday afternoon and shooting her in the head...

Court Sees No Politics in Khodorkovsky Arrest

The European Court of Human Rights on Tuesday rejected former Yukos CEO Mikhail Khodorkovsky’s claim that his 2003 arrest was politically motivated but...

Signaling Thaw, Khodorkovsky Pops Up on State TV

State-owned NTV television broadcast a prime-time report in which jailed former Yukos CEO Mikhail Khodorkovsky announced that he would seek parole, fueling...

Amnesty's Support for Ex-Yukos Owners Irks Moscow

The Foreign Ministry denounced Amnesty International's labeling of former Yukos owners Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Platon Lebedev as prisoners of conscience...

Khodorkovsky's Term Reduced by One Year

Dismay hung in the air of the packed courtroom Tuesday as the Moscow City Court rejected an appeal by Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Platon Lebedev over...

Mikhalkov Loses His Flashing Blue Light

Oscar-winning director Nikita Mikhalkov will have to navigate Moscow's traffic jams as a regular motorist now that he has lost his road privileges provided...

Ombudsman Wants Katyn Classified as Political Purge

Ombudsman Vladimir Lukin has called for the government to acknowledge that 22,000 Poles executed in Katyn forest and elsewhere by Josef Stalin's henchmen...

Mironov Stripped of Perks, Vows to Fight

Ousted Federation Council Speaker Sergei Mironov promoted his party as the sole opposition force in the country Thursday, but stopped short of criticizing...

Prosecutor Won't Let Ex-Employee Testify

The Prosecutor General's Office has barred a former prosecutor from striking a plea bargain with investigators in which he would testify against his...

Laughter Greets Khodorkovsky Delay

The Moscow City Court postponed an appeal over the sentence of jailed tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky — a decision that his supporters described as...

Oligarch Looks to Revamp Party

Billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov said Monday that he would lead Right Cause, the only party that has supported a second term for President Dmitry Medvedev...

Medvedev Questions Power Vertical

President Dmitry Medvedev made a series of statements Friday that could be construed as jabs at Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, although the phrasing was...

Parole Proposed for Jailed Entrepreneurs

The country's overcrowded prisons could release 15,000 inmates if the State Duma takes up a "business amnesty" proposed by the parliamentary opposition...

As Police Dismissals Mount, Hope Grows

Six senior regional police officers lost their jobs Tuesday in the latest round of Kremlin-ordered sackings at the Interior Ministry, giving some observers...

Record 20,000 Troops but No May 9 Jets

This year's Victory Day parade was graced with the presence of top state officials, veterans dressed in uniforms decorated with colorful ribbons and medals...

Poll Suggests Russia Is Europe’s Most Pious Nation

Russians are the most pious nation in Europe, most atheists are male, and Orthodox Christians outnumber Muslims overwhelmingly, according to two recent...

Medvedev Snubbing Beslan Mothers Talks

President Dmitry Medvedev at the last minute dodged a meeting with mothers who lost their children in the bloody Beslan crisis, possibly fearing that...

Body Found Near Missing Girl’s Village

Investigators said Tuesday that the body of a woman with a fractured skull has been found in the woods near Rodnik, a luxury village in the Moscow...

Gays, Eggs and Twitter at May Day Rallies

Gays crashed a Communist rally, ultranationalists protested migration and the president's Twitter account, the mayor got pelted with eggs, and hipsters...

Trial Over for 'Patriotic Bonnie and Clyde'

An ultranationalist couple was convicted Thursday of gunning down a rights lawyer and a journalist, the verdict ending a process fraught with accusations...

Magnitsky Cleared in State-Ordered Check

An independent commission carrying out a Kremlin-ordered inquiry into the death of Hermitage Capital lawyer Sergei Magnitsky has found that he was...

A Liquidator Searches for the Truth at Chernobyl 25 Years On

Twenty-five years ago, Alexander Glushchenko volunteered to join the "liquidators," an army of 600,000 who put their lives on the line to clean up...

On the Trail of a Deadly Chernobyl Killer

Lidiya Makarova spent most of her 69 years in a village within the contamination zone of the 1986 Chernobyl accident. But this month is the first...

The Day a Soviet Paradise Stood Still

Once built as the model of a perfect Soviet town, Pripyat is now the perfect model of undisturbed silence. Twenty-five years after Chernobyl, former...

New Video of Tax Official's $40M Fortune

Real estate in Dubai and Montenegro. Regular first-class travel. Millions of dollars in Swiss bank accounts. Russia's second-best country house. And all...

Outspoken Coach for Disabled Athletes Fired

After Russia's worst-ever Olympic performance in Vancouver last year, it was the paralympians who saved the day for Russian sports. But a year after...

Reporter Killings Give Way to Beatings, New Study Says

The trend in attacks on journalists changed in 2010, with murders giving place to savage beatings, but the overall situation remained dismal, according...

Putin Out-Earns Medvedev, Again

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's income rose last year to $180,000, again surpassing that of President Dmitry Medvedev but far behind the $13 million...

State Blamed in LiveJournal Attack

LiveJournal Russia, the country's main platform for uncensored political discussion, recovered Tuesday from its biggest-ever hacker attack — which...

Jailed Komi Whistleblower Fears for Life

A jailed whistleblower said he feared for his life after coming under pressure from prison officials to backtrack on accusations that investigators...

UN Staffer Saved by Lie in Afghan Massacre

In Russia, hardly anyone knows Pavel Yershov, a career diplomat with the UN's Afghan mission. But his name resonated worldwide after he emerged the sole...

'Spy Gadgets' Ruling Outlaws Cell Phones

Got a dictaphone? A cell phone with voice recording function — say, an iPhone? It's up to three years in jail for you, or a fine of 200,000 rubles...

Life to Get Harder for Expat Lawyers

Rules for foreign lawyers working in Russia are about to change — but only as a byproduct of a sweeping reform of the country's underregulated...

Umarov Charged in Airport Bombing

Investigators charged Chechen warlord Doku Umarov on Tuesday with masterminding the Domodedovo Airport bombing, even as media reports suggested that he...

Census Shows Population Fall of 1.6%

Russia's population is shrinking, women still outnumber men by millions, and villagers are abandoning their homesteads to move to urban areas, according...

United Russia Think Tank Urges Democratization, Pluralism

After President Dmitry Medvedev's think tank released a report criticizing Putin-era reforms, a think tank close to Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has...

Medvedev Vows Justice For Kashin

President Dmitry Medvedev announced on Thursday "progress" in the inquiry into the attack on Kommersant reporter Oleg Kashin and pledged to name...

Volunteer Bill Fights Fire With Red Tape

Summer 2010 remains in public memory as a season of calamity, when a record-breaking heat wave caused wildfires that blanketed central Russia in toxic...

Filmmaker Starts 'Demon-Banishing' Blog to Fight Critics

What do you do if you are an Oscar-winning movie director whose name is being dragged through the mud by irate bloggers convinced that you called the Japanese...

Pirate Party Refused Registration Over Name

In a bizarre twist, the Justice Ministry has failed to distinguish between sea rovers and copyright infringers by refusing to register the Russian...

U.S. Defense Secretary to Court Kremlin on Libya

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates will arrive on Monday for talks expected to be dominated by the launch of UN-sanctioned military strikes on Libya...

Extradition Manual Introduced

Rights groups presented on Thursday the first-ever guidebook for people facing unlawful extradition from Russia — which is known for its readiness...

Senator Seats, Political Loyalty Lure Tycoons to Polls

Among a motley crowd of 20,000 candidates to win seats in local legislatures nationwide last weekend were three prominent tycoons who had good, if...

United Russia Wins Regional Vote, But Unconvincingly

United Russia scored an unconvincing victory in Sunday's regional vote with an average 46 percent, leaving analysts in doubt about whether it could...

Turnout, Dirty Tricks 'Grow' at Regional Vote

Increased turnout and allegations of foul play were two hallmarks of the last big vote before State Duma vote in December, as almost 3,000 elections...

United Russia in Key Test for Votes

A nervous campaign that saw activists and politicians pelted with farm produce or beaten will culminate Sunday when over 3,000 regional elections will...

Muscovites World's No. 2 Online Flirts

Maybe Russia really is keeping up with state-of-the-art technology, as the Kremlin proposes — at least when it comes to flirting. A social networking...

New Threat as Caucasus Vigilantes Vow to Fight Back

Raising the specter of a new wave of violence, ordinary people weary of bloodshed in the North Caucasus have threatened to take up arms themselves...

Poet Fears Jail Over Manezh Riot Rhyme

A Moscow poet said he could face fines and even jail over charges of inciting ethnic hatred after being summoned to police headquarters Tuesday "for...

Police Win Right to Close Internet Sites

A new police law coming into force Tuesday will give officers the right to take down web sites without a court order, media reported — although...

'Patriarch's Dacha' Is Rumored by Activists

The blogosphere, still in uproar over reports of "Putin's Palace," went into a new frenzy after rumors hit the web of another posh mansion, this...

Criminal Punishment Sought for Businesses

Russia may introduce criminal punishment for legal entities, Investigative Committee head Alexander Bastrykin said Thursday, claiming that it is needed...

Muslim Headdresses Test Faith, Tolerance

After twin attacks by female suicide bombers killed 40 people in the Moscow metro last March, media reports warned that women sporting a Muslim headdress...

Assistant: Judge Was Pressured on Yukos

The Moscow judge who sentenced ex-Yukos head Mikhail Khodorkovsky and his business partner to jail in December was pressured and did not even write...

Medvedev Defends Dream of Unified Nation

Russia should not adopt the defeatist stance on multiculturalism voiced recently by top European leaders, even despite a surge in ethnic tensions...

Church Now Dabbling in Technology

While President Dmitry Medvedev is pushing the country toward his sacred goal of "modernization," the clergy has launched its own quest for new ways...

Doku Umarov Vows 'Year of Tears'

Notorious insurgent supremo Doku Umarov promised Russia a “year of blood and tears,” saying he has at his disposal 50 to 60 suicide bombers ready to...

Church Allows Some Clergy to Run for Office

Russian Orthodox clergy will be eligible to run for elections, though in “exceptional cases” only and without joining a political party, the council...

Ex-Ballerina Severs Ties With Party of Power

The affair between glamorous ex-ballerina Anastasia Volochkova and United Russia has ended in a scandal, as the former dancer resorted to angry expletives...

Putin Shares His Fitness Secrets With Supermodel

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has revealed his fitness secrets to supermodel Naomi Campbell and told her that he likes martial arts matches, admires the...

'Chechen Rebel's Brother' Held in Italy

A brother of Chechen rebel leader Doku Umarov was detained in Italy and faces extradition to Russia, Italian media said — although a mouthpiece for the...

Airport Bomber Targeted Foreigners

Foreigners were specifically targeted in the Domodedovo Airport bombing that killed 35 people, investigators said as they announced that they had identified...

At Davos, Medvedev Defends Yukos Trial

President Dmitry Medvedev compared jailed former Yukos CEO Mikhail Khodorkovsky to disgraced U.S. financier Bernie Madoff, an apparent attempt to present...

4 Police Officials Fired Over Domodedovo Bombing

President Dmitry Medvedev fired four police officials over the suicide bombing at Moscow's Domodedovo Airport that killed 35, while Prime Minister Vladimir...

Shock and Sadness, but No Panic

Muted Russian reaction to the suicide bombing at Domodedovo Airport suggests people are not easily shocked by terrorist attacks after decades of violence...

Blast Kills 34 at Domodedovo

A powerful explosion tore through the baggage claim area at the international arrivals hall of Moscow’s Domodedovo Airport on Monday, killing at least...

Norway Expels Migrant Celebrity

She managed to get a university degree, land a job and become citizen of the year in Norway. But this did not save 25-year-old Maria Amelie — born as...

Diplomats Fumble as Uzbekistan Jails Russian

Last summer, Russian authorities made a show of caring for its citizens, agreeing to a spy swap with the United States for 10 busted agents, including...

High School Revamp Stirs Fears

The draft of the new education reform, released to a blast of patriotic fanfare last month, is stirring up sharp criticism from opponents, who fear that...

10-Year Study Slams Police Crime Figures

The number of crimes in the country has grown drastically over the past decade, new research shows, debunking optimistic but unconvincing reports to the...

Khodorkovsky Lawyers Soldier On

Lawyers for jailed former Yukos CEO Mikhail Khodorkovsky vowed to press ahead on multiple fronts to contest charges against their client on Thursday, while...

'Cinderella' Sparks Time Zone Feud

Kamchatka region officials have come down hard on a theatrical performance based on Charles Perrault's 17th-century rendition of "Cinderella" after declaring...

Yukos Verdict Tests Balance of Ruling Tandem

President Dmitry Medvedev, who publicly scolded Prime Minister Vladimir Putin for declaring that Mikhail Khodorkovsky belonged in jail two weeks before...

Gref's Words Didn't Help Khodorkovsky

The Foreign Ministry accused the West on Tuesday of pressuring its courts over the trial of Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Platon Lebedev, as the judge dismissed...

Khodorkovsky Guilty, Plans Appeal

A Moscow district court judge dashed hopes for a liberalization of the country's judicial climate Monday as he found former Yukos boss Mikhail Khodorkovsky...

Interpol Warns of Rise in Marriage Scams

The head of Interpol's Russia office warned on Wednesday of a surge in marriage scams in which Russian women posing as potential brides trick Western men...

Officers Probed in Case Linked To Rioting

The Investigative Committee opened a criminal case against officials responsible for releasing suspects linked to the killing of an ethnic Russian that...

Doctor Fears Reprisals After Appeal

An Ivanovo doctor fears being fired or beaten after he told Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on a call-in show last week that a local hospital had faked a...

Putin Compares Khodorkovsky to Madoff

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has fueled new speculation about a personal vendetta against jailed former Yukos CEO Mikhail Khodorkovsky, saying the businessman...