The history of Russian revolutions progresses in circles. In the 18th century those pardoned and exiled to Siberia following the December 1825 uprising against the monarchy wrote repentant letters in the form of philosophical essays to their sympathizers in Petersburg.

Until recently, election fever in Russia was like a gold rush. As political campaigns began to follow Western models and became increasingly sophisticated in the 1990s, a campaign for one candidate for the Duma cost about $100,000.

Despite a recent Russian Government authorization to release its production, sales, and mining data in carats, ALROSA, the state-controlled diamond miner, has refused, saying it will only issue the hitherto classified information to bankers and investors.

In his most detailed statement to date, President Vladimir Putin has spelled out Russia's priorities for transporting crude oil to Asian markets in the next decade. In diplomatic but unambiguous language, Putin rejected Japanese proposals, in favour of China, ignoring Indian proposals completely.

For nearly two weeks, following a Kremlin meeting between President Vladimir Putin and Russia’s leading businessmen, much was made of a so-called “privatization amnesty” offered by the president.

MOSCOW - Russia faces no threat of a social explosion, newspaper Vremya Novostei reported today, citing analysis of poll results received by ROMIR Monitoring and the Russian Social Projects Institute (InOP). Researchers maintain that within the past few months...

Sanoma WSOY, the Finnish media conglomerate, has given a strong vote of confidence to Russian stability and the future of free media in the country. In an all-cash deal, Sanoma...

MOSCOW - Russia's parliament drafted proposals for an anti-terrorism law on Monday, the day it began an inquiry into the Beslan school siege that killed more than 320 hostages, half of them children...

MOSCOW - Alexander Yakovenko, the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, refuted the statements made by several mass media sources that relations between...

MOSCOW - The Federal Political Council of the Union of Right Forces (SPS) has sharply criticized the Russian President's proposals on changes in the procedure for governor elections...

Russia rejected on Wednesday U.S. criticism of sweeping political changes proposed by President Vladimir Putin, saying this was strictly Moscow's business. "First of all, the processes that are under way in Russia are our internal affair," Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said...

For a decade Washington has been backing the Turkish and Azerbaijan governments to steer the export of Caspian region crude oil away from Russia. Russia's newest riposte has been to ally the Russian and Iranian oil industries...

MOSCOW - There are no problems left in the energy sector between Russia and Belarus, Russian President Vladimir Putin declared at a meeting with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko held in the resort town of Sochi...

KIEV - At negotiations with Russian President Vladimir Putin held in Sochi (Russia), Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma proposed to be a mediator in the Georgian-Ossetian conflict...

KIEV - By the end of this August, the Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council may consider issues concerning Ukrainian troops in Iraq, Markiyan Lubkivsky, the head of the press service of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry declared at today's briefing.

YUZHNO-SAKHALINSK - Ivan Malakhov, Governor of the Sakhalin region, met with Japanese Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Shoichi Nakagawa, to discuss the implementation of the Sakhalin-1...

ST. PETERSBURG - Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has informed his Russian counterpart Sergey Ivanov on US plans to shift its forces stationed around the globe, in some cases potentially bringing...

TBILISI - The cortege of Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania was fired upon on a gorge road in South Ossetia, Imedi television reported. The Prime Minister was on his way to a Georgian village...

TBILISI - Georgia demands that any armed forces except for the peacekeeping contingent should be immediately withdrawn from the area...

MOSCOW - The Russian government has approved an agreement between the Russian Techsnabexport company and US-based Exelon Generation Company and Constellation Generation Group...

TBILISI - A large-scale framework agreement on friendship and cooperation between Russia and Georgia is 90 percent ready, Georgian Ambassador...

MOSCOW - Georgian and Ossetian troops exchange fire as tensions rose in the region, NTV television reported. This is the most violent exchange of gunfire between the two parties since 1992...

CHISINAU - Moscow believes that except the ongoing peacekeeping operation in the Transnistrian region there are no other ways to solve the conflict, Russian Special Envoy to Chisinau Igor Savolsky said.

TBILISI - Georgian right-wing opposition representatives insist on Georgia's withdrawal from the CIS. The lawmakers have been offered to discuss the issue at today's parliamentary meeting.

CHISINAU - Russia's envoy Igor Savolsky has arrived in Chisinau to take part in the ongoing negotiations between Transnistria and Moldova, the press department of the Moldavian Foreign Ministry reported.

MOSCOW - At the session, which started ahead of schedule, members of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Russia (KPRF) have made a decision to dismiss KPRF Central Committee Chairman Gennady Zyuganov...

The article contains the main socio-economic indicators for the Central, Southern and Privolzhsky federal districts.

Economic, consumer goods and energy forecasts are included in the article.

"Xenophobia, as a socio-political phenomenon in Russia, has become so widespread that it now constitutes a serious danger to more than 100 nationalities and ethnic groups in the society."

Thomas, a Liberian-born engineer, was fearful and did not want to give his last name. He came to Russia to study in the early 1990s. He had planned to return home upon graduation...