Top News, Russia and former Soviet Union

Moscow police detain some 30 activists in city center Moscow police detained about 30 opposition activists for various violations of public order on Kudrinskaya Square on Thursday, May 17, morning.
May 17 at 09:31 | Interfax-Ukraine
Wreckage of Russian jet found on Indonesian cliff CIDAHU, Indonesia — A helicopter spotted the shattered wreckage of a Russian-made passenger plane on May 10 that crashed into a steep cliff on a long-dormant Indonesian volcano during a demonstration flight to potential buyers and journalists. There was no sign of survivors among the 47 people on board.
May 10 at 09:28 | Associated Press
Putin: Russia will stand up for its policies MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin has told the annual massive military parade in Red Square that the country will stand up for its positions.
May 9 at 11:49 | Associated Press
Putin sworn in as Russia's president for 6 years Vladimir Putin took the oath of office for a third term as Russia's president on Monday, saying he considers "service to the fatherland and our nation to be the meaning of my life."
May 7 at 12:01 | Associated Press
Forty-seven demonstrators sought medical assistance in Moscow - source Forty-seven participants in the Sunday opposition action in Moscow's Bolotnaya Square sought medical assistance, a source in medical circles told Interfax on Monday morning.
May 7 at 10:13 | Interfax-Ukraine
Rospotrebnadzor to give ‘green light’ to Ukrainian cheese if inspection finds no violations MOSCOW - Rospotrebnadzor Chief Gennady Onishchenko has said that Ukrainian cheese will return to the Russian market if the Russian side has no more complaints about these products.
Apr 18 at 13:04 | Interfax-Ukraine
Russian tycoons' feud over RUSAL comes to UK court HONG KONG - A feud between two Russian billionaire shareholders in UC RUSAL , the world's biggest aluminium maker, will be aired in a London court, the company said on Tuesday, with a $47 billion supply deal in the balance.
Apr 10 at 12:37 | Reuters
Ex-KGB man wins presidency in South Ossetia TSKHINVALI, Georgia - A pro-Russian former KGB officer appeared set on Sunday to win a presidential election run-off in the breakaway Georgian region of South Ossetia, where Moscow is seeking to re-assert control.
Apr 9 at 10:04 | Reuters
Russia's Kudrin stays in mix with new task force MOSCOW - Russia's ex-finance minister, Alexei Kudrin, launched a civic task force on Thursday that is designed to hold the next government to account and positions him as an influential political outsider.
Apr 5 at 17:57 | Reuters
Onishchenko: New round of checks on Ukrainian cheese could start on April 9 MOSCOW - Experts of the Russian sanitary and consumer rights watchdog Rospotrebnadzor are expected to fly to Kyiv early next week for a fresh round of inspection visits to Ukrainian cheese exporting companies, said Rospotrebnadzor chief Gennady Onishchenko.
Apr 5 at 09:58 | Interfax-Ukraine
Fire at Russian market kills 17 migrant workers (updated) MOSCOW - Seventeen migrant workers were killed in a fire on April 2 in a market warehouse on Moscow's outskirts where they had been living, Russian emergency officials and media said.
Apr 3 at 13:52 | Reuters
Russian plane crash kills 31, exposes safety record MOSCOW - A passenger plane crashed and burst into flames after takeoff in Siberia on Monday, killing 31 people and putting the spotlight on Russia's poor air-safety record before Vladimir Putin's return as president.
Apr 2 at 15:29 | Reuters
Breakaway Georgia region South Ossetia votes for president TSKHINVALI, Georgia, March 25 (Reuters) - The Russian-backed breakaway Georgian region of South Ossetia voted for a new president on Sunday, with its former envoy to Moscowseen as the Kremlin favourite.
Mar 25 at 17:52 | Reuters
Gorbachev says revive Russian social democratic party MOSCOW - Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev proposed on Wednesday reviving a social democratic party in Russia in the hope of uniting leftist groups opposed to President-elect Vladimir Putin.
Mar 21 at 18:53 | Reuters
Lukashenko bars opponents from leaving country MINSK - Belarus has drawn up a black list of opposition figures who are barred from leaving the country in response to a travel ban imposed on Belarussian officials by the European Union, President Alexander Lukashenko said.
Mar 21 at 17:24 | Reuters