Tom Balmforth covers Russia and other former Soviet republics from his base in Moscow.
The reactions in Russia to the apparent beheading of a child in Moscow by an Uzbek nanny were varied and kneejerk, with authorities calling for a clampdown on nannies and nationalists.
At a press conference that was repeatedly interrupted by bomb threats, police with bullhorns, and hecklers, liberal opposition politician Ilya Yashin has presented a report condemning Chechen Republic leader Ramzan Kadyrov and calling on Russian President Vladimir Putin to dismiss him.
A leaked excerpt from a soon-to-be-released report by the Russian opposition on Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov accuses him of amassing a 30,000-strong "private army" that constitutes a threat to national security.
Researchers who track xenophobia in Russia have recorded an "impressive" decrease in hate crimes as the authorities appear to have stepped up pressure on far-right groups, in particular targeting nationalist critics of the Kremlin and its campaign in eastern Ukraine.
The grotesque political caricatures in a new children's magazine launched by Ukrainian separatists leave little room for the imagination.
A Russian government aide and former senior health official says the United States could be secretly infecting mosquitos with the Zika virus and then unleashing them on Russia.
The Russian opposition says the Moscow authorities are using ambitious citizen activists in the capital as Internet “bots,” encouraging them to write messages praising the authorities in return for vague promises of career progression.
News that NATO is bolstering its eastern flank was received frostily in Moscow, where pro-Kremlin media accused the alliance of inching duplicitously closer to Russia’s borders, bellicose saber-rattling, and even preparing for all-out war.
An open-source investigation group called the Conflict Intelligence Team alleges that a commemorative wristwatch secretly given by the Russian state to one of its soldiers shows that Russian military involvement in eastern Ukraine was authorized at the highest level.
Is Russian state television making use of paid, Russian-speaking interview subjects to paint a picture of an out-of-control migrant crisis in Germany?
A toddler's face seared by a firebomb, a kindergarten emptied by a bomb threat, a man warned to pay up or be forced into prostitution. As consumer debt rises in recession-hit Russia, collectors are resorting to threats and violence -- and sparking calls for action from lawmakers eager to look tough ahead of parliamentary elections.
Details on the long-awaited findings of a British public inquiry into the 2006 assassination of Aleksandr Litvinenko were scant in Russia, where state media covered developments with denunciations, allegations, and conspiracy theories.
Russian President Vladimir Putin's spokesman has played down Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov's statements threatening Kremlin critics, issuing what Russian government opponents called a dangerous endorsement.
A menacing Instagram post featuring an angry dog being restrained by Chechen strongman Ramzan Kadyrov is the latest salvo in an escalating confrontation between the Kremlin-backed regional leader and liberal Russians calling for his dismissal.
The Russian State Duma Committee on Constitutional Legislation and State-Building has declined to endorse a controversial draft bill that would introduce fines and arrests for people who publicly express their homosexuality.
As Russia's economy wobbles under the weight of flagging oil prices and sanctions over Moscow's actions in Ukraine, stoical Russians try to laugh it off.
A global prank reaches Russia's capital. But reports suggest that officials are not only unamused by pantless commuters -- they might be looking for grounds to prosecute.
A Russian official has proposed creating volunteer brigades of elderly men and women -- which he described as “pensioner patrols” -- to keep an eye on troubled families.
Russia's banking sector says well-connected RusAg Bank CEO Dmitry Patrushev is the best it's got.
Dozens stranded in a lethal snowstorm. Death by vodka, gruesome slayings, and a drunken village witch-hunt. The holiday season is supposed to be filled with joy, but Russia's long January vacation often seems to be tainted by tragedy -- and this year is no exception.
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