The infamous opulence of the Russian rich has come under fire from an unlikely source — Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.

For years, Vladimir Putin has appealed to his electorate with stability and predictability. But on Feb. 9, he questioned the legitimacy of property rights in the country.

London's High Court sentenced Mukhtar Ablyazov, the former head of Kazakhstan's BTA Bank, to 22 months in prison last week for contempt of court. He was found guilty of lying under oath, but there has been no ruling yet on the main question of whether Ablyazov embezzled at least $5 billion of the bank's assets.

Police detained a member of the all-female rock band Pussy Riot after the group gave an unsanctioned concert complete with swear words Tuesday inside Christ the Savior Cathedral.

Sergei Mokhnatkin greets visitors with the warm smile of an old-world gentleman, but it does little to hide the exhaustion on his face.

Russia will not attend an international meeting on the conflict in Syria this week because the Syrian government will not be represented.

Campaign advertisements for presidential candidate Mikhail Prokhorov are being illegally torn down in a number of cities across Russia, a Prokhorov representative said Tuesday, Interfax reported.

A handful of commercial officers at local U.S. diplomatic offices have done their discreet part — that included asking a lot of questions — for American and Russian mutual trade to reach a record high of $43 billion last year.

Russia may prohibit its airlines from carbon-emission trading in protest against a European Union law it says is unfair.

Opposition leaders called on their supporters Tuesday to join Sunday's Maslenitsa festivities downtown to burn effigies symbolizing the end of "Putin's political winter."

Russia's armed forces would be within their full rights to use nuclear weapons if any threats to the integrity of the country arise, Russian General Staff head Nikolay Makarov said Wednesday.

Katya moved to Moscow seven years ago and three years later — when she was pregnant with her first child — discovered she was HIV-positive.

Monaco-based potash tycoon Dmitry Rybolovlyev has bought the priciest piece of residential real estate in New York City, paying $88 million for a Manhattan penthouse.

"I'm probably not going to move back for a couple of decades," said Yekaterina Paramonova, a third-year undergraduate majoring in nuclear science and engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, echoing the sentiment of many Russians who have tasted life outside the motherland.

"Let's look at the history of human development," he begins. "Somebody always has to be first. That person says, 'We need to develop in this way,' and nobody believes him; they're suspicious of him. Nobody believed Steve Jobs or Bill Gates at first."

The campaign rhetoric in Russia's presidential election has grown increasingly harsh. This happens in many countries, but the difference with Russia is that "external factors" play a disproportionately greater role in the political process. In most other countries, voters evaluate candidates based on their domestic policies or track records, especially with regard to the economy.

An HSBC investment report released Friday made a glowing case for Russian equities, ridiculed concerns about political risk ahead of the March 4 election and said macroeconomic support was flowing Moscow's way.

One of the last men to speak to Moammar Gadhafi before his death, president of the World Chess Federation Kirsan Ilyumzhinov warned Monday that a third world war could unfold in Syria.

Unprecedented protests have been held across Russia in recent months at which tens of thousands of demonstrators have been allowed to verbally lambaste the government.

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin inspected a bobsledding training course outside Moscow on Thursday, taking a test run as a co-pilot.

Pussy Riot, a feminist punk collective from Moscow, creates protest through its dissident songs and unsanctioned performances, including a brief unauthorized concert in late January on Red Square.

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin unveiled his plan on social policy Monday, focusing on how Russia will boost its dwindling population amid a demographic crisis that threatens to turn the country into "void space."

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin got very angry last Wednesday when he met with the editors-in-chief of Russia's top media outlets.

A prominent French writer and journalist has been kicked out of the country on the grounds that she did not have the right to research a book while on a business visa.

In Tuesday's second presidential debate of the campaign season, firebrand Vladimir Zhirinovsky harangued Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's levelheaded proxy over her patron's refusal to debate and alleged desire to rule for life.

Demographics make it a candidate’s market, but foreigners have to offer something unique to find their place.

A schmaltzy music video hailing Prime Minister Vladimir Putin as Russia's savior became a hit on the Russian Internet on Tuesday, with many bloggers and YouTube users poking fun at the song's hyperbolic lyrics.

The history of successive authoritarian regimes in Russia reveals a recurring pattern: They do not die from external blows or domestic insurgencies.

Putin has always been the ultimate "Teflon president" — but certainly not in the Ronald Reagan sense of the word. Putin's brand of Teflon is clearly made in Russia. Because he wants to avoid uncomfortable questions about his decade-long rule, Putin is once again refusing to participate in presidential debates.

Russia's armed forces would be within their full rights to use nuclear weapons if any threats to the integrity of the country arise, Russian General Staff head Nikolay Makarov said Wednesday.