Russia and former Soviet Union

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  Three killed, 45 injured in Makhachkala blasts

  May 20, 2013, 5:50 p.m.

  Makhachkala, May 20 (Interfax) - Three people were killed by twin bomb blasts near the court bailiffs service headquarters in Makhachkala on Monday, and 45 were hospitalized with bodily injuries, a spokesman for the Dagestan Interior Ministry told Interfax.

  Russia and former Soviet Union – by Interfax-Ukraine, Kyiv Post
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  Russian MP: EU-Ukraine Association Agreement to turn out to be fraud as before

  May 20, 2013, 5:08 p.m.

  Moscow, May 20 (Interfax) - Alexei Pushkov, head of the Russian State Duma's International Affairs Committee, has said he is skeptical about the prospects for the signing of the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement.

  Russia and former Soviet Union – by Interfax-Ukraine
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  Russia does not plan to divide Gazprom into extraction, transportation companies

  May 20, 2013, 9:33 a.m.

   Moscow, May 20 (Intefax) - The government remains convinced that Gazprom must remain an integral entity.

  Russia and former Soviet Union – by Interfax-Ukraine
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  Medvedev doesn't find state of Russian economy dramatic

  May 20, 2013, 9:20 a.m.

  Sochi, May 20 (Interfax) - The state of the Russian economy is not dramatic even though nothing good is happening. Annual growth at 4-5% must be achieved, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has said. 

  Russia and former Soviet Union – by Interfax-Ukraine
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  EU says worried by Russia's human rights record

  May 19, 2013, 4:44 p.m.

  BRUSSELS - The European Union criticised Russia's human rights record on Sunday, saying it was increasingly concerned at a wave of restrictive legislation and prosecutions against activists.

  Russia and former Soviet Union – by Reuters
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  Second Mistral-class ship built for Russia by France to join Black Sea Fleet in 2017 - military official

  May 18, 2013, 6:03 p.m.

  Kronstadt, St. Petersburg, May 18 (Interfax-AVN) - The second Mistral-class amphibious assault ship being built for Russia in France will be named the Sevastopol and will join Russia's Black Sea Fleet in 2017, a military official told Interfax-AVN on Saturday.

  Russia and former Soviet Union – by Interfax-Ukraine
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  Seventeen people injured amid gay parade in Tbilisi

  May 17, 2013, 6:25 p.m.

   Tbilisi, May 17 (Interfax) - Seventeen people were injured amid incidents related to clashes between gay parade participants and their opponents in Tbilisi on Friday.

  Russia and former Soviet Union – by Interfax-Ukraine
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  Clash between Russian oil chiefs could undercut Putin ally

  May 17, 2013, 6:12 p.m.

  MOSCOW, May 17 (Reuters) - A rare public clash between two leading figures in Russia's state-dominated oil industry hints at a split in President Vladimir Putin's inner circle and could be intended to rein in one of his closest advisers.

  Russia and former Soviet Union – by Reuters
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  Georgian ombudsman fails to protect gay parade in Tbilisi

  May 17, 2013, 5:52 p.m.

  Tbilisi, May 17 (Interfax) - Policemen in Tbilisi had to rush to Georgian ombudsman Uchya Nanusahvili's defense from opponents of gay parades after Nanuashvili tried and failed to persuade the moralists not to obstruct a gay rally.

  Russia and former Soviet Union – by Interfax-Ukraine
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  Russian Migration Service bans entry to 70,000 foreigners in 2013 so far

  May 17, 2013, 11:25 a.m.

   Moscow, May 17 (Interfax) - Russian Federal Migration Service (FMS) head Konstantin Romodanovsky said that 70,000 foreigners were banned entry to Russia for violations of the law this year so far

  Russia and former Soviet Union – by Interfax-Ukraine
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  Transdniestria proposes setting up tripartite peacekeeping checkpoint in Bender

  May 17, 2013, 10:16 a.m.

   Tiraspol, May 17 (Interfax) - Transdniestria has proposed setting up a tripartite peacekeeping checkpoint in the Northern neighborhood in Bender, where a conflict between Transdniestrian customs officers and Moldovan policemen was recorded recently.

  Russia and former Soviet Union – by Interfax-Ukraine
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  BelTA: Expansion for Novaya Guta checkpoint at Belarusian-Ukrainian border

  May 17, 2013, 9:57 a.m.

   GOMEL, 16 May (BelTA) – The border checkpoint Novaya Guta at the Belarusian-Ukrainian border will be expanded. The information was released by Mikhail Myatlikov, Deputy Head of the Gomel Customs House, on 16 May. The border checkpoint is in the area of responsibility of the customs house, BelTA has learned.

  Russia and former Soviet Union – by Belta
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  Kazakhstan questions its citizen's role in arms supplies to North Korea

  May 17, 2013, 9:23 a.m.

   Astana, May 16 (Interfax) - Reports on a Kazakh citizen's role in shipments of weapons to North Korea need to be verified, Kazakh Foreign Ministry spokesman Nurzhan Aitmakhanov told Interfax on Thursday.

  Russia and former Soviet Union – by Interfax-Ukraine
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  Russia's Putin to take to the air for Kremlin commute

  May 16, 2013, 6:07 p.m.

  SOCHI, Russia - President Vladimir Putin will soon fly to work by helicopter rather than being driven there in his usual Mercedes limousine to try to appease anger over traffic jams created by his motorcade. 

  Russia and former Soviet Union – by Reuters
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  Russian mother held after babies found dead in freezer

  May 16, 2013, 6:01 p.m.

  MOSCOW - Russian police detained the mother of two baby boys whose bodies were found after five years in a freezer in the basement of the supermarket where she worked, investigators said on Thursday, May 16. 

  Russia and former Soviet Union – by Reuters
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  Bank documents portray Cyprus as Russia's favorite haven

  May 16, 2013, 2:11 p.m.

  NICOSIA - When the Cyprus bank run began earlier this year, Russians set much of the pace. Documents seen by Reuters show that as the Mediterranean island headed towards financial meltdown in March, most notable among companies transferring money from the country's two main banks were Russians and East Europeans. 

  Russia and former Soviet Union – by Reuters
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  CEO of SocGen's Russia unit faces 7 years on bribery allegations

  May 16, 2013, 2:05 p.m.

  MOSCOW - The head of Societe Generale's Russian unit Rosbank faced up to seven years in jail for bribery on Thursday after Russian investigators released a film of him with cash piled on his desk in what several bankers said may have been a set-up.

  Russia and former Soviet Union – by Reuters
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  Russian consulate: Six Russians killed in fire on ship in Japan

  May 16, 2013, 10:22 a.m.

  Six citizens of Russia were killed in a fire on the fishing vessel Taigan in a Japanese port, the Russian general consulate in Sapporo told Interfax. 

  Russia and former Soviet Union – by Interfax-Ukraine
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  Russian analysts: immigrants, guest workers fertile ground for radical Islamism

  May 15, 2013, 9:24 a.m.

  Moscow - The head of a Russian policy think tank has argued that immigrants and guest workers who have come to Russia from Muslim republics of the former Soviet Union are potentially a fertile environment for radical Islamist ideas and called for tighter restrictions on immigration and guest labor.

  Russia and former Soviet Union – by Interfax-Ukraine
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  Transdniestria minister: Moldova, Transdniestria divided on talks agenda

  May 14, 2013, 6:31 p.m.

  The foreign minister of Moldova's breakaway Transdniestria region said on Tuesday that Transdniestria and Moldova "have different visions of what needs to be discussed" at the planned next round of regular talks between them.

  Russia and former Soviet Union – by Interfax-Ukraine