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About 250 people were evacuated early on...

About 250 people were evacuated early on Tuesday from a residential building in downtown Moscow due to a fire in an adjacent night club, a spokesman for the local emergencies service said.

ABU DHABI, December 9 (RIA Novosti) - The...

ABU DHABI, December 9 (RIA Novosti) - The ninth ministerial forum of gas exporting countries will be held on Wednesday in the Qatari capital Doha.

A criminal investigation has been opened...

A criminal investigation has been opened into an railway explosion that killed one person in the capital of Russia’s North Caucasus republic of Dagestan, transport officials said on Thursday.

(Adds comments from bank experts in paragraphs 9-18)

A man who tried to burn himself alive in...

A man who tried to burn himself alive in Moscow on Thursday is in hospital with burns to 20% of his body, police said.

A Moscow court sentenced a doctor and her...

A Moscow court sentenced a doctor and her assistant to a six-month conditional prison term after they were found guilty of forgetting a surgical instrument in their patient"s abdomen, a local prosecutor"s office said on its website on Thursday.

Anzhi Makhachkala became the first of the...

Anzhi Makhachkala became the first of the three promoted sides to win in the Russian Premier League this season with a 2-0 home win over fellow newcomers Alania Vladikavkaz on Saturday.

A Russian expert expressed hope on Monday...

A Russian expert expressed hope on Monday that an international Middle East conference in Jordan would help promote inter-Palestinian unity.

A strong earthquake with a preliminary magnitude...

A strong earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.6 points hit northern Japan on Sunday, the U.S. Geological Survey said.

BEIJING, December 10 (RIA Novosti) - The...

BEIJING, December 10 (RIA Novosti) - The deployment of a U.S. missile shield in central Europe would disrupt the strategic balance among the world's nuclear powers, the Russian defense minister said on Wednesday.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko...

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said on Tuesday that Russia"s actions were undermining the foundations of the Customs Union.

China is planning to launch in 2011 a spacecraft...

China is planning to launch in 2011 a spacecraft equipped with two docking ports to serve as a basis for the country"s future space station, the Xinhua news agency said on Wednesday.

Chinese leader Hu Jintao will visit Moscow...

Chinese leader Hu Jintao will visit Moscow to participate in the 65th Victory Day celebrations on May 9, Russian Ambassador Sergei Razov said in Beijing, on Wednesday.

Closer cooperation with Russia should become...

Closer cooperation with Russia should become a major foreign policy priority for NATO, but better relations with Moscow cannot come at the expense of the security of eastern European alliance members, an influential U.S. foreign policy research center has said.

CSKA Moscow and Zenit"s Russian Premier...

CSKA Moscow and Zenit"s Russian Premier League match, which was due to take place on Saturday, has been moved to a later date after twin suicide bombings hit the Russian capital.

Dynamo Moscow and Lokomotiv Moscow fans...

Dynamo Moscow and Lokomotiv Moscow fans have agreed to stay silent for the first 10 minutes of their derby clash on Sunday as a mark of respect for the 39 people who died in the twin suicide bombings on the city"s metro system.

Every year, the Russian judicial system...

Every year, the Russian judicial system hands down a number of unexpected rulings and dramatic judgments on interesting issues and cases, and 2009 was no exception. The death penalty was de facto abolished and individuals involved in several high-profile cases were released from prison, one of the country’s senior investigators was indicted, the investigation into the murder of journalist Anna Politkovskaya was halted and a second case against former Yukos heads Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Platon Lebedev was opened.

Georgia is ready to cooperate with Russia...

Georgia is ready to cooperate with Russia in investigating the recent Moscow metro suicide bombings, State Minister of Georgia for Reintegration Temur Yakobashvili said on Wednesday.

In a dramatic sign of improving ties, Moscow...

In a dramatic sign of improving ties, Moscow and Kiev on Wednesday agreed to extend the lease on a Russian naval base in the Crimea in exchange for a 30% cut in gas prices for Ukraine.

Iran on Tuesday launched production of an...

Iran on Tuesday launched production of an indigenous short-range air-defense artillery system, codenamed Mesbah, the Defense Ministry said.

KIEV, April 28 (RIA Novosti) - Ukraine"s...

KIEV, April 28 (RIA Novosti) - Ukraine"s prime minister has said the national energy company Energoatom could sign a nuclear fuel deal with Russia, but has set several conditions, the Kommersant Ukrainy business daily reported on Tuesday.

KIEV, July 24 (RIA Novosti) - Ukraine is...

KIEV, July 24 (RIA Novosti) - Ukraine is celebrating 1,020 years since Christianity was adopted in Kievan Rus, with church services, processions, and other events to mark the event to continue for several days. The Orthodox Church leaders of Moscow and Constantinople, from which Prince Vladimir the Great took Christianity, joining Eastern Orthodoxy, are expected to visit the Ukrainian capital this week. The Christianization of Kiev dates from late 988, when Prince Vladimir the Great was baptized at Chersonesos, in the Crimea. He then baptized his family and people in Kiev and destroyed wooden statues of Slavic pagan gods. The baptism of Kiev was followed by similar ceremonies in other areas of ancient Rus, where people were often forced to accept the new religion "by fire and the sword." Speaking ahead of the anniversary, Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko said he hoped the event would encourage unity among the country"s Orthodox communities. "The head of state has expressed hope that a process of unification [among Orthodox churches] will be encouraged by the celebrations of the 1,020th anniversary of the Baptism of Kievan Rus," the presidential press service said on Thursday. The Ukrainian Orthodox Church, subordinate to the Moscow Patriarchy, is currently the only Ukrainian church with a canonical standing in Eastern Orthodoxy and has full communion with the other Eastern churches. According to official data, it is the largest religious body in the country, predominant in the east and south. Other Orthodox churches in the country include the Ukrainian Orthodox Church - Kiev Patriarchy, which broke away from the Russian Orthodox Church in 1989, and the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church. The latter obtained autonomy from Moscow after the breakup of the Russian empire and the Bolshevik revolution. Kiev Patriarchy officials have recently stepped up contacts with the Church of Constantinople, also known as the Ecumenical Patriarchate, seeking "to return Ukraine to the Mother Church." The drive has been proactively backed by President Yushchenko and the country"s other top officials against the backdrop of ongoing tensions in relations with Russia. Russian church officials said on Thursday that the Moscow and Constantinople Patriarchates had agreed ahead of the holiday "to rule out" the participation of leaders of the "schismatic churches" in services and other events in Kiev to celebrate the anniversary. Patriarch Alexy II of Russia and Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople will meet in Kiev on Sunday. President Yushchenko and Bartholomew I will hold a reception in the sumptuous 11th century St. Sophia Cathedral on Saturday. The patriarch, along with Orthodox hierarchs from other countries, will hold a service near a statue to Holy Prince Vladimir the following day.

MINSK, October 2 (RIA Novosti) - Belarus...

MINSK, October 2 (RIA Novosti) - Belarus has completed the procedures necessary to sign documents on joining a post-Soviet regional security bloc"s rapid reaction force, President Alexander Lukashenko said on Friday.

MOSCOW, April 17 (RIA Novosti) - Air traffic...

MOSCOW, April 17 (RIA Novosti) - Air traffic in north and central Europe will not run for at least the next 24 hours because of the ash cloud from a volcano eruption in Iceland, Reuters quoted the European Organization for the Safety of Air Navigation, Eurocontrol, as saying.

MOSCOW, August 17 (RIA Novosti) - Investigators...

MOSCOW, August 17 (RIA Novosti) - Investigators have said that a bomb attack that killed at least 20 people in the south Russian republic of Ingushetia on Monday may have been aimed at the destabilization of the republic.

MOSCOW, December 10 (RIA Novosti) - Russian...

MOSCOW, December 10 (RIA Novosti) - Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has slammed Russian officials over a recent fire in an Urals nightclub that took the lives of 136 people.

MOSCOW, January 23 (RIA Novosti) - The death...

MOSCOW, January 23 (RIA Novosti) - The death toll in Russia from alcohol poisoning in the first eleven months of 2007 totaled 19,031, a 28.1 % decrease from 2006, the National Alcohol Association (NAA) said on Wednesday.

MOSCOW, June 5 (RIA Novosti) - LUKoil (RTS...

MOSCOW, June 5 (RIA Novosti) - LUKoil (RTS: LKOH), Russia"s leading independent crude producer, said Monday a production sharing agreement to prospect and develop oil and natural gas fields in Uzbekistan would be signed by the end of 2006.

MOSCOW, March 31 (RIA Novosti) - At least...

MOSCOW, March 31 (RIA Novosti) - At least 67 militants have been killed and 233 detained in special operations in the North Caucasus since the beginning of 2009, the head of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) said on Tuesday.

MOSCOW, May 22 (RIA Novosti) - Russia"s...

MOSCOW, May 22 (RIA Novosti) - Russia"s largest mobile communications operator Mobile TeleSystems (MTS) has applied to the Russian Antimonopoly Service to buy up to 100% of Moscow"s largest multiservice communications operator, Comstar.

MOSCOW, May 27 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's...

MOSCOW, May 27 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's Defense Ministry will start on Tuesday the first of a series of auctions to sell off military properties in Moscow to raise money to house servicemen.

MOSCOW, November 3 (RIA Novosti) - Former...

MOSCOW, November 3 (RIA Novosti) - Former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic attended a court session in The Hague for the first time on Tuesday, telling the judges he needed more time to prepare his defense.

MOSCOW, October 18 (RIA Novosti) - Russia"s...

MOSCOW, October 18 (RIA Novosti) - Russia"s United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) said on Thursday it intended to hold an initial public offering on Russian bourses in late 2009 and early 2010 to the sum of $1-1.5 billion. The UAC was established earlier this year to help overcome the crisis in Russia"s aircraft industry, and incorporates many of the country"s best-known aircraft builders, including Mikoyan, Ilyushin, Irkut, Sukhoi, Tupolev, Yakovlev and other enterprises in the industry. A UAC official also said the corporation would float newly issued shares representing 10-15% of its charter capital by closed subscription in 2008, adding that Russia"s government-controlled foreign economic bank Vnesheconombank could participate in the offer. The UAC, which is 90% state owned, incorporates aircraft building companies and state assets engaged in the manufacture, design and sale of military, non-military, transport and unmanned aircraft in a bid to streamline the Russian aviation industry. The UAC official also said the company would borrow about 120 billion rubles (about $4.8 billion) by 2012.

MOSCOW. (RIA Novosti commentator Andrei...

MOSCOW. (RIA Novosti commentator Andrei Murtazin) - Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu last Sunday approved a draft project to build a border barrier with Egypt, worth approximately $300-$400 million, to thwart migrants and arms smugglers.

MOSCOW. (RIA Novosti economic commentator...

MOSCOW. (RIA Novosti economic commentator Oleg Mityayev) - On February 6, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev met in the Kremlin with a European Commission delegation headed by chairman Jose Manuel Barroso.

MOSCOW. (RIA Novosti military commentator...

MOSCOW. (RIA Novosti military commentator Ilya Kramnik) - Italian Admiral Giampaolo di Paola, the current Chairman of the NATO Military Committee, met with General Nikolai Makarov, Chief of the Russian Armed Forces" General Staff, in Brussels and announced after the meeting that Russia was going to help NATO in Afghanistan.

MOSCOW. (RIA Novosti military commentator...

MOSCOW. (RIA Novosti military commentator Ilya Kramnik) - The transfer of the aircraft carrier Vikramaditya, formerly known as Admiral Gorshkov, to India has been planned for several years already.

Moscow traffic police chief Sergei Kazantsev...

Moscow traffic police chief Sergei Kazantsev was officially reprimanded on Wednesday over a "special operation" in which officers commandeered several private cars to stop a fleeing driver, but refused to pay compensation for damage caused.

NOVO-OGARYOVO (Moscow Region), June 27 (RIA...

NOVO-OGARYOVO (Moscow Region), June 27 (RIA Novosti) - Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has backed the participation of Royal Dutch-Shell in the Sakhalin III and IV projects.

NOVOSIBIRSK, May 4 (RIA Novosti) - Russian...

NOVOSIBIRSK, May 4 (RIA Novosti) - Russian Foreign Ministry officials in West Siberia are following the case of a local resident arrested in Los Angeles on tax-fraud conspiracy charges, an attache said on Monday. The San Diego Union Tribune said on Saturday that Novosibirsk resident Maxim Maltsev, 23, had been arrested and accused of conspiring to divert 65 income-tax-refund payments intended for U.S. citizens to accounts he had set up at four San Diego banks. "The Russian Embassy in the United States is dealing with the issue. The Russian Foreign Ministry"s office in Novosibirsk is keeping its eye on the situation and will get involved if the need arises," Denis Borodich said. He added that no inquiries had yet been received either from the Russian Embassy in the United States or from the Moscow headquarters of the Russian Foreign Ministry. According to the indictment, Maltsev and co-conspirators diverted income-tax refunds through online services "falsely advertised as being affiliated with the Internal Revenue Service." The refunds "withdrawn by debit and check cards and at ATMs in the United States and overseas" totaled about $105,000, the paper quoted U.S. Attorney Karen Hewitt of San Diego as saying. Maltsev has been held without bail in Los Angeles since he was arrested at the city"s international airport last Wednesday.

Poland"s Prime Minister Donald Tusk on Wednesday...

Poland"s Prime Minister Donald Tusk on Wednesday will provide full information about the first stage of the investigation into a recent crash that killed Polish President Lech Kaczynski, government press secretary Pawel Gras said on Sunday.

Police in the Western Siberian city of Tyumen...

Police in the Western Siberian city of Tyumen are investigating who replaced 16 kg of pure heroin with salt at the city"s main police department, regional TV has said.

ROSTOV-ON-DON, December 14 (RIA Novosti)...

ROSTOV-ON-DON, December 14 (RIA Novosti) - Four people have been killed and one injured when a minibus and a car collided in southern Russia"s Rostov Region early on Monday, the local emergencies service said

Russia and India have reached an agreement...

Russia and India have reached an agreement to complete a refit of the Admiral Gorshkov aircraft carrier, a Kremlin source said on Monday.

Russia is a guarantor of international security...

Russia is a guarantor of international security and a reliable partner in conflict resolution on a global scale, Guatemalan President Alvaro Colom said on Monday.

Russia is preparing to send two planes carrying...

Russia is preparing to send two planes carrying doctors, supplies and equipment, including a mobile air hospital, to earthquake-stricken Chile, a Russian emergencies official said on Friday.

Russia may receive a controlling stake in...

Russia may receive a controlling stake in the Ukrainian state-owned aircraft manufacturer, Antonov, in exchange for a gas discount, Ukrainian online daily Ukrainska Pravda said.

Russian and U.S. negotiators will wrap up...

Russian and U.S. negotiators will wrap up a new strategic arms reduction pact in the very near future, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Thursday.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is...

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is arriving in Turkmen capital Ashgabat on a two-day working visit on Monday to discuss bilateral cooperation issues, the Russian ministry said.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev awarded...

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev awarded state decorations to Russian athletes on Monday for their achievements at the Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev begins...

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev begins his three-day visit to Kazakhstan on Saturday to discuss a customs union and a single economic space with presidents of Kazakhstan and Belarus.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has welcomed...

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has welcomed signs of a "steady normalization" in Iraq, the Kremlin press service said on Saturday.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Tuesday...

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Tuesday blasted some U.S. media for using excessively mild words to describe terrorists.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev signed...

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev signed into law on Monday a regulation on duty-free oil supplies to Belarus following a bitter dispute between the two ex-Soviet republics that threatened crude deliveries to Europe.

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 called...

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin called on Friday for an investigation into the use of funds allocated for preparations for the Vancouver Games, saying the failure cannot be explained merely by biased judging.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has...

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has no doubts that the organizers of the deadly blasts in the Moscow subway carried out on Monday morning will be punished.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on...

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on Monday called on businessmen not to cash in on the tragedy on the Moscow subway.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on...

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on April 20 addressed the lower house of the Russian parliament, the State Duma.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin will...

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin will discuss in Moscow with his Croatian counterpart Jadranka Kosor issues of cooperation in the oil and gas sector.

Russia"s Air Force has denied claims by...

Russia"s Air Force has denied claims by Britain that Russian Tu-160 Blackjack strategic bombers violated UK airspace on March 10.

Russia"s foreign minister said on Tuesday...

Russia"s foreign minister said on Tuesday there was no connection between the ongoing international dispute over Iran"s nuclear program and a delay in launching the country"s first nuclear power plant.

Russia should not congratulate Viktor Yanukovych...

Russia should not congratulate Viktor Yanukovych until he officially becomes Ukraine"s president to avoid repeating its mistake of 2004, the speaker of the lower house of parliament warned on Tuesday.

Russia"s Islamic Cultural Center will pay...

Russia"s Islamic Cultural Center will pay 1 million rubles ($30,000) for any information on the organizers of the Moscow subway bomb attack, the organization"s president said on Tuesday.

Russia"s Public Chamber said on Thursday...

Russia"s Public Chamber said on Thursday it would take control of the case of a RIA Novosti photo correspondent fined by a court for participating in an unsanctioned opposition meeting.

Several hundred people were safely evacuated...

Several hundred people were safely evacuated early on Saturday from a subway train in eastern Moscow after smoke appeared in the tunnel, a spokesman for the Russian capital"s emergency service said.

South Ossetia has not imposed additional...

South Ossetia has not imposed additional travel restrictions for local ethnic Georgians, a government official told RIA Novosti.

Talks on the WBC heavyweight title bout...

Talks on the WBC heavyweight title bout between champion Vitali Klitschko and challenger Nikolai Valuev have stalled after a promoter for the "Russian Giant" demanded a sum of $4 million for the fight.

The next test launch of Russia"s troubled...

The next test launch of Russia"s troubled Bulava intercontinental missile could take place in January, an unidentified Defense Ministry official said on Friday.

The rapidly deteriorating situation in Afghanistan...

The rapidly deteriorating situation in Afghanistan creates security risks for bordering Central Asian states, the head of the Russian-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) said on Thursday.

There are no real legal obstacles to prevent...

There are no real legal obstacles to prevent Ukraine from joining the Customs Union of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan, a Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman said on Friday.

The Russian military is still working to...

The Russian military is still working to establish the reasons for the misfiring of the troubled Bulava ballistic missile, Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov said on Friday.

The suicide bomber responsible for the terrorist...

The suicide bomber responsible for the terrorist attack at Lubyanka metro station has been identified as Mariam Sharipova, the federal anti-terrorism committee reported on Tuesday.

The trial of former Bosnian Serb leader...

The trial of former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic, accused of war crimes and genocide dating from the 1992-95 Bosnian war, will resume on Monday after a four-month suspension.

The very fact that the Israeli Prime Minister...

The very fact that the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited Moscow is a major success for Russian diplomacy. Not least because Russia is the only country in the world that has been visited by all the sides in the Arab-Israeli conflict over the past six months, including the most radical ones.