Russia | featured news

Hundreds of Russians protesting against Vladimir Putin drove through Moscow Sunday ahead of the March 4 presidential election expected to seal his grip on power.

After more than two decades of drilling in Antarctica, Russian scientists have reached the surface of a gigantic freshwater lake hidden under miles of ice for some 20 million years — a lake that may hold life from the distant past and clues to the search for life on other planets.

Russia and China veto a draft resolution calling for Syria's president to leave power. The move came as activists said more than 200 people were killed in the city of Homs.

Tens of thousands marched in Moscow on Saturday against the rule of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who is seeking re-election.

The Russian Foreign Ministry announced Monday that it had convinced Bashar al-Assad’s government to start informal negotiations in Moscow with representatives of the opposition.

Russian liberal opposition leader Grigory Yavlinsky could be barred from running against Vladimir Putin in a presidential election after officials said Monday there were problems with his registration as a candidate.

The failed Russian space probe Phobos-Grunt fell back to Earth on Sunday, crashing in the southeastern Pacific Ocean off Chile, Russia's state news agency Itar-Tass announced.

Boris Akunin, the Russian author of the Erast Fandorin detective series, reveals he has written several books under the female pseudonym Anna Borisova.

The European Union might appear a military superpower, at least on paper. It has more uniformed personnel than the United States and overall EU defense spending outstrips Russia or China.

Some of the recent failures of Russian satellites may have been the result of sabotage by foreign forces, the nation's space chief said.