Russia & CIS

The numbers of Muscovites applying for international passports decreased by 40 percent in the first 11 months of 2015 compared to the same period of 2014, the Izvestia newspaper reported Tuesday.

Ilya Zelendinov, the Russian doctor suspected of beating a patient to death, is now facing tougher charges, the RBC newspaper reported Tuesday, citing a statement by the Investigative Committee.

Two Russian citizens have been handed prison sentences after an Estonian court found them guilty of abetting an Islamic State recruit, the state-run RIA Novosti news agency reported Tuesday.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has disagreed with U.S. President Barack Obama's statement that Russia is a regional power, and also said that he doesn't see the U.S. as a unique nation.

A 44-year-old woman who works as a cleaner at state energy giant Gazprom had a luxurious Dior purse stolen from her Mitsubishi Outlander car, tabloid website LifeNews reported Tuesday.

Russia's Prosecutor General Yury Chaika gave an interview to the state-run Rossiiskaya Gazeta newspaper Tuesday and said his office wouldn't "weaken its grip" because of "information attacks" on it.

Moscow's Presnensky district court has declined to process Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny's lawsuit against Prosecutor General Yury Chaika and the opposition-leaning Echo Moskvy radio station.

The Orenburg region branch of Russia's Investigative Committee has opened a criminal investigation after a man died on a local highway on Jan. 3, when dozens of drivers were trapped in a traffic jam for more than 16 hours amid heavy snowfall, the Kommersant newspaper reported Tuesday, citing the Committee's online statement.

Granting Syrian President Bashar Assad asylum in Russia would be much easier than sheltering U.S. intelligence leaker Edward Snowden, President Putin said in a recent interview, noting that it was premature to discuss this idea.

Rosstat reports that Russian annual inflation for 2015 on consumer prices was set at 12.9 percent.

More than half of Russians - 52 percent - believe that the "hardest times" for the country are yet to come, a poll by state-run pollster VTsIOM revealed on Tuesday.

Kremlin Chief of Staff Sergei Ivanov said that 4,500 websites inciting extremism were also taken down in Russia.

More than 50 flights both departing from and arriving to Domodedovo, Sheremetyevo and Vnukovo airports in Moscow were canceled Tuesday due to bad weather, the Meduza news website reported Tuesday.

Russian Defense Ministry said that forces in Russia's southern Kuban region will carry out several training launches from Iskander-M ballistic missile systems.

According to Russian Defense Ministry’s Eastern Military District’s press service, more than 3,000 personnel from Russia's Pacific Fleet have commenced missile force, air force and marine corps exercises in the Kamchatka Territory.

Russian Defense Minister said that five new missile regiments from the Russian Strategic Missile Forces will enter service in 2016.

The Russian Defense Ministry plans to complete the construction of its military facilities in the Arctic.

Russian President Vladimir Putin stated that Russia had no claims for the title of a superpower. At the same time, it is wrong to call Russia a regional power. According to Putin, one may say such things to prove their own exceptionalism. In the event of any threats to national security, Russia will use all means available to eliminate such threats

Moscow police are investigating the "No Pants Subway Ride" flashmob that reportedly took place on Sunday, the TASS news agency reported Monday, citing the Moscow police press office.

Ilya Zelendinov, a Russian surgeon suspected of beating a patient to death, said he regretted the incident and has paid the funeral costs to the relatives of the deceased, the RIA Novosti news agency reported Monday.