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A delegation of U.S. State Department officials...

A delegation of U.S. State Department officials will pay a visit to Moscow for talks on child adoption rules with representatives of the Russian government, the U.S. embassy in Russia said on Monday.

Analysts covering Russian-Polish relations...

Analysts covering Russian-Polish relations have changed their opinions from positive to negative several times in the last two days.

A new television series depicting the harsh...

A new television series depicting the harsh reality of school life in modern Russia has sparked heated public debate, with some people and politicians demanding the creators be punished.

An international task force of the Black...

An international task force of the Black Sea naval group completed on Friday the first stage of Blackseafor naval drills.

An oil leak from a destroyed rig causing...

An oil leak from a destroyed rig causing an oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is massive and potentially catastrophic, the U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said on CNN"s "State of the Union" program.

Any sanctions imposed against Iran over...

Any sanctions imposed against Iran over its nuclear program will only increase the Islamic Republic"s desire to move forward with uranium enrichment, a Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman said.

A Russian military expert questioned on...

A Russian military expert questioned on Wednesday Tehran"s claims that it could build its own S-300 surface-to-air missile systems.

Canadian snowboarder Jasey Jay Anderson...

Canadian snowboarder Jasey Jay Anderson brought his Olympics-hosting country 12th gold medal after winning in men"s parallel giant slalom.

Chinese leader Hu Jintao and Armenian President...

Chinese leader Hu Jintao and Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan has discussed China"s participation in a construction of a railway between Armenia and Iran, Armenian state"s press-service said Sunday.

Energy cooperation and the demarcation of...

Energy cooperation and the demarcation of Russian-Norwegian maritime borders will be the key issues during talks between Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Norway"s top officials on April 26-27 in Oslo, the Russian presidential aide has said.

Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania are obstructing...

Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania are obstructing military cooperation between Russia and NATO, Moscow"s envoy to the military alliance said on Wednesday.

Foreign investment in the Russian economy...

Foreign investment in the Russian economy in the first nine months of the year fell 27.8% year-on-year to $54.738 billion, the state statistics service said on Friday.

Iran"s air force will soon test-fire a new...

Iran"s air force will soon test-fire a new guided-bomb, the Iranian Fars news agency reported on Monday.

Israel and PNA may restart indirect peace...

Israel and PNA may restart indirect peace talks which had been stalled for over a year now, CNN TV-channel said.

Kyrgyz law enforcement agencies have charged...

Kyrgyz law enforcement agencies have charged the head of the presidential administration of Kyrgyzstan"s ousted leader Kurmanbek Bakiyev with abuse of power, his lawyer said on Friday, the 24.kg news website reported.

LAS PALMAS, September 19 (RIA Novosti) -...

LAS PALMAS, September 19 (RIA Novosti) - Spain has again refused to accept the Arctic Sea vessel in the port of Las Palmas, a port administration official said Saturday.

MOSCOW, August 20 (RIA Novosti) - A senior...

MOSCOW, August 20 (RIA Novosti) - A senior Russian military officer has been detained in southern Russia on suspicion of spying for Georgia, a spokesman for Russia's security service said on Wednesday.

MOSCOW, August 6 (RIA Novosti) - Russia...

MOSCOW, August 6 (RIA Novosti) - Russia is hoping to reach an agreement with India in August on an additional $1.2 billion to finalize the overhaul of the Admiral Gorshkov aircraft carrier for the Indian Navy, a Russian newspaper said on Thursday.

MOSCOW, August 8 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's...

MOSCOW, August 8 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's strategic aviation started Wednesday an active phase of military exercises to fly over the North Pole and conduct test launches of cruise missiles, an Air Force spokesman said.

MOSCOW, August 9 (RIA Novosti) - A cargo...

MOSCOW, August 9 (RIA Novosti) - A cargo ship with Russian crew has gone missing off Portugal"s Atlantic coast, the Russian maritime journal Sovfrakht reported on Sunday.

Moscow, enraged by a recent scandal over...

Moscow, enraged by a recent scandal over a Russian boy shipped back by his adoptive U.S. family, on Thursday urged Washington to sign without delay a bilateral agreement on adoption rules.

MOSCOW, February 11 (RIA Novosti) - Russian...

MOSCOW, February 11 (RIA Novosti) - Russian revolutionary leader Vladimir Lenin"s mausoleum will remain on the Red Square, next to the Kremlin wall, the Kremlin property chief said.

MOSCOW, January 27 (RIA Novosti) - Russian...

MOSCOW, January 27 (RIA Novosti) - Russian Orthodox Church Metropolitan Filaret has withdrawn his candidacy for the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, declaring his support for Metropolitan Kirill, the Moscow Patriarchy said Tuesday.

MOSCOW, July 4 (RIA Novosti) - North Korea...

MOSCOW, July 4 (RIA Novosti) - North Korea test launched seven ballistic missiles Saturday from its eastern coast, the Yonhap news agency reported citing South Korea"s military.

MOSCOW, June 16 (RIA Novosti) - Russia"s...

MOSCOW, June 16 (RIA Novosti) - Russia"s president has issued instructions for military cooperation deals to be negotiated with the former Georgian republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, the Kremlin said on Tuesday.

MOSCOW, June 21 (RIA Novosti) - Russian...

MOSCOW, June 21 (RIA Novosti) - Russian producers of perfumes and cosmetics that contain alcohol are expecting a rise in prices in view of a new alcohol law coming into effect July 1, the head of a Russian perfumes association said Thursday. The new law introduces automated alcohol meters (EGAIS) and has been declared as a measure to curb dangerous alcohol consumption. "Certainly, there will be a price hike after July 1," which could be as much as 20% by the end of 2007, Tatiana Puchkova said. "In addition, there is an apprehension that leading market players... will leave the market altogether." A senior official from the perfumes association, Sergei Bolshakov, said only about 650 of 3,500 producers on the Russian perfumes market, which has annual sales of $7 billion, had obtained the necessary licenses. Puchkova said small and medium producers could start selling products of dubious quality over lack of funds to obtain the licenses or equipment. However, the producers hope the government will exclude them from the law and thereby prevent a crisis similar to last year"s. The perfumes association said the crisis in July-August 2006 saw annual sales plummet 75% from 85 billion rubles ($3.3 billion) in 2005 to 54 billion rubles last year.

MOSCOW, June 28 (RIA Novosti) - The military...

MOSCOW, June 28 (RIA Novosti) - The military arrested Honduras President Jose Manuel Zelaya on Sunday morning, the same day he vowed to follow through with a referendum that the country"s Supreme Court had ruled illegal, CNN reported.

MOSCOW, June 7 (RIA Novosti) - Moscow will...

MOSCOW, June 7 (RIA Novosti) - Moscow will have the right to inspect U.S. military planes flying over its territory under a deal with Washington on transit to Afghanistan, the Russian foreign minister said on Tuesday.

MOSCOW, May 4 (RIA Novosti) - Including...

MOSCOW, May 4 (RIA Novosti) - Including Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin among the Reporters Without Borders (RSF) list of the world"s "predators of press freedom" is totally wrong, his spokesman said on Tuesday.

MOSCOW, May 7 (RIA Novosti) - The body of...

MOSCOW, May 7 (RIA Novosti) - The body of Vladimir Lenin may go on public display in Belarus if Russia decides to remove the father of the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution from his Red Square resting place, highly placed sources have said.

MOSCOW, October 14 (RIA Novosti) - Russia"s...

MOSCOW, October 14 (RIA Novosti) - Russia"s new military doctrine does not rule out pre-emptive nuclear strikes against potential aggressors, the head of its Security Council said on Wednesday.

MOSCOW, October 15 (RIA Novosti) - A Moscow...

MOSCOW, October 15 (RIA Novosti) - A Moscow court on Thursday extended custody of two men charged with hijacking the Arctic Sea cargo ship in July, a RIA Novosti correspondent reported from the courtroom.

MOSCOW, October 21 (RIA Novosti) - A 92-year-old...

MOSCOW, October 21 (RIA Novosti) - A 92-year-old woman has been arrested at Madrid Barajas International Airport after police found 4.3 kg of cocaine strapped to her body, local authorities said.

MOSCOW, October 2 (RIA Novosti) - A Moscow...

MOSCOW, October 2 (RIA Novosti) - A Moscow court rejected on Friday a claim filed by gay activists against the capital"s mayor, Yury Luzhkov, for using what they say is an offensive word during a televised program.

MOSCOW, October 30 (RIA Novosti) - All the...

MOSCOW, October 30 (RIA Novosti) - All the crewmembers of the cargo ship at the center of a mysterious hijacking case have been formally recognized as victims of pirate attack, Russia"s special investigations committee said on Friday.

MOSCOW, October (RIA Novosti) - The president...

MOSCOW, October (RIA Novosti) - The president of Belarus has signed documents on joining a post-Soviet regional security bloc"s rapid reaction force, the secretariat of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) said on Tuesday.

Moscow police detained some 100 people...

Moscow police detained some 100 people, including several prominent opposition leaders, after an unsanctioned rally in downtown of the Russian capital, a police official said.

MOSCOW, September 16 (RIA Novosti) - A team...

MOSCOW, September 16 (RIA Novosti) - A team of Russian investigators probing a recent incident involving the Arctic Sea cargo ship will leave the vessel by Friday, the Investigative Committee at the Prosecutor General"s Office said on Wednesday.

MOSCOW, September 1 (RIA Novosti) - Russia...

MOSCOW, September 1 (RIA Novosti) - Russia marks on Monday the fourth anniversary of the Beslan school tragedy during which 331 people died, including 186 children.

MOSCOW, September 24 (RIA Novosti) - Colombia...

MOSCOW, September 24 (RIA Novosti) - Colombia has appealed to Thailand over its decision not to extradite alleged Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout to the U.S., the Kommersant daily reported on Thursday.

MOSCOW, September 3 (RIA Novosti) - Russia...

MOSCOW, September 3 (RIA Novosti) - Russia had mixed fortunes at the U.S. Open in New York on Thursday with Elena Dementieva becoming the first top player to crash out, while world No. 1 Dinara Safina had to dig deep to overcome her opponent.

NIZHNY NOVGOROD, December 20 (RIA Novosti)...

NIZHNY NOVGOROD, December 20 (RIA Novosti) - A Russian provincial school head accused of pirating Microsoft software said on Thursday he will appeal a guilty verdict in Russia"s Supreme Court and in the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. Alexander Ponosov, a school principal in a small town in the Perm Region, was fined 5,000 rubles ($194) in May for buying a set of computers for the school which had unlicensed Microsoft software installed. "I have sent a preliminary claim against the verdict to Strasbourg, and I will complete the official documentation with a lawyer"s help in the near future. In addition, we will appeal the ruling in Russia"s Supreme Court," Ponosov said. The court put the material damage to the Microsoft Corporation at 266,000 rubles ($10,322). But Ponosov maintained his innocence throughout the proceedings, saying he was unaware that the Windows software installed on the PCs was counterfeit. Microsoft has taken no legal action against him. The maximum possible penalty under Russian law for this offense is five years in prison. Piracy had been a stumbling block in Russia"s WTO accession talks with the United States until an agreement was reached in November 2006, when Moscow promised a clampdown on intellectual property violations in the country, the second-largest market for pirated material after China.

One of the victims of the bombing in the...

One of the victims of the bombing in the Russian North Caucasus republic of Kabardino-Balkaria on Saturday has died and the number of injured has risen to 20, a security source said.

On the first day of Great Lent, the head...

On the first day of Great Lent, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church called on believers to overcome pride and fight envy with good deeds and prayer.

Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia...

Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, will on Saturday arrive in Egypt on a three-day visit.

Police in the Russian capital of Moscow...

Police in the Russian capital of Moscow have detained ten activists organized a pedestrian protest against official cars using flashing lights to give them preferential passage, Echo Moskvy radio said.

President Dmitry Medvedev sprung a surprise...

President Dmitry Medvedev sprung a surprise on many governors and regional leaders in the Russian Federation on New Year"s Eve. While talking with Leonid Markelov, the head of the Republic of Marii El, Medvedev first congratulated him on a reappointment and then told him it was likely to be his last.

Pyongyang has asked Washington to decide...

Pyongyang has asked Washington to decide on the format of peace treaty talks, North Korea"s ambassador to Russia, Kim Yong-Jae, said on Tuesday.

Russia and Poland are interested in clarifying...

Russia and Poland are interested in clarifying the reasons behind the air crash that killed Polish President Lech Kaczynski, top officials from the two countries said Saturday.

Russia and Ukraine approved on Friday new...

Russia and Ukraine approved on Friday new gas agreements reached by energy giant Gazprom and its Ukrainian partners, the Russian government press service said.

Russia can not allow U.S. plans to deploy...

Russia can not allow U.S. plans to deploy elements of its missile shield in Europe to threaten the effectiveness of its nuclear deterrent, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Wednesday.

Russia has sent some 150 paratroopers to...

Russia has sent some 150 paratroopers to its Kant airbase in the ex-Soviet Central Asian republic of Kyrgyzstan to ensure the safety of families of Russian military staff, the General Staff chief Nikolay Makarov said.

Russia increased its uranium reserves by...

Russia increased its uranium reserves by 70,000 metric tons in 2009, the Federal Agency for Natural Resources (Rosnedra) reported on Tuesday.

Russia introduced on Friday a minimum price...

Russia introduced on Friday a minimum price of vodka in an effort to fight counterfeit alcohol production in the country.

Russian and Polish investigators will continue...

Russian and Polish investigators will continue on Monday the search for the remains of those killed in the Polish president"s plane crash on Saturday, a Russian police source said.

Russian Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin on...

Russian Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin on Tuesday promised ten years of the country"s development without any increase in government spending.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will...

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will attend an Arctic Five ministerial meeting on Monday as part of his two-day visit to Canada.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and his...

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and his Ukrainian counterpart Viktor Yanukovych congratulated each other on the simultaneous ratification of a Russian naval base deal on Tuesday, the Kremlin"s press service reported.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev warned...

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev warned the country"s governors on Tuesday that most provincial heads would be able to hold office for three terms in the future.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, who will...

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, who will attend the funeral of President Lech Kaczynski this weekend, will find himself in a strange company.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev will hold...

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev will hold an informal meeting with his visiting Croatian counterpart, Stjepan Mesic, on Monday, the Kremlin said.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin agreed...

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin agreed on Tuesday with proposals to transform the state transportation company Rossiya into a joint-stock company in 2010 and merge it with the flagship air carrier Aeroflot.

Russian prosecutors issued an arrest warrant...

Russian prosecutors issued an arrest warrant on charges of office abuse for a police officer, who was fired after posting a video on the web asking Prime Minister Vladimir Putin to launch a nationwide corruption probe.

Russia opposes efforts to edge the UN Security...

Russia opposes efforts to edge the UN Security Council out of the Middle East peace process, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Monday.

Russia"s Foreign Ministry rejected on Monday...

Russia"s Foreign Ministry rejected on Monday Japan"s protest over an incident in which Russian border guards opened fire on two Japanese fishing vessels off the disputed South Kuril islands.

Russia"s largest diamond miner Alrosa said...

Russia"s largest diamond miner Alrosa said on Wednesday its diamond output was expected to hit an estimated $2.24 billion in terms of value in 2009.

Russia"s nuclear-powered missile cruiser...

Russia"s nuclear-powered missile cruiser Pyotr Veliky will make a port call in Syria"s Mediterranean port of Tartus ahead of Russian Navy drills in the Indian Ocean, a Defense Ministry spokesman said on Monday.

Russia"s recent announcement of London Club...

Russia"s recent announcement of London Club commercial debt repayment was meant to boost its chances to borrow money abroad and bridge its looming budget deficit, a respected business magazine reported on Monday.

Russia will send a delegation headed by...

Russia will send a delegation headed by the deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov to a Tehran nuclear disarmament conference, the Foreign Ministry spokesman said on Thursday.

ST. PETERSBURG, August 25 (RIA Novosti)...

ST. PETERSBURG, August 25 (RIA Novosti) - The defense lawyer for two of the alleged hijackers, arrested aboard the Arctic Sea last week, said on Tuesday that there has been no mention of arms trafficking in the court files.

SUKHUMI, August 12 (RIA Novosti) - Moscow...

SUKHUMI, August 12 (RIA Novosti) - Moscow has no plans to redeploy its Black Sea Fleet warships from Ukraine to Abkhazia, the Russian defense minister said on Wednesday. Russia"s Black Sea Fleet uses a range of naval facilities in Ukraine"s Crimea, including the main base in Sevastopol, as part of a 1997 agreement under which Ukraine agreed to lease the bases to Russia until 2017. Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko announced last summer that Ukraine would not extend the lease of the Sevastopol base beyond 2017, and urged the Russian fleet to start preparations for a withdrawal. "We will stay put in Sevastopol," Anatoly Serdyukov said in reply to a question from a reporter. He also said Moscow would not increase the number of troops either in Abkhazia or South Ossetia, which Russia recognized as independent last August after a five-day war with Georgia over the latter. Asked whether Russia was planning to increase its military presence in the two former Georgian republics, Serdyukov said, "No. Why? It is sufficient." Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who made a one-day visit to Abkhazia on Wednesday, said earlier in the week that Russia would allocate 15-16 billion rubles (over $465 million) in 2010 to strengthen Abkhazian borders, frontier troops and bases.