Certain religious web sites are abuzz with talk of Armageddon.

The Federal Security Service, or FSB, is the organization that has for all intents and purposes replaced the KGB. The linkage between the two is open and explicit on every level, from symbolic to that of institutional memory. The KGB's symbol in the Soviet era was a sword and a shield embossed with a hammer and sickle. That symbol, representing the workers and peasants, has been replaced by a two-headed eagle, the emblem of tsarist, and now, post-Soviet Russia. Systems change, but the sword and shield abide.

Putin Fires Nenets Governor President Vladimir Putin on Friday fired Alexei Barinov, governor of the Nenets autonomous district, and nominated a former KGB officer to replace him. Putin suspended Barinov in early June after the governor was arrested and charged with fraud and embezzlement. His replacement, whom the regional legislature must approve, is Valery Potapenko, the district's former chief federal inspector. The presidential press service said Barinov was fired after ""losing the president's trust."" This is the second time Putin has exercised his newly acquired power to fire governors. (MT) Corruption, Prices Top List A majority of Russians think the government should focus on tackling corruption and bringing down prices, a new national survey shows. According to the survey, conducted in mid-July by the independent Levada Center, 82 percent of respondents put corruption and prices on top of their list of concerns, Interfax reported Sunday.

Former Nuclear Power Minister Yevgeny Adamov, wanted by the United States on charges of embezzling U.S. aid money, walked out of prison Friday after the Supreme Court ordered him released on bail.

Under draft legislation, billboards would only be allowed in areas where they do not impede the visibility of road signs.

The Interior Ministry has slapped restrictions on aid workers in Chechnya, adding to difficulties posed by new rules that require nongovernmental organizations to produce paperwork such as the death certificates of founding members.