Surkov Replaced by Trusty Technocrat

The veteran foreign policy advisor will be in charge of organizing a government that has repeatedly been accused of poor work recently.

Scores Evacuated as Moscow Feels First Tremors in 35 Years

At least 9,000 people were evacuated from Moscow buildings on Friday as the capital experienced its first tremors from an earthquake since 1977.

Putin Says Amnesty Plan for Businessmen Needs Refining

President Vladimir Putin, who was expected during a meeting with more than a hundred entrepreneurs on Thursday to give a nod to the State Duma to draft an amnesty act freeing thousands of imprisoned business people, said the concept needed more work, Russian television reported Thursday.

Father of Chechen Shot by FBI Thinks Son Was Tortured

The father of a Chechen immigrant killed during questioning over his links with one of the Boston Marathon bombings suspects said he plans to travel to the U.S., where he thinks his son was tortured and killed.

Churchill and Stalin in All-Night Wartime Drinking Session

Soviet dictator Josef Stalin and Britain's wartime Prime Minister Winston Churchill enjoyed an alcohol-fueled all-nighter in Moscow as World War II was in full swing, previously secret files have revealed.

Q&A: Anti-Drug Crusader Roizman Wears Many Hats

Dressed in a beat-up denim jacket and with three days worth of stubble on his cheeks, Yevgeny Roizman, 50, looked like an 80s rocker being interviewed after a concert. But the charismatic Yekaterinburg native, with eyes red from a lack of sleep, is a man who wears many hats.

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Arts & Ideas

Music Forecast: It Will be a Hot Summer

By Andrei Muchnik

Some time ago, the only bands touring Russia were those popular at least a decade earlier. And even when you bought a ticket, there was still a good chance the concert would be canceled a couple of weeks in advance, with security cited as the main reason. Those days are gone.

Calendar Listings: May 23 - May 29, 2013

Theater

An aspiring executive competing in Theater of Nations' "The Gronholm Method." Their psychological evaluations happen in bizarre situations.

Dance

Anyuta: Valery Gavrilin's ballet based on the story by Chekhov about a poor teacher's daughter who marries a government official. Choreographed by Vladimir Vasilyev. Bolshoi Theater New Stage. May the 28th, 29th and 30th, at 7 p.m.

Opera

Eugene Onegin: a simple and dazzling staging of Tchaikovsky's opera by Sergei Artsibashev with sets by Sergei Barkhin. Novaya Opera. Wednesday, May 29th at 7 p.m.

Cinema

Jordan Baker (Elizabeth Debicki) and Nick Carraway (Tobey Maguire) dancing in the film adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's decadent 1920s novel 'The Great Gatsby,' showing in English at Pioner and 35MM over the week.

Opinion

Why the Kremlin Hates Levada Center

By Daniel Treisman

Even if Levada were to register as a "foreign agent," this wouldn't save it. The Kremlin's goal is to eradicate the top independent polling agency.

Editors' picks

Q&A: Maria Yeliseyeva's Children Don't Feel Like Orphans

Maria Yeliseyeva has always been surrounded by children. In addition to the five she gave birth to, she has fostered another five from Russian orphanages.

Business Fights Back Against Kremlin War on Vice

With World Trade Organization membership taking effect this week, lovers of high-end imported spirits are in for a treat: Tariffs on whiskies, cognacs and other fine spirits are set to fall to make imported booze more competitive with local production.

Go Posh, or Go Home

Moscow has been regularly appearing on lists of the most expensive cities and for a good reason. Russian mentality assumes that while not everything expensive is necessarily good, everything good is definitely expensive.

Analysis: Economic Quandary Puts Life at $199 Per Month at Risk

Over Vladimir Putin's first two terms as president, the number of Russians living below the official poverty line dropped dramatically from 42.3 million in 2000 to just 18.7 million by 2007.

Multimedia

Video: Lagutenko Sends Regards to The Moscow Times

Dilbert

Photo Gallery: A Day to Remember Their Sacrifice

Photo Gallery: How Moscow Marks the May Holidays

Blogs

Theater Plus: Russia's First Political Madman Comes to Life Again

By John Freedman

Of the lesser-known great figures of Russian letters Pyotr Chaadayev surely is one of the finest and most interesting.

Beyond Moscow

Chisinau: From Exile to Evolution

"The damned city of Kishinev" is how Alexander Pushkin described this small town in the territory formerly known as Bessarabia. The poet's outburst is understandable, because he was forced to spend three years in exile in a place, which was, in his opinion, comparable with Sodom.

Kolomna: A City on Three Rivers

A traveler to Kolomna shouldn't rush to put a checkmark next to this city's name on his list of places visited, since this ancient town has so much charm he'll want to return.

Lipetsk: A City Feeling Mighty

It's not often that something positive is born out of the destruction of war, but Lipetsk is one such example. In the beginning of the 18th century, after Peter the Great started the Great Northern War with Sweden, his main supplier of iron, he needed to find domestic sources to compensate.

Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk: Valley in the Sun

When Anton Chekhov decided to visit this remote island in Russia's Far East in 1890, his close friend, journalist Alexei Suvorin, argued, "There is nothing interesting on Sakhalin!"

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