The deputy chief of the Moscow metro police force was fired Thursday after two of his officers were detained on suspicion of abducting and raping a Belarussian woman this week.

Police have arrested a 28-year-old suspect on suspicion of stealing $41 million from the federal pension fund in an elaborate scheme that involved Cyprus bank accounts, 23 cell phone numbers and a travel regime that avoided the use of trains and planes.

Russia has done little to reduce its high number of fake diplomas ― but at the same time it requires foreigners to prove that their degrees are valid before they can get a work permit.

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin abruptly extended the grain export ban by at least several months from the end of this year because farmers and wholesalers sent grain prices up by holding the latest harvest.

Senior Moscow official Oleg Mitvol has asked the pro-Kremlin Nashi youth group to vacate its headquarters in a building meant to house a kindergarten, in what analysts called a sign that Nashi was losing its clout.

Armed and masked police raided the opposition New Times magazine on Thursday, pressing journalists to hand over interview recordings used in reports on alleged abuse of authority by the OMON riot police.

Tabloids have been reporting that Russian-born model Natalia Vodianova is about to get divorced from her husband, British aristocrat Justin Portman. Vodianova has the ultimate rags-to-riches story, starting as a market worker in Nizhny Novgorod to a top model.

Chechen traffic police found a $1 million Rolls-Royce that was stolen in Moscow in 2007 and returned it to its rightful owner, the Chechen Interior Ministry said.

As the new school year begins, it seems like an appropriate time to ponder the fascinating and formidable Russian word that describes the thinking classes: intelligentsia. It's deceptively simple. It actually is a devilishly difficult word to translate, or even understand. Our language columnist gives it a try.

Shunned by the world community and held at arm's length even by main ally Russia, Moldova's tiny rebel Transdnestr defiantly marked 20 years of unilateral independence in full Soviet style Thursday.

Glamorous secret agent Anna Chapman has posed provocatively for a Russian magazine shoot in her first public appearance since she was deported from the United States in a major spy swap.

Police detained dozens of protesters attempting to rally late Tuesday at the closed Triumfalnaya Ploshchad in central Moscow, including rally leaders, but did not exert additional force despite a warning from Prime Minister Vladimir Putin that the protesters deserved to be beaten.

Moscow’s horrendous daily traffic jams and this summer’s wildfires have something in common: The roots of both of these problems can be found in the government’s gross incompetence, Yulia Latynina says.

Russia, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain are home to the wealthiest expats, with euro-zone countries falling behind when it comes to paying for foreign expertise, according to a survey of expats released Wednesday.

Russia's hybrid regime, which combines elements of authoritarianism and electoral democracy, makes the nation an unattractive potential partner for global alliances. To improve relations, Russia must modernize and adopt a more predictable political system.

Rather than global warming, it may have been a combination of jet streams, blocking effects and solar activity that caused this summer's drought, the director of an economic think tank suggests.

A university lecturer is suggesting in a new book that Moscow drivers take cues from the Japanese to unsnarl the city's traffic. But Moscow traffic the night of the book's presentation to city officials showed how difficult that may prove.

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin dipped a careful toe into the high-stakes battle for control of Russia's largest miner on Tuesday, telling Norilsk Nickel's warring shareholders that it paid unusually high dividends last year.

The opposition's attempts to stage rallies in Moscow and St. Petersburg got an unexpected boost when Russian emigrants took to streets in London, Berlin, New York and Tel Aviv to express solidarity.

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin got behind the wheel of a Glonass-equipped Lada Kalina to test the new Amur highway over the weekend, but he complained that the quality of the “historic” road was unsatisfactory and that gas prices were too high.

A suffocating smog from wildfires hung over Moscow, raising the concentration of dangerous pollutants to a new high as exasperated residents donned face masks. The thick haze engulfed Moscow for a second straight Saturday.

Firefighters battling intense blazes across Russia got a welcome boost when aircraft, firetrucks and personnel arrived from Italy and five former Soviet republics. France, Germany, Poland and Bulgaria also offered help.

The country's top doctor implored foreigners not to be scared off by intense smog that has blanketed Moscow for the past three days, even as embassies evacuated staff and at least one closed altogether.

Moscow residents choked on a thick, gray smog that seeped into apartments, offices and even underground metro stations Wednesday as wildfires burned. Meanwhile, President Dmitry Medvedev dismissed five senior military officials.

Forty minutes. Just five minutes less than halftime in a football match and about the length of a TV show. It was enough time for a village of 341 houses to burn to the ground in the Nizhny Novgorod region.

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin took the pilot's seat in the government's fight against wildfires Tuesday, hopping on a firefighting plane to put out two blazes in the Ryazan region.

Russia looked ready to exchange one natural disaster for another as cold winds swept across the country's northwest on Monday and weather forecasters said hurricane-like gales might replace wildfires and drought.

Taking a new tact in fighting wildfires, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin granted a fire bell to a blogger who accused the government of incompetence. But the story resembled a publicity stunt aimed at younger voters, an analyst said.

Bloggers took issue with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's decision to pilot a firefighting aircraft this week, saying he should be fined for operating a plane without a license.