Russia & CIS

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.

Russian President Vladimir Putin says a number of "mistakes" committed by the US, Russia and NATO following the break-up of the Soviet Union has led to the current deterioration of relations between Moscow and the West, with NATO's expansion into eastern Europe one of the major damaging factors.

Galina Shirshina, former mayor of the Karelian city of Petrozavodsk who was dismissed by local legislature deputies in December 2015, has filed a suit demanding that the lawmakers' decision be overturned.

The Russian government said that it would investigate the findings regarding a new dead body found at the notorious Dyatlov Pass, while dismissing allegations that the group which spotted it has lost contact.

Authorities in the Moscow region are planning to reconstruct several rail crossings in 2016 to prevent traffic jams and will charge drivers 30-80 rubles ($0.4-$1) for passing through them, the Kommersant newspaper reported.

Almost 100 relatives of those who died in the Russian A321 airliner crash have filed a class action suit against the U.S. company that owned the plane and leased it to the Kogalymavia carrier company.

Crimean Finance Minister Irina Kiviko said that according to the operative data, 25.6 billion rubles were contributed to the budget of Crimea, 10 percent more than the initially predicted contribution of 23.2 billion.

A law outlining the right of a detainee to make a phone call no later than three hours after being arrested has come into force in Russia, the Rossiiskaya Gazeta state-owned newspaper reported Sunday.

Moscow clinics this year will start distributing free medication to drug addicts to treat overdoses, the Health Ministry's top drug specialist, Yevgeny Bryun, told local news website m24.ru.