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Protesters Storm Buildings in Ukraine as West Ponders Next Move

A day after European Union leaders met to discuss taking a firmer line on Russia over its annexation of Ukraine's Crimea region, pro-Russian demonstrators...

NASA Hit by U.S.-Russia Ukraine Spat

Space cooperation takes a hit over the crisis as NASA was added to the U.S. list of entities forbidden of cooperating with Russian agencies, and a Russian...

St. Pete Organization Adopts Baby Crocodile

A baby African crocodile discovered in a St. Petersburg yard in early March may be adopted by organizations tied to the local government, the head...

Dozhd Gets 50-Day Lifeline After Telethon

Independent television channel Dozhd has extended its operation for at least 50 days in a fundraising campaign launched to save the channel after major...

Kerry and Lavrov Meet on Ukraine

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov were set to meet late Sunday as Russia sought to play down Western fears...

Dozhd Fights to Save Independent Reporting

While most international media attention is focused on Russia's actions in Crimea and the fate of Ukraine, the fate of one of Russia's only remaining...

NATO Alarmed by Russian Troops After Crimea Annexation

As President Vladimir Putin finalized the annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea and Sevastopol to Russia on Friday, European officials voiced concerns that...

U.S. Goes After Putin Allies, 'Key Sectors' of Economy

As Russia's State Duma on Thursday ratified the annexation of Crimea and the Black Sea port of Sevastopol to Russia, the U.S. kept good on a promise...

To Be Russian, or Not to Be Russian? Crimea Residents to Decide on Citizenship

Among the many thorny issues facing Crimea's residents following Russia's annexation of the region this week is whether or not to become citizens of their...

Russia Not Planning Sanctions Against Western Officials, Rogozin Says

Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin denied Tuesday that Russia was contemplating sanctions against U.S. and European officials to retaliate for banking...

U.S. and EU Impose Sanctions Over Kremlin Actions in Ukraine

The European Union and the U.S. on Monday imposed travel bans and asset freezes on more than a dozen Russian and Crimean officials involved in staging...

Russia Refuses to Budge Despite Warnings

Russia has blocked the United Nations Security Council from declaring invalid Sunday's referendum on the fate of Ukraine's pro-Russian region of Crimea...

Janitors Find Baby African Crocodile in St. Petersburg

St. Petersburg janitors have discovered a baby African crocodile beside garbage cans in a local yard.

Russia Preparing Response to U.S. and EU Sanctions

The Federation Council is drawing up a bill that would allow the government to confiscate the property of U.S. and European companies in the event of Western...

Journalist Organizations Urge End to Harassment of Media in Crimea

International media rights advocates say independent journalists are getting attacked and harassed while trying to cover events in the autonomous republic...

Russia's Move to Send Troops to Ukraine Spurs Talk of War

Russian lawmakers have given President Vladimir Putin the go-ahead to use Russian troops in Ukraine, a move that has thrown the international community...

RIA Novosti Employees Await Word on Fate of News Agency

Less than two weeks ahead of the deadline set by the Kremlin for the abolishment of major state-funded news agency RIA Novosti, its employees say they...

Bolotnoye Suspects Get Prison Time

A Moscow court on Monday issued seven prison terms and one suspended sentence in the high-profile Bolotnoye case over alleged anti-Kremlin riots in May...

Russia: Don't Trust Ukraine's Opposition

Russian officials have warned that the political opposition that has taken power in Ukraine consists of "illegal extremist groups" that do not represent...

Bolotnoye Case Sentences to Come Monday

A Moscow court on Friday convicted eight people of participating in riots and violence against police at an opposition protest on Bolotnaya Ploshchad...

Critics Fear Post-Sochi Crackdown (Video)

With three days to go until the Winter Olympics in Sochi draw to a close, fears are growing among many Russians that the apparent tolerance of President...

Udaltsov and Razvozzhayev Riot Trial Begins

Opposition leader Sergei Udaltsov and his aide Leonid Razvozzhayev appeared in court Tuesday to face charges of staging riots at an anti-Kremlin protest...

Experts Warn of Increase in Ethnically Motivated Attacks

Russia has seen an increase in violence motivated by ethnic hatred and physical attacks on the LGBT community in the past year, experts said Thursday...

Ryzhkov Quits RPR-Parnas Opposition Party

A leader of Russia's main liberal opposition party, RPR-Parnas, quit over the weekend with a group of senior supporters in a move that some say could...

Rescuers Catch Condemned Sochi Dogs and Bring Them to Moscow (Video)

Three well-groomed mongrels follow Igor Ayrapetyan, 41, around his home in the Moscow region, wagging their tails and jumping to lick his face.

Prosecutors Initiate Check of Dozhd TV

Prosecutors on Thursday said they were examining embattled Dozhd television for possible extremism charges related to a viewer poll about World War...

Cable Providers Drop Independent Dozhd TV Amid Pressure

A wave of intense political pressure on opposition-leaning Dozhd television, the country's most prominent privately owned television outlet, resulted...

Khodorkovsky Partner Lebedev Walks Free, Hints at 'Surprise'

Platon Lebedev, the one-time business partner of former Yukos owner Mikhail Khodorkovsky, walked free on Friday night from a penal colony in northwestern...

Environmental Groups Lobby for Jailed Activist Ahead of Games

Four high-profile environmental and human rights groups held a news conference Wednesday in a bid to help a jailed activist who criticized construction...

Human Rights Watch Slams Sochi 'Abuses'

Leading international rights group Human Rights Watch on Tuesday accused Russian authorities of committing numerous abuses in their preparations for the...

Domestic Adoptions Policy Showing Results, Astakhov Says

The number of Russian orphans and abandoned children has dropped from 140,000 to a little under 107,000 in the past five years, due to state policies...

Putin Hits Back at Critics of Olympics

President Vladimir Putin on Friday said there would be no discrimination against gay athletes at the Sochi Olympics and apparently sought to dispel...

Duma Considers Anti-Terrorism Bill for Online Payments

The State Duma will consider a package of anti-terrorism bills that would oblige websites to inform authorities about its users and restrict anonymous...

Spring Duma Session Aims To Revive Economy

The State Duma in the coming months will focus on legislation that will provide "stability" for businesses at a time of "extremely challenging" economic...

U.S. Cautions Sochi Travelers Amid Threats

The U.S. State Department has issued a travel alert for Americans traveling to Sochi for the Winter Olympics and Paralympics as security threats...

5 Things You Didn't Know About Kalashnikov (Photo Essay)

Everyone remembers Mikhail Kalashnikov as the designer of the world-famous AK-47 assault rifle that bears his name. But here are five facts about Kalashnikov...

Pussy Riot Members Slam Amnesty That Freed Them

Two Pussy Riot members were released from prison on Monday under President Vladimir Putin's amnesty, but both derided the move as a PR stunt ahead of the...

Khodorkovsky Says No Plans to Return to Russia

Former oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who was released Friday after a presidential decree ended his 10 years of imprisonment, said from Germany on Sunday...

4 Bolotnoye Suspects Released on Amnesty, Pussy Riot Waits

A Moscow court released on amnesty four defendants in the so-called Bolotnoye case, while people targeted in other high-profile criminal cases, including...

There Were No Bolotnaya Riots, International Experts Say

An international public commission declared Wednesday that there were no "riots" at the May 2012 opposition protest on Bolotnaya Ploshchad in Moscow...

Krasnoyarsk Governor Attacked and Robbed in French Villa

Two masked burglars stole jewelry worth 200,000 euros ($275,000) from a Siberian governor's French villa over the weekend, lightly wounding the governor...

Check Reveals Violations in University Dismissals

Federal labor inspectors say numerous legal violations were uncovered in dismissals of Moscow State University professors, ostensibly linked to a Kremlin...

Golden Gun Interrupts State Duma Fistfight

A disagreement about a statue in a State Duma deputy's native republic of Chechnya led to two lawmakers from the ruling United Russia party getting involved...

Bolshoi Dancer Gets 6 Years for Acid Attack

Former Bolshoi Ballet dancer Pavel Dmitrichenko was found guilty on Tuesday and sentenced to six years in a high-security prison for last January's acid...

Former Prosecutor Details Violations in Magnitsky Case

A former senior federal prosecutor has accused her one-time colleagues of illegally intervening in the probe into the 2009 death of Hermitage Capital...

Giant Louis Vuitton Suitcase on Red Square Causes Outrage

A massive pavilion shaped like a Louis Vuitton suitcase that has been erected on Red Square for a suitcase exhibition has angered State Duma deputies...

Tsiskaridze Defends Suspect in Bolshoi Acid Attack in Court

Prominent ballet dancer Nikolai Tsiskaridze on Monday defended the suspected mastermind of the acid attack on the Bolshoi Ballet's artistic director...

Ukraine's Shift Toward Moscow Sparks Protests, Accusations

Russia and Lithuania traded accusations of blackmail and foul play over the weekend in an apparent tug-of-war over Ukraine, while tens of thousands...

Stavropol Prosecutors Seek to Ban Nabokov in Schools

Prosecutors in Stavropol region demand that schools dispose of books by revered early-20th-century poet Sergei Yesenin and author of the novel "Lolita...

Putin Meets for First Time With Nonparliamentary Opposition

President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday met with leaders of major nonparliamentary parties for the first time in his 13 years in power, to discuss...

Mizulina's Surrogacy Ban Idea Ridiculed

The latest idea of infamous State Duma Deputy Yelena Mizulina to ban surrogate motherhood for fear that it "threatens mankind with extinction" amused...

Nationalist Suspected in High-Profile Killings Extradited

Serbia has extradited a Russian nationalist leader to Moscow on charges of setting up a gang accused of committing at least a dozen high-profile...

Gay Activist Rejects Idea of Dutch Asylum

Russia's top gay rights activist has rejected the Dutch offer to grant asylum to harassed Russian gays, saying there is no mass discrimination against...

Two Local Officials Fired Over Biryulyovo Riots

Mayor Sergei Sobyanin has fired two district leaders in connection with the mid-October anti-migrant riots in Biryulyovo over the murder of a local...

Corruption Checks Result in 200 Firings

Some 200 officials, including eight unidentified senior officials, have been fired for "loss of confidence" over information in their income declarations...

Suspected Organizer of Bolshoi Acid Attack Pleads Not Guilty

Two defendants in the trial over the January acid attack on Bolshoi Ballet artistic director Sergei Filin, including the suspected organizer, pleaded...

Police Raid Giant Sadovod Market, Detain 1,000 Migrants

Police on Monday raided the sprawling Sadovod street market on the southeastern outskirts of Moscow, detaining about 1,000 migrants from former Soviet...

Mironov Regains Just Russia Chairmanship

A Just Russia reshuffled its leadership over the weekend, a move that analysts said signaled the party's desire to assuage some members' discontent...

New Way of Teaching History to Be Finalized by Next Month

Government officials, lawmakers and education officials will finalize changes to the way history is taught in schools by Nov. 1, State Duma Deputy...

Start of Bolshoi Attack Trial Draws Media Swarm

A Moscow court Tuesday postponed the first hearing in the trial of the three suspects in the January acid attack on Bolshoi Ballet artistic director...

FSB Seeking to Expand Online Surveillance

A draft government order may allow the Federal Security Service, or FSB, to access all Internet communications without court permission, a policy that...

Police to Raid Migrants' Apartments Every Friday

In the latest step by authorities to fight unlawful immigration following an anti-migrant riot earlier this month, the city's police chief said that...

Navalny Gets Suspended Sentence

A Kirov court Wednesday issued suspended sentences to opposition leader Alexei Navalny and his business partner Pyotr Ofitserov, in a move some analysts...

Terror Attack on Chemical Arms Facility Thwarted, Investigators Say

Law enforcement officers have prevented a bomb attack on a chemical weapons facility in the Kirov region, detaining two North Caucasus natives on suspicion...

380 Detained in Moscow Riot, Situation 'Stabilized'

Police have detained about 380 people while more than 20 were injured amid anti-migrant riots that broke out on Sunday in Moscow's southern district of...

Nobel Peace Prize Decision a Nod to Putin, Analysts Say

Senior Russian lawmakers and pundits have accused the Nobel Committee of bias for failing to grant this year's Nobel Peace Prize to President Vladimir...

Top Clinic Denies Return to Soviet-Era Punitive Psychiatry

Russia's top psychiatric institution held an open house Wednesday in an attempt to popularize its work, amid speculation about a revival of Soviet-style...

Russia Seeks Answers In Diplomat 'Attack'

President Vladimir Putin and the Foreign Ministry demanded explanations from Dutch authorities Tuesday after reports surfaced that a Russian diplomat was...

Domestic Adoptions Expected to Double

Ten months after the government banned adoptions of Russian children by U.S. citizens, authorities say the number of children adopted domestically...

Only One Russian University Makes Latest World Rankings

Russian universities have fallen on a renowned list of the world's top 400 universities to be published Thursday, with the country's most famous school...

Fall Military Draft Begins With Warnings of Hazing

The Defense Ministry is expected to call up about 150,000 young men for military service during the fall draft that begins Tuesday, amid contradictory...

Russia Sees Victory in UN Syria Resolution

The UN Security Council late Friday unanimously adopted a resolution obliging Damascus to hand over its chemical weapons, though it requires another...

Despite U.S.-Russia Tensions, Visa Deal Called a Success

As U.S. and Russian officials enter the umpteenth month of wrangling over Syria, one of their last agreements is celebrating its first anniversary...

Greenpeace Activists Face Piracy Charges for Arctic Protest

At least 25 Greenpeace activists, most of them foreigners, face up to 15 years in prison on what many consider dubious piracy charges over a stunt...

Opposition's Council Left in Limbo

An alliance of Russia's nonparliamentary opposition that was formed at the peak of large-scale street protests in Moscow last year has seen an exodus...

Duma Passes Science Reform Bill in Final Reading

Federal lawmakers on Wednesday passed a controversial bill reforming the Russian Academy of Sciences in second and third readings while hundreds...

Duma to Consider Science Reform Amid Protest

The State Duma on Wednesday is set to review a controversial reform of the Russian Academy of Sciences in a key second reading amid a flurry of scandalous...

Landmark U.S.-Russia Deal on Syria a 'Diplomatic Victory'

Russian officials have praised their diplomatic victory in "knocking the military trump card out of U.S. hands" in Geneva on Saturday by securing...

Russia's Disabled 'Face Uphill Battle'

With the upcoming Paralympic Games in Sochi set to laud disabled athletes for their accomplishments, ordinary members of Russia's disabled population...

Roizman's Victory a Blow to United Russia, Analysts Say

Yekaterinburg, Russia's fourth-largest city, elected outspoken opposition politician Yevgeny Roizman as its mayor on Sunday, in a move that dealt a blow...

Observer Groups Report Few Major Violations

Election observers registered few grave violations at Moscow polling stations for the mayoral vote Sunday before the end of voting hours, marking...

Mayoral Hopefuls Make Final Push

The six Moscow mayoral candidates entered their final 48 hours of campaigning on Thursday ahead of Sunday's election, meeting with journalists, voters...

Putin Sees U.S. 'Snobbery' in Snowden Affair

President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday accused U.S. intelligence services of a lack of professionalism for their failure to round up NSA leaker Edward...

Navalny and Sobyanin Campaigns Trade Accusations Ahead of Elections

In the latest bout of bickering ahead of Moscow's mayoral elections, acting Mayor Sergei Sobyanin and opposition candidate Alexei Navalny on Tuesday denied...

Lavrov Says U.S. Proof of Sarin Attack in Syria 'Unconvincing'

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Monday joined the chorus of Russian officials challenging Washington's argument for military intervention in Syria...

With New Law, Free Education Could Become Thing of the Past

In the Soviet Union, you couldn't pay for schooling even if you wanted to. After the fall of the socialist empire, private education appeared, but...

U.S. Says It Has Proof of Gas Attack in Syria

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Sunday said the case for military intervention in Syria was getting "stronger and stronger" as Washington had...

Policeman Detained as Raids Continue

Moscow investigators Tuesday detained a deputy district police head on suspicion of extorting bribes from a businessman at Matveyevsky Market, where a...

Farber Case to Get Review by Council

The Kremlin human rights council is set to review the sentence handed down to Ilya Farber, a Moscow designer turned rural schoolteacher who was convicted...

U.S. Rock Group Ignites New Tensions

The performance of popular U.S. rock band Bloodhound Gang was canceled over the weekend after one of its musicians shoved a Russian flag into his...

Investigators Launch Check Into Corruption at Markets

Investigators have launched nationwide inspections of markets for corrupt ties to law enforcement after President Vladimir Putin criticized Moscow police...

Market Gets the Ax After Mob Attack

Authorities on Wednesday announced the impending demise of Moscow's Matveyevsky market, where migrant workers from the North Caucasus brutally beat a policeman...

Police Vow Renewed Fight After Attack

Moscow police on Tuesday conducted a second day of inspections at the city's open-air markets as the fall-out of Saturday's brutal attack on a policeman...

Illegal Migration Declines, But Problems Persist

Illegal migration has declined slightly in Moscow amid reinforced control by authorities and harsher penalties, but unregistered migrants are still...

Putin's Latest PR Stunt Comes Under Fire

State television on Friday showed President Vladimir Putin catching a 21-kilogram pike in a Siberian lake and kissing it, in what analysts say was...

Experts Say Upcoming Elections More Competitive

The upcoming Sept. 8 regional elections across Russia will be more competitive than the previous ones, amid declining public support for the pro-Kremlin...

Serdyukov Refuses to Testify in Ongoing Probe

Former Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov has refused to testify as a witness in the ongoing criminal probe into fraudulent land sales at the Defense Ministry...

In Surprise Ruling, Navalny Released From Detention

Opposition leader Alexei Navalny and his co-defendant, businessman Pyotr Ofitserov, were unexpectedly released by a Kirov court at the request of prosecutors...

Navalny Gets 5 Years, Altering Political Landscape

A Kirov court on Thursday found opposition leader Alexei Navalny and his co-defendant guilty of embezzlement and sentenced Navalny to five years in prison...

Military Holds Largest Maneuvers Since Soviet Era

President Vladimir Putin observed the Armed Forces perform the largest military exercises since Soviet times Tuesday, the latest in a series of surprise...