Vladimir Putin News

Mikhail Khodorkovsky , once his country's richest man, has resided in "gulag lite," as he calls the Russian penal system under Vladimir Putin , for six years.

Russian tycoon Oleg Deripaska visited the United States twice this year, his spokesman said on Friday, but declined to say if he solved a visa row with the United States which had long irked top Russian officials.

Putin's call for developing high-tech industries echoes statements by his successor and protege, President Dmitry Medvedev.

It is planned to sign a protocol of the meeting on the results of the negotiations.

" [When president Putin was] Asked at a news conference [following his meeting with PM Tymoshenko] to comment on Saakashvili's current visit to Kiev, the Russian strongman premier known for his bad boy image and sharp tongue said the Georgian leader and his host, Ukraine's fiercely pro-Western president Viktor Yushchenko, should meet without ties.

Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev criticized Kremlin policies Friday and toyed with the ambitious idea of attempting a political comeback.

The Russian President has dismissed a key aide for apparent abuse of office in a move that marks the first serious split within the Kremlin since Dmitri Medvedev succeeded Vladimir Putin.

While public opinion on the matter remains mixed, the Kremlin and government have both said they do not want executions to resume, and praise flooded in from human rights groups.

United Russia's majority in the State Duma suffered a major blow to its image Wednesday, when the Federation Council voted down controversial tax hikes on car owners that were broadly criticized by auto owners, opposition parties and eventually the Kremlin.

Two years before she was killed in the stairwell of her Moscow apartment, Anna Politkovskaya mused about life as the Kremlin's number one enemy and pronounced it a "miracle" that she was stillalive.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin was to hold rare talks with his Ukrainian counterpart Yulia Tymoshenko on Thursday aimed at preventing a repeat of last winter's gas crisis.

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said he thought that hip-hop could be a cure for alcohol and drug abuse and praised the country's rappers for refining an otherwise alien culture by putting 'Russian charm' into it.

A Russian lawyer representing the embattled Hermitage Capital investment fund has died in a Moscow prison after complaining for weeks that he was denied adequate medical treatment.

A Russian lawyer jailed after uncovering evidence of police involvement in the theft of $230 million from the government has died in prison, officials said Tuesday, and his American partner is accusing the authorities of killing him.

Leaders of the European Union are hoping to patch up relations with Russia. The EU and Russia, led by President Dmitry Medvedev, are scheduled to discuss energy security, climate change, trade and human rights at their biannual summit in Stockholm, the Swedish capital.

Vladimir Putin's efforts to get down with younger voters appears to have backfired after the Russian president made an embarrassing appearance on a hip-hop talent show.

Putin in da house? Da! He's tracked Siberian tigers wearing military camouflage, sat in the cockpit of a fighter jet, and shown off black-belt judo moves.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton wrapped up a European tour on Wednesday by calling on Russia to uphold human rights and prevent attacks on activists who challenge the Kremlin.

Portland heavy-machinery dealers are forging farther into the Russian Far East, a rugged region that has crushed many a U.S. enterprise.

Slovenia became the latest European country to join Gazprom's South Stream pipeline project on Saturday, signing an agreement which paves the way for Russian gas to reach European markets.