Russian News From Russia…

Standard Poor’s international rating agency has affirmed Russia’s BBB long-term foreign currency sovereign rating and A-3 short-term rating with a Stable outlook, the agency said on Wednesday. Russia’s long and short-term credit ratings on liabilities in national currency are affirmed at BBB and A-2, respectively, with a Stable outlook, SP said in a statement. The [...]

Ukraine, which is in a bitter row with Moscow over prices for gas, has slashed its purchases of the blue fuel to 27 billion cubic meters in 2012 from 40 bcm this year, Energy Minister Yury Boyko said on Wednesday. “Yes, we have filed an official request for 27 billion cubic meters as early as [...]

Police in Moscow have urged opposition protesters to scrap plans for a demonstration on the eve of the new school year, saying the rally could “irritate” parents. Russian opposition groups rally in downtown Moscow on the last day of each month that has 31 days in defense of their right to freedom of assembly, as [...]

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev will address a congress of the ruling United Russia party on September 23-24. “I will attend the congress and address it,” Medvedev told reporters on Wednesday. Russia’s political parties will hold their congresses ahead of the State Duma election, set for December 4.

Over 60 mothers were charged with murdering their babies across Russia in the first half of 2011, a government daily said. Twenty of the sixty four suspected murders took place in the central federal district, which includes Moscow, the Rossiiskaya Gazeta paper said. Psychiatrists quoted by the paper say many of the women killed their [...]

Police arrested 12 people for a breach of the peace at a protest rally in central Moscow on Wednesday evening. Police said some 50 people attended the Strategy-31 rally at Moscow’s Triumfalnaya Square. They also said the protest was covered by “100 journalists and bloggers.” Russian opposition groups rally in downtown Moscow on the last [...]

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Wednesday he and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin follow a single coordinated strategy in their actions. “Any institutional political force should have a long term program, and there is one,” Medvedev told reporters.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Wednesday the idea of reinstating elections for the upper house of parliament could be revisited as part of the country’s ongoing political reform. It is essential to amend the political system, including all of its institutions, he said. “I believe it is important to consider consolidating the parliamentary component [...]

Russians have descended on Belarusian border towns to buy up foodstuffs, clothes and other goods after prices fell sharply following the devaluation of the Belarusian ruble. Huge lines have been reported as stores jack up prices due to the rising demand, Newsru.com said. Conflicts often erupt between Russians and locals who are irked by the [...]

President Dmitry Medvedev will address a congress of the ruling United Russia party, headed by powerful Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, on September 23. “I will attend the congress and address it,” Medvedev told reporters in the Black Sea resort of Sochi. He also said that he and Putin followed what he called a “long term [...]

A cyber attack waged on WikiLeaks late Tuesday brought the whistleblower website down, presumably as an act of retaliation for the release of tens of thousands of US diplomatic cables leaked recently. A slew of denial of service attacks launched on Julian Assange’s WikiLeaks caused the site to go down yesterday. The organization announced on [...]

NATO and Russia have presented their first-ever joint venture: a Russian-English dictionary. The glossary contains some 14,000 terms relating to the main areas of cooperation between Russia and the alliance. None of the Russian terms, however, have been given official status, because that would require unanimous approval by all 28 NATO members. The full version [...]

A headache for locals and foreigners alike, Russian bureaucracy and paperwork may soon get easier to work through, with new reforms approved by officials. The new strategy developed by the Ministry of Economic Development is likely to change things for the better. By 2020 all government officials will be obliged to speak at least one [...]

Moscow’s eagerly awaited first bicycle lane has appeared in the city’s south, but has caused confusion rather than happiness. The capital’s residents have long expected the development, as cycling has become very popular in recent years, with competitions taking place nearly every month in Moscow. But to everyone’s utter discontent, the new bicycle lanes have [...]