Russian News From Russia…

Magomed Cherkesov, the father of a North Caucasus native earlier convicted of killing Moscow football fan Yegor Sviridov, has been killed in Kabardino-Balkaria, a spokesman for the Investigation Committee said on Friday. The alleged killer has been detained. “Relatives of Magomed Cherkesov filed a claim saying that he had disappeared on June 5, his car [...]

The Russian Foreign Ministry on Friday called on Israel to abandon plans to build new apartments in the West Bank warning it would hurt the peace process in the Middle East. Israel said on Wednesday it would build over 800 additional housing units in West Bank settlements and relocate some of the settlers from Ulpana [...]

The Russian president and prime minister’s approval ratings have been steadily climbing since December 2011 when the first wave of opposition rallies swept across Russia, the state-run pollster VTsIOM said on Friday.   “The protests did not break the trust in the president or the premier. Amid protests, their ratings began rising,” VTsIOM director Valery [...]

A scandal involving a cross-dressing prosecutor erupted in southern Russia on Friday after he was discovered dressed as a woman and trying to talk to teenage girls. The man, 32-year-old Konstantin Fominov, who sent a pedophile priest to prison three years ago, approached a group of teenage girls outside an apartment building in the southern [...]

U.S. State Department officials met with Russian Foreign Ministry diplomats in Moscow on Friday to try to hammer out a common position on the escalating crisis in Syria. “A thorough exchange of opinions on methods of promoting a peaceful resolution in Syria took place,” Russia’s Foreign Ministry said later in a statement. “The practical aspects [...]

Czech President Vaclav Klaus is expected to attend Friday’s Euro 2012 match between Russia and the Czech Republic in Wroclaw, Poland, but Russia’s Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev won’t make the game. Earlier, a Polish spokesman for UEFA said Russian President Vladimir Putin would also attend the game but soccer’s European governing body later said he [...]

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed off on Friday on a controversial new law that increases the maximum fines for protest-related offences. “A society which permits rallies and marches must protect itself from radicalism,” Putin said, adding that he did not consider the law unnecessarily harsh. He also said, however, that the law could be amended [...]

Magomed Cherkesov, the father of a North Caucasus native earlier convicted of killing Moscow football fan Yegor Sviridov, has been killed in Kabardino-Balkaria, a spokesman for the Investigation Committee said on Friday. The alleged killer has been detained. “Relatives of Magomed Cherkesov filed a claim saying that he had disappeared on June 5, his car [...]

Russian President Vladimir Putin suggested on Friday that court hearings should be broadcast live via the internet. This will “enhance the judges’ responsibility,” making their decisions more objective, he said. Putin also called for “normal working conditions” to be provided for court reporters. “All issues, from accreditation to filing stories, should be dealt with promptly [...]

Belgium’s Dexia financial group has accepted a 780 million euro loss from sale of Turkey’s Denizbank to Russia’s top lender Sberbank, Dexia CEO Pierre Mariani said on Friday. Sberbank has agreed to buy 99.85 percent of Denizbank for $3.5 billion earlier on Friday, in what could be the greatest ever purchase in the bank’s history, [...]

The EurAsEc, a regional economic grouping of ex-Soviet republics led by Russia, will disburse a $440 million third tranche of a bailout loan to Belarus within a week, Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said on Friday. “The funds [$440 million] will be transferred in nearest time. I think it will happen within a week,” Siluanov [...]

Five U.S. defense firms have invited Russia for the first time to become a subcontractor on the delivery of Russian-made ammunition for coalition forces in Afghanistan, Russia’s state arms exporter Rosoboronexport said on Friday. The U.S. Army Contracting Command announced a tender on the purchase of non-standard weaponry and ammunition for UN-mandated International Security Assistance [...]

Four top managers of Russian oil giant Rosneft have increased their stakes in the company, Rosneft said on Friday. First Vice President Eduard Khudainatov, former CEO of the company, increased his stake to 0.0605 percent from 0.0526 percent and Vice President Larisa Kalanda increased her stake to 0.0118 percent from 0.0082 percent. As for Management [...]

Firefighters and rescuers in Russia’s Far East extinguished 19 forest fires over the past 24 hours, but 31 more wildfires remain active in the region, a statement from the regional forestry department said on Friday. Over 900 people, 130 units of specialized vehicles and 19 aircraft, including 11 helicopters, were involved in extinguishing the wildfires, [...]