Columnists

Columnists

About 150,000 Muscovites and guests of the...

About 150,000 Muscovites and guests of the Russian capital took part in New Year"s celebration on Moscow"s Red Square and surrounding areas, a police official said.

About half of the 17 top Russian police...

About half of the 17 top Russian police officials discharged on Thursday were dismissed over violations committed by subordinates while others were removed to bring in new blood, a Kremlin source said.

(Adds details, background, recasts throughout)

A former Russian police officer who posted...

A former Russian police officer who posted two videos on the web calling for a nationwide crackdown on police corruption told a Moscow tabloid on Thursday another video is on the way.

After a one-day delay, Russia on Tuesday...

After a one-day delay, Russia on Tuesday finally launched a Proton-M rocket carrying the European Eutelsat W7 satellite, the Federal Space Agency said.

A Georgian political scientist and former...

A Georgian political scientist and former diplomat was sentenced to 20 years in prison on charges of spying for Russia during the August 2008 war between the two ex-Soviet states.

All old weapons and military equipment have...

All old weapons and military equipment have been removed from the Moscow Military District as part of Russia"s transition to a "new-look" Armed Forces, the district commander said on Saturday.

All servicemen who took part in the successful...

All servicemen who took part in the successful operation to free a Russian tanker from pirates will be nominated for awards.

A meeting of the Quartet of international...

A meeting of the Quartet of international mediators in Israeli-Palestinian peace talks will be held in Moscow on March 19, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Wednesday.

April 4, Easter Sunday, marks the start...

April 4, Easter Sunday, marks the start of an era of major nuclear changes. Minor changes are no longer desirable as we have nowhere to retreat on nuclear weapons issues and various nuclear problems.

As part of Russia"s crusade against alcohol...

As part of Russia"s crusade against alcohol abuse, the lower chamber of parliament on Wednesday adopted in its first reading a bill introducing harsher punishments for the illegal production and sale of alcohol.

A tight race with unpredictable results...

A tight race with unpredictable results seems to be in store for arch-foes in Ukrainian presidential polls, Premier Yulia Tymoshenko and opposition leader Viktor Yanukovych, when they face each other in a run-off vote on February 7, experts predicted.

Bishop Irinej of Nis has been elected the...

Bishop Irinej of Nis has been elected the 45th head of the Serbian Orthodox Church, the church patriarchate said Friday.

Bolivian President Evo Morales has signed...

Bolivian President Evo Morales has signed a decree establishing a national space agency to oversee a satellite project scheduled to be completed by 2013, the Latin American Herald Tribune said.

Burger King, the U.S. chain of hamburger...

Burger King, the U.S. chain of hamburger fast food restaurants, opened on Thursday its first outlet in Russia"s capital to compete with its main rival, McDonald"s, the country"s media reported.

Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov dismissed...

Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov dismissed the existence of separatist moods in the North Caucasus, but said that small groups of militants are still active in the volatile region.

Church property confiscated by the Soviet...

Church property confiscated by the Soviet authorities must be returned despite the complexity of the issue, the deputy head of the Kremlin administration said on Friday.

Full-fledged economic cooperation with Kyrgyzstan...

Full-fledged economic cooperation with Kyrgyzstan can only happen after it restores its state institutions, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Tuesday.

Heavy fines and a 0:5 technical defeat were...

Heavy fines and a 0:5 technical defeat were imposed on West Siberia"s Omsk Avangard and the Moscow Region"s Vityaz hockey clubs after their players staged a fight on the ice, disrupting a game in Russia"s Continental Hockey League.

Images of Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin...

Images of Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin will not be used in street decorations at celebrations of Russia"s victory over Nazi Germany in Moscow on May 9, a source in the organizing committee led by President Dmitry Medvedev said on Tuesday.

Iranian production of 20%-enriched uranium...

Iranian production of 20%-enriched uranium does not mean the end of a possible fuel swap scheme, the Islamic Republic said on Tuesday.

KIEV, August 5 (RIA Novosti) - Ukrainian...

KIEV, August 5 (RIA Novosti) - Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko said on Wednesday during a press conference that Kiev has paid Moscow in full for gas pumped into its storage facilities in July.

Kiev"s negotiations with Moscow on paying...

Kiev"s negotiations with Moscow on paying less for Russian natural gas are going well and may be concluded late this week or early next week, Ukrainian First Deputy Prime Minister Andriy Klyuyev said on Thursday.

Kurmanbek Bakiyev"s claims he is still the...

Kurmanbek Bakiyev"s claims he is still the president of Kyrgyzstan do nothing but harm to the process of political stabilization in the country, a former Kyrgyz prime minister said on Friday.

Libya"s sovereign fund has bought the most...

Libya"s sovereign fund has bought the most shares in Russian aluminum giant RusAl"s initial public offering in Hong Kong, along with Russia"s national development bank Vnesheconombank (VEB), a business daily reported on Monday.

LONDON, November 2 (RIA Novosti) - RIA Novosti...

LONDON, November 2 (RIA Novosti) - RIA Novosti will relaunch the Moscow News paper in Arabic in the next few days after a 17-year break, the editor-in-chief of the Russian news agency said.

MOSCOW, August 29 (RIA Novosti) - Russia...

MOSCOW, August 29 (RIA Novosti) - Russia plans to orbit at least 30 telecom satellites and launch probes to Mars and Venus under the federal space program for 2006-2015, a Russian Space Agency official said Tuesday.

MOSCOW, February 6 (RIA Novosti) - The launch...

MOSCOW, February 6 (RIA Novosti) - The launch of the Proton-M Russian carrier rocket with

Moscow is waiting for clarification from...

Moscow is waiting for clarification from the United States over its plans to deploy missile defense elements in Romania, the Russian foreign minister said Friday.

MOSCOW, January 19 (RIA Novosti) - The Russian...

MOSCOW, January 19 (RIA Novosti) - The Russian Defense Ministry has started the development of a new arms procurement program for 2011-2020, a Russian daily newspaper said on Monday, citing government sources.

MOSCOW, January 3 (RIA Novosti)to an issue...

MOSCOW, January 3 (RIA Novosti)to an issue with air traffic control in Dubai, not any technical problems, a representative of the airline said.

MOSCOW, June 19 (RIA Novosti) - A Russian...

MOSCOW, June 19 (RIA Novosti) - A Russian launch vehicle will be sunk in the Pacific Ocean Monday evening after being undocked from the world"s sole orbital station earlier in the day, a Mission Control official said.

MOSCOW, June 5 (RIA Novosti) - Russia wants...

MOSCOW, June 5 (RIA Novosti) - Russia wants to conduct a unified operation with the UN and cooperate with NATO in the fight against piracy off the coast of Somalia, Russia"s envoy to NATO said on Friday.

MOSCOW, May 5 (RIA Novosti) - An American...

MOSCOW, May 5 (RIA Novosti) - An American woman may become the first female space tourist after being chosen as backup to a Japanese man expected to blast off this fall, Russia"s space agency said Friday.

MOSCOW, November 12 (RIA Novosti) - Russia...

MOSCOW, November 12 (RIA Novosti) - Russia will produce next-generation nuclear reactors and new types of nuclear fuel by 2014, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Thursday.

MOSCOW, October 23 (RIA Novosti) - Pirates...

MOSCOW, October 23 (RIA Novosti) - Pirates, who have been holding a Greek-owned cargo ship since May 2, pledged to start killing Ukrainian crew members as soon as fuel on the ship runs out, the Russian Seamen"s Trade Union said on Friday.

MOSCOW, (RIA Novosti political commentator Andrei Kislyakov)

MOSCOW. (Yury Zaitsev for RIA Novosti)

MOSCOW. (Yury Zaitsev for RIA Novosti.)...

MOSCOW. (Yury Zaitsev for RIA Novosti.) - A Russian strategic nuclear-powered submarine is poised to launch an innovative, compact, 80-kg spacecraft from the Barents Sea in the second quarter of this year.

New Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych...

New Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych said on Thursday that Kiev will build relations with both Europe and former Soviet republics, but will not form any military alliances either with NATO or Russia.

North Korea sees the building of trustful...

North Korea sees the building of trustful relations with the United States as an immediate solution to its nuclear concerns, North Korean state run newspaper Rodong Sinmun said.

Opposition leader Viktor Yanukovych and...

Opposition leader Viktor Yanukovych and Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko face a February 7 runoff in Ukraine"s presidential polls after neither of them was able to secure victory in the first round of voting.

Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia...

Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia received on Wednesday the highest award of the Armenian Apostolic Church - the Order of St. Gregory the Illuminator.

Protracted talks between Moscow and Kiev...

Protracted talks between Moscow and Kiev on Russian gas prices for Ukraine have produced some unexpected results. Ukraine has received a substantial 30% discount on the gas prices stipulated by the January 19, 2009 contract.

Romanian President Traian Basescu said on...

Romanian President Traian Basescu said on Thursday his country could host U.S. medium-range interceptor missiles as part of revamped missile shield plans, the BBC reported.

Russia and Turkey on Wednesday signed a...

Russia and Turkey on Wednesday signed a joint statement regarding plans to build a nuclear power plant on Turkish soil.

Russia believes the dispute over Iran"s...

Russia believes the dispute over Iran"s nuclear activity can still be resolved through diplomacy, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Thursday after talks with his U.S. counterpart.

Russia does not rule out new sanctions against...

Russia does not rule out new sanctions against Iran, the Kremlin spokeswoman said Tuesday amid mounting Western pressure for fresh sanctions against the Islamic state.

Russia has suspended SU-27 Flanker fighter...

Russia has suspended SU-27 Flanker fighter jet flights until the cause of a deadly crash earlier in the week is determined, a Defense Ministry official told RIA Novosti on Saturday.

Russian and U.S. diplomats will meet for...

Russian and U.S. diplomats will meet for another round of talks in Geneva on Monday, with experts on both sides optimistic about Moscow and Washington finally reaching the homestretch for a new strategic bilateral arms deal.

Russian commandos from the large anti-submarine...

Russian commandos from the large anti-submarine ship Marshal Shaposhnikov on Thursday freed a Russian tanker hijacked by Somali pirates in the Gulf of Aden, a high-ranking official from the maritime coalition forces has reported.

Russian energy giant Gazprom, not a Belarusian...

Russian energy giant Gazprom, not a Belarusian company, will build a biathlon facility in the southern Russian resort of Sochi, due to host the 2014 Winter Olympics, the government said on its website Saturday.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has nominated...

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has nominated the current Tatarstan Republic premier Rustam Minnikhanov as its new president, the Kremlin press service said on Wednesday.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has offered...

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has offered his condolences to Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva over mudslides that killed at least 64 people in southeastern Brazil, the Kremlin press office said on Sunday.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on...

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Friday that Moscow and Kiev would continue discussions on the future of Russia"s Black Sea Fleet base on the Crimean Peninsula.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin flies...

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin flies into Kiev on Monday as the Ukrainian parliament"s prepares to consider ratifying the deal on Russia"s naval base in Crimea in a vote of no little importance to Moscow.

Russia on Tuesday congratulated Viktor Yanukovich...

Russia on Tuesday congratulated Viktor Yanukovich on his victory in Ukraine"s presidential election, saying that it hoped for better ties with his government.

Russia"s Federal Financial Markets Service...

Russia"s Federal Financial Markets Service (FFMS) has opened an account on the popular micro-blogging service Twitter to better inform share traders, the head of the agency said on Tuesday.

Russia"s Reserve Fund, set up to accrue...

Russia"s Reserve Fund, set up to accrue windfall revenues from oil exports, shrank 67% as of May 1, 2010 year-on-year to 1.19 trillion rubles ($40.6 billion), a business daily reported on Wednesday.

Russia"s two main stock exchanges opened...

Russia"s two main stock exchanges opened on Monday with their key indexes showing strong growth after the 10-day New Year break.

Russia successfully test-launched a Sineva...

Russia successfully test-launched a Sineva intercontinental ballistic missile from a submarine in the Barents Sea on Thursday, a Defense Ministry spokesman said.

Russia"s Yevgeny Plushchenko returned to...

Russia"s Yevgeny Plushchenko returned to competitive figure skating after almost three years away taking the gold of the 2010 European Figure Skating Championship in Estonia"s Tallinn.

Russia will invest some 1.5 billion rubles...

Russia will invest some 1.5 billion rubles ($49.7 million) in defining the extent of its continental shelf in the Arctic in 2010, in order to prove its right to more of the Arctic floor, the country"s Natural Resources Ministry has said.

Russia will see a rise in accidents and...

Russia will see a rise in accidents and disasters this year from 2009, an Emergency Ministry report published on Wednesday said.

Russia will take part in a nuclear disarmament...

Russia will take part in a nuclear disarmament conference to be held in Tehran on April 17-18, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said on Monday.

Ten militants captured in Russia"s North...

Ten militants captured in Russia"s North Caucasus last week have been formally arrested in connection with the derailment of a Moscow-St. Petersburg train in November, a respected daily said on Wednesday.

Thailand, a major chicken exporter in Southeast...

Thailand, a major chicken exporter in Southeast Asia, is prepared to supply poultry to Russia to compensate for U.S. imports that fail to comply with Russian standards, Russia"s agricultural regulator said on Wednesday.

The first power unit of the Volgodonsk nuclear...

The first power unit of the Volgodonsk nuclear power plant in south Russia was shut down by an emergency protection system on Sunday, the plant"s spokesman said.

The gap between opposition leader Viktor...

The gap between opposition leader Viktor Yanukovych and Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko has narrowed to 2% and continues to fall rapidly following Sunday"s presidential runoff in Ukraine, while preliminary statistics show several regions supporting one of the two candidates almost unanimously.

The head of Families for Russian and Ukrainian...

The head of Families for Russian and Ukrainian Adoption (FRUA), a U.S. public organization uniting over 2,000 families who adopted children born in former Soviet bloc countries, said her organization is shocked by the story of a Russian boy rejected by U.S. adoptive parents.

The Large Hadron Collider set a new world...

The Large Hadron Collider set a new world record on Monday, accelerating its twin beams of protons to unprecedented energy levels, the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) said on its website.

The Latin Archbishop of Baghdad expressed...

The Latin Archbishop of Baghdad expressed concern over killings of Christians in Iraq, forcing hundreds to flee the country, the Italian SIR news agency said on Thursday.

The Moscow City Court sentenced former police...

The Moscow City Court sentenced former police chief Maj. Denis Yevsyukov to life in prison for last year"s shooting spree in a Moscow supermarket which left two people dead and seven injured.

The operator of the Nord Stream gas pipeline...

The operator of the Nord Stream gas pipeline project said on Thursday it had received approval from German authorities to connect the trans-Baltic pipeline to the European gas network.

The ousted Kyrgyz president ruled out on...

The ousted Kyrgyz president ruled out on Friday any involvement by Russia and the United States, who both have military bases in Kyrgyzstan, in the bloody coup d"etat in the ex-Soviet Central Asian state.

The Russian government will allocate 500...

The Russian government will allocate 500 million rubles ($16.7 million) in 2010 on a project to build a spaceship with a nuclear engine.

The speaker of the lower house of Russia"s...

The speaker of the lower house of Russia"s parliament, the State Duma, said on Monday a customs union between Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan would boost economic growth in the three countries and could raise their GDP by 14-15% by 2015.

The speaker of the upper house of the Russian...

The speaker of the upper house of the Russian parliament Sergei Mironov launched a counter-attack against pro-Kremlin United Russia party after it demanded his resignation over criticism of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin"s course.

The ultimatum by the interim Kyrgyz government...

The ultimatum by the interim Kyrgyz government for ousted President Kurmanbek Bakiyev to surrender looks more like the beginning of a trade-off than a prelude to a civil war, a leading Russian Central Asia expert, Arkady Dubnov, told RIA Novosti on Tuesday.