... 156 people died after a pyrotechnic show ignited a bamboo ceiling was sentenced to six and a half years in a prison colony Monday. Khromaya Loshad, or "Lame Horse," co-owner Konstantin Mrykhin was also required to compensate victims of the fire in the amount of more than 200 million rubles ($6.6 million) for moral and material harm, the Investigative Committee said in a statement on its website. The trail has been highly emotional, with victims' relatives shouting and cursing at the defendant...

A fire at a munitions depot northeast of Vladivostok set off a series of explosions early Friday, prompting area residents to evacuate. A fire at an ammunition warehouse northeast of Vladivostok early Friday set off a series of explosions, injuring a soldier...

A Russian An-30 military jet caught fire at an airport in the Czech town of Chaslav, after the plane suffered a malfunction with its landing gear. No one was killed, but most of the passengers were injured. A Russian An-30 military jet caught fire at an airport...

Russia on Wednesday successfully test-fired a new intercontinental ballistic missile with an enhanced capability to penetrate missile defenses and commissioned a new early warning radar. Russia on Wednesday successfully test-fired a new intercontinental ballistic...

Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov fired a top official for his wife's participation in a street fight with members of youth group Nashi over the way she had parked her car. Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov fired a top official for his wife's participation in a street fight with members...

... televised interview as president on Thursday, Medvedev said over 50 percent of regional heads have been replaced over his time in office and said that even when official statements indicated that they resigned of their own free will, sometimes they were fired. He also said criminal cases have been opened against allegedly corrupt governors. 179742

U.S. Ambassador Michael McFaul remains a hot potato in Russian politics. U.S. Ambassador Michael McFaul remains a hot potato in Russian politics. A meeting between McFaul and the ruling United Russia party sparked a demand from A Just Russia for an ethics inquiry — a tit-for-tat of how United Russia treated A Just Russia when its members met with McFaul earlier this year. McFaul sat down with the head of United Russia's faction in the State Duma, Andrei Vorobyov, to discuss cooperation...

In just six months, from the end of September to March, Russia was transformed. The state's gradual decomposition — its degenerate ethos of rent-seeking and appropriation of public goods — finally pushed Russians, especially its young post-Communist middle class, into the streets. Soviet-era deference to paternalistic leaders gave way to self-confidence and distrust of established authority. In just six months, from the end of September...

Analysts warned Monday that privately owned investment bank Renaissance Capital would be forced into more redundancies, after it fired a second tranche of employees last week in the same month that it announced its biggest loss for 10 years. Analysts warned Monday that privately owned investment bank Renaissance Capital would be forced into more redundancies...

... to extinguish a blaze. The muscular firefighters in sharp uniforms chatted lightheartedly near a row of well-equipped Iveco firetrucks, ready at a moment's notice to drop the banter and race out to extinguish a blaze. The equipment inside the fire station in the Moskva City business district is brand new, and there is even a guestroom where exhausted firefighters can plop down to watch Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ" movie or feed fish in an aquarium. But the atmosphere...

Air pollution exceeded permissible levels in Moscow during the extended May Day holiday weekend because of fires in the Moscow region, a city official said Wednesday. Air pollution exceeded permissible levels in Moscow during the extended May Day holiday weekend because of fires in the Moscow region, a city official said Wednesday. "Over the holidays...

Ukraine is planning to fire rockets to break up rain clouds if bad weather threatens to upset football matches during next month's Euro 2012 tournament. Ukraine is planning to fire rockets to break up rain clouds if bad weather threatens to upset football matches...

The head of the Moscow metro escalator service has been fired in the wake of an accident that injured ten last month and repeated reconstruction delays. The head of the Moscow metro escalator service has been fired in the wake of an accident that injured ten last month and repeated reconstruction delays...

... shake-up of three branches of the armed forces within two weeks. Medvedev replaced Admiral Vladimir Vysotsky with a vice admiral, Viktor Chirkov in a decree announced by the Kremlin on Sunday. Vysotsky's nearly five-year stint as Navy commander included a fire aboard an atomic-powered submarine in December and a deadly accident on another submarine in 2008. Authorities initially said all nuclear arms aboard the Yekaterinburg had been unloaded long before a fire broke out aboard the docked vessel on Dec...

Midsize oil producer Bashneft has fired two senior executives as the company tries to clean up an Arctic oil spill before the spring thaw arrives at the end of May. Midsize oil producer Bashneft has fired two senior executives as the company tries to clean...

... the back. The government admits that 15 people were killed, while eyewitnesses say the number of victims is much higher — about 70. Nonetheless, no charges have been lodged against the interior minister, who said he had given the order to open fire. Notably, not one policeman was seriously wounded in the conflict. This undermines the outrageous government claim that "oil workers attacked police officers and innocent bystanders." It is clear that no attempt was made to use ordinary...

... Interfax. As a result of the beatings, Putintsev fled his base and was caught, then sentenced to 15 days military detainment. He then tried to flee from detainment and was shot by a guard. Guards at military detainment centers are authorized by law to fire upon prisoners attempting to flee. The human rights court found that by allowing Putintsev to be fired upon, Russia was not upholding its obligations to protect his right to life. The court also found that the military knew that Putintsev had psychological...

... Superjets, said it would not suspend operation of the plane. "All Superjets undergo daily technical inspections, and flights are going according to schedule," the airline said on Twitter. Yekaterina Solovyova, an Aeroflot flight attendant, was fired for joking about the crash on her Twitter account. "What, a Superjet crashed? Hahaha! Piece of crap! It's a pity it's not Aeroflot's, there would be one less and maybe they would even sell the rest back to someone,” she wrote. She later...

... name. From there, the dance between the two sides moved to Tverskoi Bulvar, where hundreds of people headed toward Pushkin Square only to be chased back by riot police. Police vans lined both sides of the boulevard, and police officers were armed with fire extinguishers in response to flares and fires that tarnished protests Sunday. The protesters' final destinations were Chistoprudny Bulvar — where police again picked off protesters, detaining people simply sitting on benches if they were wearing...

... escalators, turnstiles and utilities. The station had been closed since Feb. 5 of last year for repairs, including replacing the escalators, the service term of which had expired. New turnstiles with glass doors were also installed, along with new plumbing, fire safety and ventilation equipment, RIA-Novosti reported. The reopening date for the station had been pushed back several times, originally having been set for late December. 179742