Prosecutors ordered the National Security Committee to conduct an internal investigation into the videos, said Nurdaulet Suindykov, a spokesman for the prosecutor’s office.

There are indeed some misunderstandings in the West about what modern Russia is today, said Stephen Weber, a professor of management at Skolkovo School of Management.

Unfortunately, little attention is being paid to explaining or analyzing the complex issues that divide U.S.-Russian relations.

A senior United Russia deputy suggests disbanding the Interior Ministry.

Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov discussed the nuclear issue in Moscow with Ambassador Mahmoud Reza Sajjadi at the Iranian diplomat’s request, the Foreign Ministry said on its web site.

A native of the Kharkiv region, which borders Russia, was shot dead by a patrolmen in the early hours of Thursday morning as he tried to race across the border in a car with a trailer attached, Interfax reported.

Wednesday was the first day for registering Cyrillic domain names, with government organs and trademark holders being the only ones permitted in the first round.

Under a plan entitled Energy Strategy 2030, the economy and budget revenues will steadily move away from the reliance on energy exports, spurring the changes.

While Medvedev has repeatedly acknowledged that corruption is the biggest problem in the country, he is unwilling — or simply unable — to make the changes necessary to fight it.

A city court in the Urals town of Cherepovets ruled in April that the magazine, available at Zhurnal.lib.ru, was extremist because it contained articles criticizing the town’s main employer, Severstal.