President Dmitry Medvedev had to remind Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin to mind his manners Wednesday after a testy debate about a national payments system with Vneshekonombank chief Vladimir Dmitriyev.

The Supreme Court said that Yukos partner Platon Lebedev's rights were violated when a lower Russian court ordered his arrest in 2003, however the ruling does not mean that he will be freed.

The Orthodox priest asked the men not to urinate in the hall outside his apartment.

People will be able to apply for some state services online by the summer, and Medvedev says all services must be available by 2015.

Russia will now pay European prices for Turkmen gas, Gazprom deputy chief executive Alexander Medvedev said.

Kirill said “those who sin” must not be punished and therefore the church opposes any discrimination.

Politicians have reacted enthusiastically to Vladimir Putin's proposal to rebuild a Soviet-era war monument, which killed two in Georgia last week in a botched demolition.

As the New Year's shopping season enters its frantic last week, many store managers and analysts said it was shaping up to be a decent holiday season, as spending on presents is one of the last things people cut in an economic crisis.

Petro and Pidorka are a pair of lovers who come together on the eve of the solstice in a production based on Gogol’s famous story cycle, “Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka."

Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin also warns that the state could curb borrowing abroad by state companies.