Russian News From Russia…

Prehistoric hunters are not to blame for mammoths going extinct in the Far East, one of their latest habitats, said a new joint Russian-American study published on Tuesday. The reason why mammoths went extinct around 11,500 years ago in Beringia – a region comprising modern Chukotka, Alaska and far eastern reaches of Siberia – was [...]

A stroll in the park ended in hospital for five college students in southwestern Moscow after a lightning bolt hit the ground next to them, giving them electric shock, city police said on Tuesday. The students, all of them Uzbekistan natives, were hospitalized, but their injuries were not life-threatening, police said on their website. Medics [...]

A biplane vanished from an airfield in the Ural mountains, apparently stolen by the pilot and his drinking buddies for a fishing trip or a visit to the bathhouse, investigators said on Tuesday. The An-2 biplane, which was tasked with monitoring wildfires, departed from an airstrip near the town of Serov in Sverdlovsk region on [...]

Russia’s state-controlled arms trader Rosoboronexport intends to fulfill its contract for the supply of armaments to Syria, Rosoboronexport Deputy CEO Igor Sevastyanov said on Tuesday. “No one can ever accuse Russia of violating the rules of armaments trade set by the international community,” Sevastyanov said in response to a question about whether Russia would fulfill [...]

Moscow is ready to host an international conference on Syria to discuss peaceful settlement of the Syrian crisis, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Tuesday. In order to help settle Syria’s ongoing political crisis, Russia has proposed a UN conference that will gather together the countries that have influence on Syria’s disparate forces. Lavrov [...]

Russian President Vladimir Putin called for compromise between the political forces in the country in a speech on Tuesday, as his opponents staged a mass anti-Kremlin rally in Moscow. “Various ideas are now voiced about Russia’s present and future, [but] these heated debates are normal for a democratic country,” Putin said in Moscow. “It’s important [...]

A female staffer in Russia’s Defense Ministry has received a promotion to become the ministry’s sole female general, following a decree by the country’s supreme commander posted on the Kremlin website on Tuesday. “To assign the rank of a major general to Knyazeva, Yelena Georgiyevna,” the presidential decree said. Colonel Knyazeva worked as acting head [...]

Tens of thousands gathered in downtown Moscow in the pouring rain on Russia Day on Tuesday for a mass anti-Kremlin rally, the first after legislation on rallies was radically tightened by the government. Meanwhile, President Vladimir Putin, accused before the rally of preparing a crackdown on the opposition, urged political forces in the country for [...]

U.S. State Secretary Hillary Clinton has congratulated Russia on its national holiday – Russia Day. “On behalf of President Obama and the people of the United States, I am delighted to send best wishes to the people of Russia as you celebrate your National Day this June 12th,” Clinton said in a press statement on [...]

Russian opposition leaders who were summoned by Russia’s Investigative Committee as part of a probe into the May 6 riots have appeared for questioning, a police source said on Tuesday. The homes of Russian opposition figures anti-corruption blogger Alexei Navalny, Left Front leader Sergei Udaltsov, Solidarity movement head Ilya Yashin and TV star and socialite-turned-opposition [...]

Moscow was ranked the world’s fourth most expensive city for expatriates in the latest Mercer Human Resource Consulting survey published on Tuesday. Tokyo won the title of the most expensive city, while Karachi, Pakistan’s financial center and main seaport, was rated cheapest in the Cost of Living survey. The Angolan capital Luanda came in second [...]

Helicopters from Russia’s Emergencies Ministry joined firefighting teams on Tuesday at the site of a blaze at a military stores site at the Buzulsky region of Orenburg Province, the Emergencies Ministry said. “Helicopters are currently putting out the fire,” Emergencies Ministry spokeswoman Tatyana Samoilova said. So far, helicopters have made five drops of water and [...]

Political activists gathered in downtown Moscow on the Russia Day public holiday on Tuesday, braving rain showers for an anti-Kremlin rally as its organizers were called in for questioning during the event. The March of Millions, which was approved by the authorities for up to 50,000 participants, will see the protesters march along downtown boulevards [...]