Monday’s snowfall of at least 19 centimeters beat a 100-year-old record of 6 centimeters for Dec. 21.

Russia's participation in the World Food Program is expected to increase soon, following visits to Moscow by the program's directors, a high-ranking Russian source close to the negotiations told The Moscow Times.

The Central Bank bought 30 metric tons of gold from state precious metals and gems depository Gokhran for about $1 billion.

The country’s earlier agreement to participate in Samsun-Ceyhan after years of skepticism about the project surprised analysts.

Millions perished in Stalin's network of gulag camps scattered from Russia’s Arctic tundra to the inhospitable Kazakh steppe, and rights campaigners accuse the current Russian government of trying to whitewash the past.

An investment fund owned by Gennady Timchenko, an acquaintance of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, is to boost its stake in Russia’s second-largest gas producer to 23 percent.

Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov said last year’s attack by Georgia on South Ossetia was part of a Western plot to seize the whole Caucasus region.

Russia has long irked many in the 47-member Council of Europe by being the only country that has not ratified two amendments to the human rights convention.

Khristenko told Vesti-24 television that the government was working on a second alliance after the partnership between the country’s largest automaker AvtoVAZ and French peer Renault.

Strong support from the Azeri government helped bring an assembly of global musical talent to Baku for this year’s Rostropovich festival of classical music.