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Growing Number of Russians Think State Has Failed in Duties to Citizens - Poll

The number of Russians who believe the state is failing in its duties to citizens has increased to 39 percent from 28 percent a year ago.

Russian Election Watchdog Fined as Part of 'Intimidation Campaign'

A Moscow city court has fined election monitoring group Golos 1.2 million rubles ($18,000) for failing to identify itself as a “foreign agent” on its...

Kremlin Apologises to German Newspaper, Goldman Sachs for Putin’s Statement

The Kremlin on Friday issued an apology to German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung and U.S. investment bank Goldman Sachs for false comments made by Russian...

Miss Russia Contestant From Dagestan Slammed for Swimsuit Photos

The head of the State Duma's ethnic affairs committee has denounced a “Miss Russia” beauty pageant contestant from the predominantly Muslim region...

New Report Slams 'Authoritarian' Russia and Former Soviet Nations

Seven of the 15 former Soviet countries have become “consolidated authoritarian regimes,” with Russian President Putin's “naked embrace of autocracy”...

60% of Russians Think Their Country Is World Leader in Space Exploration

As Russia marks Cosmonautics Day on Tuesday, six out of 10 Russians believe their country is the world's leader in space exploration — a sharp increase...

Yatsenyuk’s Resignation to Be Presented to Parliament on Tuesday

Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk on Sunday announced his resignation, blaming an “artificially created” political crisis and politicians'...

Putin: Obama 'Personally' Invited Russian President to Nuclear Summit

Vladimir Putin said U.S. President Barack Obama had “personally” invited him to attend the nuclear summit held in Washington last week, but he declined...

Russian School Introduces Single-Sex Education to 'Combat Female Emancipation'

A public school in Russia's southern Siberian Altai region has introduced separate education for boys and girls in an attempt to combat female “emancipation”...

Erdogan: Russia Backing Armenia in Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict

Turkish President Recep Erdogan on Wednesday accused Russia of siding with Armenia in the conflict with Azerbaijan over the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh...

Russian Prime Minister: Ukraine Has 'No Industry, or State'

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev denounced Ukraine as having “neither industry, nor a state,” according to remarks published Monday on the Cabinet...

Russia Increases Nuclear Warheads While U.S. Decreases Its Arsenal

Russia has continued to increase its arsenal of strategic warheads, although their number will have to be reduced to meet a 5-year-old arms reduction...

Stressed Circus Elephant Makes Mad Dash to Ukrainian Border

A circus elephant being trucked from Hungary to Belarus has escaped and fled into Ukraine, in what the driver said was an attempt to avoid the stressful...

U.S. Military Boosts European Presence in Light of 'Aggressive Russia'

The United States will boost its military presence in Eastern Europe early next year in an attempt to reassure allies that feel threatened by an “aggressive...

Northern Russia’s Lake Ladoga Islands Emit Dangerous Radiation Levels

Patches of the picturesque islands on Lake Ladoga in northwestern Russia emit radiation at hundreds of times above the normal levels, military-news portal...

Amnesty Proposed to Celebrate Russian State Duma Anniversary

Lawmakers from the Liberal Democratic Party have proposed amnestying 70,000 convicts to celebrate the 110th anniversary of Russia's legislature, independent...

Russian Karjakin to Compete in Chess World Championship Title Match

Grandmaster Sergei Karjakin will become the first Russian since 2008 to compete in a title match of the World Chess Federation (FIDE) championship, after...

Russia's Patriarch Kirill: Some Human Rights Are 'Heresy'

Head of the Russian Orthodox Church denounced as "heresy" those human rights that he said contradicted the Bible, and proclaimed fighting them the goal...

Police in Southern Russia Link Crime Increase to Ukraine Crisis

Police in southern Russia have raised concerns about an alleged increase in crime, including the smuggling of weapons and explosives from eastern Ukraine...

Russians Urged to Rally Behind Crimea Annexation

As Russian authorities gear up to celebrate the two-year anniversary of the “inevitable” annexation of Crimea, participants in commemoration rallies...

Dissernet Ranks Russian Universities According to Plagiarism

Russia's prominent Dissernet online group dedicated to exposing intellectual fraud has published a ranking of the nation's universities based on the frequency...

Kerry to Discuss Syria With Putin, Lavrov in Moscow

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said in official statements Tuesday that he would travel to Moscow next week to discuss the Syrian crisis with President...

Obama: ‘Putin is Not Completely Stupid’

Vladimir Putin wants to be seen as the peer of U.S. leaders and remains businesslike during top-level meetings, Barack Obama said in an interview published...

Russians Sending Significant Sums to Terrorist Groups – Financial Watchdog

Russian citizens are wiring substantial sums of money to terrorist groups that seek donations online to fight "infidels," the head of Russia's state...

Russian-Iranian S-300 Missile-Deal Reportedly Delayed

Russian officials conceded some problems with supplying S-300 missiles to Iran but maintained the deal was still in place, the Kommersant newspaper reported...

Five Detained in Moscow for Protesting Trial of Ukrainian Pilot Savchenko

Police detained five demonstrators who gathered near the Federal Security Service (FSB) headquarters in Moscow to protest Russia's trial against Ukrainian...

Russian Tennis Champion Sharapova Fails Drug Test

Russian tennis champion Maria Sharapova said Monday she had tested positive at Australian Open for a recently banned drug that she had been taking for...

Russian Communists Pay Homage to Stalin in Moscow

Russian Communists paid homage to Soviet dictator Josef Stalin to mark the anniversary of his death this weekend.

Russian Communist Party Removes Controversial Anti-Immigration Drawing From Website

Russia's Communist Party has removed from its website a drawing of a woman wearing a Muslim head covering and veil and holding a severed human head, after...

Child Murder Sparks Calls for Stricter Russian Immigration Rules

Russia's Communist Party has called for a curtailment of “illegal migration” to the country and illustrated its appeal by a drawing of a woman wearing...

Wives of Russian Governors, Lawmakers Top Forbes Rich List

The wives of two Russian regional governors and a State Duma lawmaker have topped the list of the richest spouses of the country's state officials, the...

UN Secretary-General: U.S.-Russian Brokered Partial Cease-Fire Largely Holding

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Tuesday the partial cease-fire brokered by Russia and the U.S. for Syria was largely holding, despite occasional...

Russian TV Silent Over Child Killed by Nanny in Moscow

The Kremlin has decided that some incidents in Russia are too incendiary to be shown on television.

Kerry: Obama Has 'Plan B' if U.S.-Russian Brokered Syrian Truce Fails

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Tuesday the White House has a “plan B” in place if a recent agreement with Russia on a cease-fire for Syria...

U.S., Russia Agree on Partial Cease-Fire in Syria

The new cease-fire deal agreed upon by Russia and the U.S. was deemed so momentous in Moscow that state-run Rossia-1 television network interrupted its...

Russian Politicians Ask Khodorkovsky for Endorsement As Elections Near

Former oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky's pro-democracy foundation has received dozens of requests from members of Russia's main political parties to endorse...

Putin and Obama Discuss Syria, Ukraine in Phone Call

U.S. President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed the crises in Syria and Ukraine during a phone conversation, the White House...

Russia's Medvedev: Syrian Conflict May Become 'Permanent War'

The conflict in Syria may escalate into a “permanent” war to last for decades, if peace talks were to collapse or if foreign countries tried to intervene...

Rally in Russia's Dagestan Against Arrest of Conservative Cleric

Police in Russia's North Caucasus republic of Dagestan dispersed a rally that protested the detention of an ultra-conservative Salafi mosque imam, who...

U.S. National Intelligence Director Says Russia Is Paranoid, Aggressive

Russia is “paranoid” about NATO and is likely to continue “aggressive” actions this year to support its claim to great power status, U.S. National...

Russian Foreign Ministry Accuses UN Secretary-General of Bias

The Russian Foreign Ministry has accused UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon of an anti-Moscow bias in his assessment of its actions in Syria, according to...

Police Pursue Drunk St. Petersburg Man Driving Armored Carrier

Police near St. Petersburg have pursued an armored personnel carrier along a road and through a field, eventually detaining its driver and a passenger...

Russian Security Officials Destroy Turkish Oranges in the North Caucasus

Russian security officials have seized nearly half a ton of oranges from vendors at a city market in the North Caucasus and destroyed the fruit, reasoning...

Moscow Resident Allegedly Murders Creditors' Representative

A Moscow resident faces murder charges for shooting and killing a representative of his creditors who had arrived at his apartment in the company of court...

Russian Schoolgirl Replaces Mandelshtam Poetry With Oxxxymiron Rap Lyrics

A schoolgirl in the Far East recited the lyrics of a Russian rap song in literature class, presenting them as the work of Soviet-era poet Osip Mandelshtam...

Instagram Removes Kadyrov’s Video of Russian Opposition in the Crosshairs

Instagram on Monday removed a video posted by the leader of Russia's republic of Chechnya that showed Russian opposition leaders in the crosshairs of a...

Russians Hold Irreverent Rally in Support of the Ruble

Activists in southern Russia held a rally billed as an action in support of the shrinking ruble, but intended as a tongue-in-cheek reminder to Russians...

Russian Region Mourns 3 Boys Killed by Hot Water

A city in Russia's far eastern Kamchatka region was holding a day of mourning Friday over the deaths of three elementary schoolchildren who fell into a...

Fewer Russians Think Country Is on the Right Track – Poll

The number of Russians who think their country is on the right track has shrunk to 45 percent of the population — the lowest in more than a year.

Article on Russian-Chechen Tensions Draws Chechen Ire

Chechnya's regional legislature has demanded an investigation for possible “extremism” into an article by a Russian political analyst who wrote that...

Russian Lawmaker Blames U.S. for Flu Epidemic

A State Duma lawmaker has blamed Russia's flu epidemic on the United States, and said he would ask government and security agencies to take “serious”...

Russian Air Strikes Kill Hundreds of Syrian Civilians Reports Say

Russian air strikes in Syria have killed 2,371 people — a third of them civilians, including 180 children – according to a tally released Wednesday...

Supreme Court Allows German Couple to Adopt Russian Child

Russia's Supreme Court has overturned a lower court's decision and allowed a German couple to adopt a Russian orphan with disabilities, the Kommersant...

Online Poll Names Putin 'Liar of the Year'

A Twitter user claiming to be head of the state-run news agency Rossia Segodnya deleted an online poll Sunday that named a “liar of the year,” after...

Russia's Protesting Truckers Send Critical Message to Putin

Russia's protesting truck drivers issued an acerbic video message to President Vladimir Putin on Constitution Day this weekend, saying citizens' wishes...

Russian Engineering University Expels Turkish Students

An engineering university in Russia has expelled a number of its Turkish students amid the growing rift between Moscow and Ankara over the downing of a...

Elderly Russian Opposition Activist Hospitalized After Court Sentence

A 76-year-old opposition activist standing trial for breaking Russian protest laws was hospitalized Thursday with heart problems, after a younger man...

Third Bengal Tiger Cub Dies of Cold in Crimea Blackout

The third white Bengal tiger cub has died in a Crimean zoo, amid a dispute between Russian authorities and the zoo's director over the confiscation...

No Turkish Fabric Means No Anti-Turkish T-shirts

Russian production of T-shirts with anti-Turkish slogans has been delayed by disruptions in fabric imports from Turkey, Russian media reports said Wednesday...

Putin Gives Sports Minister English Coursebook for Birthday

Russia's sports minister — whose attempts to speak English at international gatherings have produced such gems as "Let's me speak from my heart" —...

Ukrainian Militia Demands 50M Euros for Stolen Paintings

A nationalist militia in Ukraine has demanded 50 million euros for a haul of Dutch golden age paintings that were stolen from a museum in the Netherlands...

Russia Brings New Criminal Charges Against Khodorkovsky

Russia has brought new criminal charges against the exiled former oil tycoon turned political opposition figure Mikhail Khodorkovsky, sending an official...

Lawyer, Businessman Shumkov Found Dead in Moscow-City

A businessman and political activist who played a role in President Vladimir Putin's re-election campaign in 2012 and was named Russia's Lawyer of the...

Russia Is Not Planning More Turkey Sanctions - Minister

Russia does not plan to expand its economic sanctions against Turkey, but is unlikely to restore visa-free travel for Turkish citizens any time soon, Economic...

Cossacks Burn Effigies of Obama, Erdogan

Cossacks in southern Russia burned effigies of U.S. President Barack Obama and Turkish President Recep Erdogan, while rallying this weekend in support...

What's in a Name? Russia Replaces 'Islamic State' With 'Daesh'

The Kremlin administration appears to be retiring the term “Islamic State” when referring to the terror group, and replacing the militants' preferred...

Turkey May Slash Russian Gas Imports – Reuters

Turkey is considering slashing its import of Russian liquified petroleum gas (LPG) by as much as 25 percent next year — a plan that would hit a key Russian...

Zhirinovsky Wins Libel Case Against Gorbachev

Flamboyant Russian politician Vladimir Zhirinovsky has won a libel suit against former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev who had accused him in a book...

Russian Priest Accused of Killing Woman When Driving Drunk

The Russian Orthodox Church said it was suspending a priest accused of killing a woman in a drunk-driving accident Tuesday in northern Russia.

Russians Turn to Bartering in Economic Recession

An economic recession and soaring grocery prices have prompted Russians to go online to trade household items for food, with scores of websites facilitating...

Russian Exchange Students in Turkey Will Return Home

All Russian exchange students studying in Turkey will return home as soon as possible, the Education and Science Ministry announced on Tuesday, according...

Tiger and Goat Form Unlikely Friendship at Russian Zoo

A tiger and a goat have become unlikely friends at a zoo in Russia's far eastern Primorye region, astounding visitors by wandering together around the...

Russian President Putin to Give State of the Nation Address on Dec. 3

President Vladimir Putin will present his annual state of the nation address on Dec. 3, the Kremlin press office announced Monday.

Beloved Russian Film Director Ryazanov Dies at Age 88

One of Russia's most famed and beloved film directors, Eldar Ryazanov, has died in a Moscow hospital from heart failure, the TASS news agency reported...

Russian Minister: Security Concerns Justify Restricting Civil Rights

Russia's interior minister said restricting civil rights is justifiable if security considerations demand it, according to a television interview that...

Putin: Russia Ready to Cooperate With U.S. Coalition in Syria

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday his country is committed to cooperating with a U.S.-led coalition to fight the Islamic State terrorist group...

Russian Opposition Deputy Sues Pro-Kremlin TV for Libel

Russia's only State Duma deputy known for his support of the political opposition, Dmitry Gudkov, said Wednesday he is suing NTV television for libel over...

U.S. Sanctions Russians With Financial Ties to Syrian Regime

The U.S. Treasury Department on Wednesday announced sanctions against a Russian businessman who heads the World Chess Federation, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, accusing...

Russian Official Proposes Revoking 'Irrelevant' International Agreements

The powerful head of the Investigative Committee proposed revoking international agreements that Russia deems contrary to its interests, media reports...

Russian Republic Blocks Access to Charlie Hebdo Twitter Feed

A city court in Russia's predominantly Muslim republic of Chechnya has blocked access to the Twitter account of the French satirical newspaper Charlie...

Putin: Russian Military to Remain in Caspian Sea Despite Region's Unease

President Putin said the Russian military would continue to use the Caspian Sea to launch attacks against Islamic State “for as long as necessary,”...

Hagel: Russia, U.S. Must Fight Islamic State Together

Former U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel called for including Russia in a consolidated global battle against Islamic State, and suggested putting aside...

Ukraine Rebuffs Putin’s Offer to Restructure Russian Debt

Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk has rejected Russia's restructuring proposal for the repayment of Kiev's eurobond debt, and said the “aggressor...

Russian Prosecutor Blames Tajik Baby Death on 'Damp'

The shack that housed a Tajik family whose 5-month-son died while the mother was held in police custody was “unsuitable for living,” Russian prosecutors...

U.S. Diplomats Edit Comically Inept Fake Letter

The U.S. Embassy in Moscow has mocked the pro-Kremlin daily Izvestia for using fake letters in the newspaper's attempt to illustrate what it cast as an...

Russia Increases Pressure on Islamic State in Syria

Strategic bombers belonging to the Russian air force have conducted bombings and rocket strikes on Islamic State positions, Russian Defense Minister...

Kadyrov Says 480 Chechens Have Joined Islamic State

Nearly 500 Chechens have joined the Islamic State terrorist organization, the head of Russia's mainly Muslim North Caucasus republic of Chechnya Ramzan...

Russia to Get 21st-Century Version of Kids' Pioneers Organization

President Vladimir Putin has ordered the creation of a schoolchildren's movement aimed at promoting national values and apparently modeled on the Soviet...

Russian Justice Ministry Proposes Further Checks to 'Foreign Agent' NGOs

The Justice Ministry has proposed legal amendments that would set a procedure for the government to shut down nongovernmental organizations deemed “foreign...

Free Syrian Army Groups Deny Reports of Moscow Visit

The Russian Foreign Ministry on Monday said it had hosted several delegations from the Western-backed Free Syrian Army, but representatives of the opposition...

Darth Vader Sculpture Replaces Soviet Leader Lenin in Ukraine's Odessa

A statue of Bolshevik revolutionary Vladimir Lenin in Ukraine's Odessa has been converted into a monument to Darth Vader — the city's response to a...

'Sadists' Law' Granted Preliminary Approval by Russia's Parliament

Russia's parliament has granted preliminary approval to a bill, dubbed “sadists’ law” by critics, which details the acceptable use of physical force...

Parents Ask Moscow School to Remove Girl With Down Syndrome From Yearbook

A Moscow school has allegedly moved to edit a girl with Down syndrome out of its yearbook, after several parents complained that her picture ruined the...

Poroshenko Pressures TV Channel to Keep Putin Handshake Off-Air

A Ukrainian television channel has published a statement by its former producer, claiming officials from President Petro Poroshenko's administration banned...

Zombies Hazardous to Russian Children's 'Spiritual' Health – Human Rights Official

A senior human rights official in the presidential administration has called for an evaluation of toys sold in Russia's stores, claiming that many are...

Russian Elderly to Receive Firewood Via Crowdfunding, Not Government Subsidies

Activists in Russia are collecting money to buy firewood to heat the homes of impoverished villagers who may otherwise struggle to get though the upcoming...

Ukraine's Foreign Minister: MH17 Investigation May Again Request UN Tribunal

Countries seeking to prosecute those responsible for the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 over eastern Ukraine may once again ask the UN Security...

Moscow 'Patriot' Rally Draws Dozens Not Thousands of Participants

A Russian television channel reported that thousands of people gathered in Moscow for a rally strengthening “patriotism” — but the rally never took...

Russian Prosecution Witnesses Identified Savchenko Sight Unseen

Witnesses for the prosecution in Russia's trial against Ukrainian pilot Nadezhda Savchenko have claimed to identify the defendant despite being unable...

Russian Investigative Committee Opens Criminal Case Against Putin Accuser

Russia's Investigative Committee has opened a criminal case on charges of appeals for "terrorism" against an adviser to Ukraine's interior minister...