The Kremlin

President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday denounced opponents who receive financial assistance from abroad and vowed that Russia would not allow democracy to be imposed from the outside.

President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday denounced opponents who receive financial assistance from abroad and vowed that Russia would not allow democracy to be imposed from the outside.

President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday denounced his opponents who receive financial assistance from abroad and said Russia would not allow democracy to be imposed on it from the outside.

A former Russian police officer was to go on trial Wednesday on charges of involvement in the murder of crusading anti-Kremlin journalist Anna Politkovskaya, with mystery still surrounding who ordered the killing.

A British Royal Navy submariner who pleaded guilty to meeting two men he believed were Russian spies to pass on secret codes and details of submarine operations will be sentenced on Wednesday.

Russian investigators on Tuesday raided the homes of opposition activists said to have attended seminars abroad on how to spark a revolution aimed at toppling President Vladimir Putin.

Billionaire Chelsea FC owner Roman Abramovich is to pay almost $1.49 billion to acquire a stake in Russian mining giant Norilsk Nickel to help end a feud between its main shareholders, they said Tuesday.

President Vladimir Putin on Monday suggested Russia should revive the Hero of Labour title, a highly-coveted Soviet-era award established in the early years of the USSR to mobilise workers and increase output.

Georgia and Russia are to hold their first direct diplomatic talks since the arch-foes severed ties after the 2008 war over the separatist region of South Ossetia, Georgia's foreign minister said Monday.

Stark divisions within Russia's elite were exposed Monday when a hot mic mishap showed Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev slamming security forces as "jerks" for launching an early morning raid against a filmmaker.

Georgia and Russia are to hold first their direct diplomatic talks since the arch-foes severed ties after the 2008 war over the separatist region of South Ossetia, Georgia's foreign minister said Monday.

President Vladimir Putin on Friday launched construction of the long-awaited South Stream pipeline that the Kremlin hopes will pump Russia's gas to Europe while avoiding its unpredictable neighbour Ukraine.

The US Congress drew a furious response from the Kremlin on Thursday by passing legislation that targeted human rights abusers in the prison death of Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky.

US President Barack Obama on Monday called on Russia to join him as an equal partner in updating a nuclear non-proliferation deal, after Moscow opted not to extend it earlier this year.

A 200-year-old letter in which Napoleon Bonaparte vows to blow up the Kremlin fetched 187,500 euros at a French auction on Sunday, while an essay by him on the failed Russian campaign set another record.

Around 60 samples were taken from the remains of the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat for a probe into whether he was poisoned by polonium, a Swiss newspaper reported Sunday, quoting a lead investigator.

The Kremlin on Friday insisted President Vladimir Putin was in good physical shape and able to work normally, after reports that he had put off a visit by the Japanese premier raised new concerns about his health.

When Vladimir Putin fired Anatoly Serdyukov, his defence minister and one of only three officials with access to nuclear launch codes, Russia was stunned.

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda has cancelled a planned visit to Russia next month due to a "health issue" affecting President Vladimir Putin, media reports and a government source said on Friday.

A Russian court on Thursday issued an order that would limit Internet access to videos of performances by punk band Pussy Riot, two of whose members are jailed, ruling the films to be extremist.