Church insiders said the attack, which happened late Thursday in southern Moscow, could have been the work of radical Islamists.

Gazprom wants to take over GdF Suez's 5.3 percent stake in VNG, in exchange according GdF a participation in the planned Nord Stream pipeline under the Baltic Sea.

The Alrosa, a diesel-electric submarine, was on a training exercise when the problem occurred, the agency quoted a source at the Russian Black Sea fleet as saying.

Regional police spokesman Mark Tolchinsky said Sunday that police shot the militant late Saturday on a highway in the Buinaksk district of Dagestan.

Putin offered mild praise to the governing party, which had just met with a harsh rebuke from President Dmitry Medvedev, and promoted government programs in his first major domestic policy speech since the president’s state-of-the-nation address.

In his clearest reference yet to the massive allegations of fraud in last month’s regional elections, Medvedev said the party must learn to win fairly.