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FLEX Students Return Energized and Inspired for Change

For Ivan Chesnokov's 18th birthday, his mother and stepfather redecorated his room in floor-to-ceiling posters of a fluttering American flag and the...

U.S. and Russia Sign New Anti-Proliferation Deal

Russia and the United States have a signed a bilateral agreement for protecting, controlling, and accounting for nuclear materials, continuing important...

Prokhorov to Skip Mayoral Election

Citing problems with transferring his foreign assets to Russia, billionaire businessman Mikhail Prokhorov announced Thursday that he would not run for...

Anti-Gay Propaganda Bill Passed in 436-0 Vote

The State Duma has unanimously passed a bill introducing stiff fines for portraying homosexuality in a positive light to children, a move LGBT activists...

News of Putins' Divorce Met With Shrugs

Ordinary Russians reacted with a mix of compassion, skepticism and indifference to Thursday's announcement that President Vladimir Putin and his wife...

Thousands Evacuated After Metro Tunnel Fire

Thousands of passengers were evacuated from two metro stations in downtown Moscow during rush hour on Wednesday morning after an electrical fire sent smoke...

Sobyanin Calls for Early Mayoral Vote

Mayor Sergei Sobyanin will ask President Vladimir Putin to declare early mayoral elections, the first in Moscow since 2003, in a move analysts said...

U.S. Congressmen Meet With FSB About Boston Bombing

They say there is no one thing that could've been done to stop the Boston bombing.

Guriyev Exit Renews Brain Drain Fears

Reports that prominent, liberal economist Sergei Guriyev has fled to France under pressure from investigators appeared to send shockwaves through Russia's...

Top Investigator Alleges Pro-Pedophilia Lobby

The existence of a powerful pro-pedophilia lobby within the government explains why adults who sexually abuse children tend to receive light sentences...

Foreigners Helping to Secure Olympics

A senior Border Guards Service official on Monday moved to calm fears about security at the upcoming Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, telling reporters...

Surkov Replaced by Trusty Technocrat

The veteran foreign policy advisor will be in charge of organizing a government that has repeatedly been accused of poor work recently.

European Rights Watchdog to Expand in Russia

The Council of Europe, the continent's oldest human rights organization, has announced an agreement to upgrade its Russian office, a sign that Russia...

Pakistan Roots Seen in Moscow Terror Plot

Suspected militants targeted this week in a deadly raid outside Moscow as they purportedly plotted an attack on the city received training in the troublesome...

Kremlin Faces Barbs From All Sides on Human Rights

Russia is facing a renewed barrage of international criticism, led by the European Union, over its human rights record in connection with an ongoing...

Orphan Abuse Case Prompts Call for Public Oversight

An online video that appeared to show teenage girls savagely beating younger pupils at a remote Siberian boarding school for orphans has sparked a criminal...

Russia Downplays U.S. Spy Scandal

Senior Russian officials on Wednesday downplayed the capture and release of an alleged U.S. spy, suggesting that while the incident won't help already...

'We Haven't Forgotten You,' U.S. Parents Tell Russian Orphans

"We miss your smile every day, and we want you to know that we haven't forgotten about you," a group of Americans have written in an open letter to the...

Netanyahu in Russia for Urgent Syria Talks

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to urge President Vladimir Putin to nix planned deliveries of sophisticated ground-to-air missile...

Kremlin Gifted Obama a State-Made DVD About His Life

A U.S. accounting of the gifts presented to U.S. leaders shows that Russians tend toward more traditional and modest offerings compared with some world...

More Ballet Trouble: Ex-Ballerina Volochkova Robbed

Robbers stole two safes and attacked the domestic help at the home of former Bolshoi ballerina Anastasia Volochkova in northern Moscow. Her young daughter...

More Questions Than Answers in Psych Ward Fire

President Vladimir Putin called Friday morning's deadly blaze at a Moscow region psychiatric hospital a "major tragedy" and ordered government ministries...

In Marathon Show, Putin Pledges to Stay the Course

The president says that despite sluggish growth and reliance on natural resources, basic economic policies will not change.

NGOs: Crackdown on Civil Society 'Unprecedented'

Since Vladimir Putin's return to the presidency in May, civil society has been the target of a government crackdown whose scale and severity is unprecedented...

Lavrov Chastises West Over Syria Weapons

Russia has accused Britain and France of throwing a political wrench in the wheels of a proposal to send United Nations inspectors to investigate...

Boston Bombing Seen as U.S.-Russian Intelligence Failure

Revelations that Moscow alerted Washington in early 2011 to suspicious behavior by one of the Boston Marathon bombing suspects, but did not provide...

Skolkovo Executive Linked to Payments to Opposition Lawmaker

Investigators have accused a top manager at the government's flagship Skolkovo Foundation of making $750,000 in improper payments to a State Duma deputy...

New Charge Makes Five Against Navalny

A day after opposition leader Alexei Navalny's landmark embezzlement trial kicked off in Kirov, investigators slapped the Kremlin foe with yet another...

Navalny Trial Adjourned For a Week

The politically charged trial of opposition leader Alexei Navalny opened Wednesday morning in Kirov, only to be adjourned 40 minutes later when the judge...

United Russia Boasts Highest 2012 Earners

For the second year in a row, United Russia’s Grigory Anikeyev topped the State Duma’s earnings list, raking in a whopping 1.1 billion rubles ($35...

Navalny's Taunts Led to 'Speedy' Investigation

Days before the much-anticipated trial of opposition leader Alexei Navalny is scheduled to begin, an Investigative Committee spokesman has suggested...

'Quality Issues' Led to Work-and-Travel Visa Crunch

Concerns about safety and health are behind record visa refusal rates for Russian students applying to work and travel in the U.S. this summer, a U.S....

Russia Seen as Powerless to Influence Pyongyang

The White House has urged Moscow to do more to restrain saber-rattling North Korea, but despite historically strong ties with its nuclear-armed neighbor...

Udaltsov Ally Confesses to Plotting Revolts

A close ally of opposition leader Sergei Udaltsov has confirmed the authenticity of a video clip that purportedly shows Udaltsov and two other leftist...

Putin Approves Ban on Foul Language in Media

President Vladimir Putin has signed into law a bill that introduces fines of up to 200,000 rubles ($6,000) for media outlets that use foul language, the...

U.S. Embassy Slams Door on Student Workers

Without warning or explanation, the U.S. Embassy in Moscow has rejected an unprecedented percentage of Russian university students applying for visas...

Putin Ramps Up Declaration Requirements

President Vladimir Putin has expanded declaration requirements for more than 1.3 million state employees and given the Kremlin the power to demand...

Putin Borrows From Soviet Union on Social Justice

President Vladimir Putin described the Soviet Union as a land of opportunity and called for two Soviet relics, mandatory school uniforms and the...

NGO Checks 'Unprecedented' in Post-Soviet Russia

The Moscow Helsinki Group, Russia's oldest human rights organization, on Thursday became the latest NGO inspected in a massive government campaign...

Independent Poll Workers Highly Concentrated in Moscow

Unprecedented numbers of independent poll workers will help ensure clean elections in Moscow and St. Petersburg through 2018, a group of leading vote...

'Berezovsky Was a Scapegoat and a Criminal'

"Is Boris Berezovsky the godfather of Russia's godfathers? It sure looks that way," Russian-American journalist Paul Klebnikov wrote in an article published...

Oil and Gas to Dominate Xi's Visit

Newly minted Chinese President Xi Jinping is expected to push for increased oil and gas supplies from Russia and reaffirm warm bilateral ties on a...

U.S. 'Concerned' About NGO Inspections

The U.S. Embassy in Moscow has expressed "great concern" about reports that government inspectors have recently searched hundreds of non-governmental...

Golodets: 118,000 Orphans in State Care

There are about 118,000 orphans in Russian state care, and the number of domestic adoptions fell from 2011 to 2012, senior government officials told...

Hundreds of NGOs Checked for Foreign Agents, Extremism

Acting on instructions from the Prosecutor General's Office, government inspectors in at least nine Russian regions have conducted hundreds of unannounced...

Editor and Deputy Trade Blows Over 'Insulting' Article

A highly public spat between a prominent lawmaker and a well-connected newspaperman about "political prostitution" and threats against journalists...

Activist Strip-Searched at St. Petersburg Airport

A prominent opposition-linked activist and two others were detained, threatened and strip-searched at Pulkovo Airport in St. Petersburg late Thursday after...

Russian Catholics Greet New Pope With Open Arms

Russia's small Catholic community greeted the election of Pope Francis with elation and hopes that the new pontiff will continue to improve ties with...

Scandal Hits Duma Anti-Graft Chief

Irina Yarovaya, head of the State Duma's powerful Anti-Corruption and Security Committee, on Monday became the latest United Russia deputy to face...

Local Self-Government Flounders in Obscurity

Two municipal deputies picketed outside the Moscow City Duma last month, but nobody seemed to notice. Few passers-by stopped to ask what their handmade...

Russian Journalist Gets U.S. Award for Courage

A top Russian investigative journalist who has covered extrajudicial kidnappings in the North Caucasus and the killings of fellow journalists will...

Stalin Lives On, 60 Years After Death

Yury Fidelgoltz, a Stalin-era gulag survivor, has an answer ready when he hears people pine for the “good old days” under Uncle Joe.

Braving Cold, Thousands March for and Against the Kremlin

Ignoring snow flurries and a sharp drop in the temperature, thousands of people hit Moscow’s streets Saturday for the first major political marches in...

Adopted Boy's U.S. Death Inquiry Rejected

Russia does not accept the conclusions of U.S. experts that the death of a 3-year-old adopted Russian boy in Texas in January was accidental, the Foreign...

Mass Demonstrations Set for Saturday

Tens of thousands of protesters and thousands more law enforcement officers are expected in central Moscow on Saturday afternoon for two marches...

Astakhov: 'Pedophiles' Want My Resignation Most

The official at the center of Russia's controversial ban on U.S. adoptions struck back at critics Thursday, saying that "pedophiles" were his most...

Latest Case Opened into U.S. Adoptee Death

Investigators have opened a murder case into the death of a 9-year-old Russian boy in the care of a U.S. family, the Investigative Committee said...

A Just Russia Might Sanction Gudkovs

Gennady and Dmitry Gudkov will lose their leadership positions within the oppositional A Just Russia party for rejecting an ultimatum to quit the protest...

McFaul Slams 'Sensational Exploitation' of Orphan's Death

U.S. Ambassador Michael McFaul has condemned "sensational exploitations" of the recent death of a Russian toddler in the United States and said he...

Russian Orphan Was 'Found Unresponsive'

The U.S. adoptive mother of a Russian boy, whose death sparked an ongoing war of words between Russia and the United States, told investigators that...

Children's Ombudsman Urges Return of Dead Orphan's Brother

Days after the death of an adopted Russian boy in the United States sparked outrage among lawmakers and senior officials, the Russia's children's...

Latest Orphan Death Sparks Official Furor

With striking unanimity and furor, senior officials and lawmakers on Tuesday condemned the latest death of an adopted Russian child in the United...

Meteor Shockwave Rocks RuNet

The 10-ton meteorite that lit up the sky over the Urals region, smashing windows and spooking locals, sent a shockwave of an entirely different kind through...

Ethics Chief Asks for Timeout After 'Exposure'

State Duma Deputy Vladimir Pekhtin asked to be temporarily relieved of his duties as chairman of the Duma's Credentials and Ethics Commission until...

U.S. Begins Push for New Arms Cuts

President Barack Obama's pledge to pursue new cuts to the U.S. and Russian nuclear arsenals appeared to be under way Wednesday, with the State Department's...

Duma Passes No Smoking Bill, Ban Likely June 1

The State Duma on Tuesday overwhelmingly passed a wide-ranging anti-smoking bill that would ban lighting up in almost all public places and practically...

Kremlin Backs Youth Politics With Reformed Nashi

Nashi, the controversial pro-Kremlin youth group known for fierce campaigns against government critics at home and abroad, will be split into several...

Gay Marriage Threatens Adoptions to Britain, France

Adoptive parents in France and Britain could find it more difficult to adopt Russian orphans now that parliaments in both countries have approved same-sex...

Smut-Free Web Evokes Censorship Fears

The government's plans to protect children from harmful online content are causing increasing alarm among anti-censorship activists, who see one region's...

Thrill-Seeking Russian Judge Wounded in Syria

That very nearly describes Sergei Berezhnoi, a 57-year-old arbitration court judge in Belgorod who traveled to Syria last week to observe the country's...

Russians Not Lining Up to Adopt Americans

When the now-infamous ban on U.S. adoptions was first introduced in the State Duma in mid-December, some Russians suggested that a more appropriate...

Investigators Raid Kirov Governor's Office

In an unprecedented assault on a sitting regional leader, masked officers on Tuesday raided the office of Kirov Governor Nikita Belykh, once an outspoken...

Russia Is Sued Over U.S. Adoptions Ban

Four American families affected by a new ban on U.S. adoptions have appealed to the European Court of Human Rights, complaining that the law, which...

Forest Defender Stabbed in Moscow Region

A State Duma deputy's assistant and local lawmaker who battled development in Moscow region forestland is in critical condition after being stabbed...

Bill to Limit Gubernatorial Elections Approved

State Duma deputies on Wednesday overwhelming passed in its first reading a bill that would give regional assemblies the right to abolish direct elections...

Supreme Court Orders Final U.S. Adoptions Carried Out

The Supreme Court has instructed lower courts to allow orphans adopted by Americans to be permitted to join their new families in cases where the legal...

Vote Watchdogs Urge Activists to Become Elections Officials

A presidential election in Russia isn't scheduled for another five years, but the people who will run the polling stations and count the ballots...

NTV Expos Alleges Anti-Church Campaign

State-controlled NTV television on Sunday aired its latest documentary-style film targeting prominent opposition figures, this time for allegedly being...

Opposition Figures' Legal Woes Mount

Two opposition figures saw their legal troubles mount on Friday, as investigators pressed ahead with an embezzlement charge against protest leader Alexei...

Ombudsman's Plans for Orphans Slammed

Experts sharply criticized children’s ombudsman Pavel Astakhov’s proposals Thursday to create an orphan agency and inspect orphanages in Moscow, measures...

Duma Bill To Clamp Down on NGOs

Amid the public furor over the State Duma's proposed ban on U.S. adoptions, many seem to have overlooked the fact that the so-called "anti-Magnitsky...

Russian Students Astonished by U.S. Holiday Cheer

Many travelers have pined for home during the holiday season. It's the lucky exception who, finding himself in company of new friends, realizes that...

Adoption Ban Advances in the Duma

Despite intense criticism from the public and senior officials, State Duma deputies on Wednesday overwhelmingly approved measures that would ban U.S...

Adoption Ban Faces Wave of Criticism

A growing chorus of senior government officials and ordinary citizens have publicly denounced a ban on U.S. adoptions proposed by pro-Kremlin State...

Retaliatory Ban of U.S. Adoptions Proposed

State Duma deputies stepped up Russia's retaliatory response to the so-called Magnitsky Act on Monday by introducing a measure that would ban U.S....

Soul-Searching Starts After Puny Rally

Hundreds of protesters braved subfreezing temperatures and the threat of detention on Saturday to voice a wide range of grievances against President Vladimir...

Georgian Organized Clashes, Investigators Say

On the eve of the next major anti-government protest, investigators announced that they had evidence that a Georgian politician helped organize violent...

American Throat Singer Takes Tyvans to Moscow

Sean Quirk was a college student in Minnesota when he first heard Tyvan throat singing, the hypnotic, multipitch singing technique native to the southern...

Plea Bargain Upheld in Politkovskaya Case

A Moscow judge upheld a controversial plea bargain that could complicate efforts to determine who ordered the killing of Novaya Gazeta journalist Anna...

Activists' Homes Searched in Riots Case

Investigators searched the apartments of three opposition activists Tuesday in connection with a criminal case into an alleged plot by top protest...

U.S. Report: Russia Drags Behind Developing Peers

To maintain its role in the world, Russia will need to diversify its economy, improve opportunities for foreign investment and exports, as well as...

Duma Deputies Strike Back Over Magnitsky Act

In a widely expected response to the passage of the U.S. Magnitsky Act, State Duma deputies on Monday introduced a bill that would make Americans...

Magnitsky Bill Likely to Reopen Old Wounds

Historical mistrust and relatively weak trade links could amplify the Magnitsky Act's damage to U.S.-Russian relations, although Washington will likely...

Year After First Protest, Future of Movement Uncertain

One year ago Wednesday, tens of thousands of protesters filled Chistiye Prudy, a leafy park in downtown Moscow, in a spontaneous protest against State...

In Istanbul, Putin Slams Missile Plan

President Vladimir Putin used his first known trip in almost two months to boost economic ties with Turkey and slam a NATO plan to place surface-to-air...

Prison Revolt Yields More Questions Than Answers

There were either 250 participants or about 1,000. They demanded improved conditions or nothing at all. Their protest was plotted by criminal masterminds...

Russia Sidelined in Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

Among members of the Middle East Quartet, Russia enjoys perhaps the warmest relationship with Hamas, the radical Islamist party that controls the Gaza...

Chelyabinsk Prison Revolt Ends With Calls for Reform

A revolt at a maximum security prison in the Chelyabinsk region by prisoners complaining of corruption and abuse has ended, regional prison officials...

Medvedev: Russia Will Stay Neutral on Syria

Russia will stay neutral on the Syrian civil war but continue to honor arms contracts with President Bashar Assad's regime, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev...

Amid Crackdown on NGOs, U.S. Group Moves Staff Out of Russia

The National Democratic Institute, or NDI, a U.S. based nonprofit that promotes democratic development, has moved its Russia country director and other...