Russia

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Russia Wildly Exaggerates Crowds at Pro-Putin Rally

Authorities say 25K; media put it at 5K or fewer

(Newser) - Authorities said 25,000 people attended a pro-Putin rally yesterday in Russia, but the real number was "not even close" to that amount, reports the New York Times —and many of the attendees weren't there of their own free will. "Apparently it’s our duty. We’...

Nets Owner to Run Against Putin

But Mikhail Prokhorov says he won't attack him too vociferously

(Newser) - Eccentric Russian billionaire and New Jersey Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov has his eye on a new prize: He wants to be president of Russia, he announced today. "This is the most important decision of my life," he said at a news conference, according to Bloomberg . Prokorov promised to...

Kremlin Tries to Calm Protesters

Medvedev writes conciliatory note on Facebook

(Newser) - Russian leaders are swiftly trying to ease tensions over national elections that have sparked massive demonstrations in Moscow and around Russia, the Guardian reports. "We respect the point of view of the protesters," said a rep from Prime Minister Putin's office. "We will continue to listen...

Thousands Protest Russia Vote Results
 Thousands Protest 
 Russia Vote Results 
UPDATED

Thousands Protest Russia Vote Results

Police give rare permission for mass rally in Moscow

(Newser) - Tens of thousands of Muscovites thronged to a square across the river from the Kremlin today to protest alleged electoral fraud and urge an end to Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's rule. The demands were repeated at other rallies across the country in the largest public show of discontent in...

Ruckus Erupts After Raunchy Medvedev Tweet

Prez allegedly called jailed activist a 'sheep' with an affinity for...

(Newser) - Well, this isn't very presidential: Dmitry Medvedev appeared to retweet a disparaging remark against jailed opposition activist Alexei Navalny shortly after riot police stopped a second post-election protest Tuesday night. "Today it became clear that a person who writes in their blog the words 'party of crooks...

Putin Blames Protests on ... Hillary Clinton

He accuses US State Department of being behind the demonstrations

(Newser) - Hillary Clinton is the secret mastermind behind the post-election protests roiling through Moscow and St. Petersburg, Vladimir Putin alleged today, in his first public comments on the unrest. "She sent a signal to some activists in the country," Putin told supporters, according to the Telegraph . "They got...

As Russia Erupts, Gorbachev Steps In

More rallies expected for today

(Newser) - Mikhail Gorbachev is stepping into the fray, and urging Russian authorities to annul the results of Sunday's scandal-ridden elections and hold a new vote. His voice is joined by those of thousands of Russians who have taken to the streets of Moscow and St. Petersburg since Monday, and Gorbachev...

Russia Now World's Most Dangerous Nation to Fly

Series of deadly crashes blamed on lax regulation

(Newser) - Russia is now, mile for mile, the deadliest place in the world to fly, the Wall Street Journal finds. Nine fatal crashes—including one that killed an entire professional hockey team —have claimed a total of 140 lives. While eight of the crashes involved old Soviet-era aircraft, experts say...

Russia Jails Protest Leaders
 Russia Jails Protest Leaders 

Russia Jails Protest Leaders

But more demonstrations planned for tonight

(Newser) - Two notable opposition figures have been charged with crimes relating to yesterday’s massive election protest in Moscow—even as angry Russians plan for more protests tonight. Ilya Yashin, the leader of the Solidarity movement, was convicted by a judge today of organizing an unauthorized rally and disobeying police orders,...

Thousands Protest Putin in Moscow

 Thousands Protest 
 Putin in Moscow 
ELECTIONS FALLOUT

Thousands Protest Putin in Moscow

They say he stuffed the ballot box

(Newser) - Somewhere between 5,000 and 10,000 people poured into the streets of Moscow today chanting things like “Russia without Putin!” to protest the prime minister’s allegedly rigged victory in the weekend’s election. Police detained an as-yet-unknown number of demonstrators, including several hundred who were marching...

Putin's Party Walloped in Russian Vote

May lose majority in parliament

(Newser) - Vladimir Putin's grand plans to be Russia's next president may have hit a snag: The PM's United Russia party suffered a major setback in parliamentary elections held today, reports Reuters , securing only 48.5% of the vote amid allegations of widespread voter fraud. That marks a significant...

Putin Officially Running for Prez

United Russia party nominates him to run in March elections

(Newser) - Vladimir Putin has decided that he'd like to be Russia's top dog again, so his United Russia party today obliged him by formally nominating him to run for president in March's elections. Pooty-poot, who has relegated himself to the No. 2 prime minister job since 2008, has...

Russian Newscaster Seems to Flip Off Obama On-Air

Not so, says the station: But it still fired her

(Newser) - Some things need no translation: A Russian newscaster has been fired after she raised her middle finger while mentioning Barack Obama in a news item, reports the Telegraph . The privately owned REN TV called the on-air move by Tatyana Limanova "unacceptable." The channel, though, added that Limanova was...

Russia Threatens to Aim Missiles at NATO Shield

Medvedev also says he'll back out of the START treaty

(Newser) - Russia is once again making noise about NATO's plans to build a missile defense system in Eastern Europe. Dmitry Medvedev warned that Russia would deploy new missiles and aim them at the shield installations today, in a harshly-worded statement that the AP sees as an attempt to rally domestic...

Syria Agrees 'in Principle' to Let Observers In

As violence from dissidents mounts

(Newser) - As anti-government protests intensified and armed rebels started attacking government installations, Bashar al-Assad's regime has agreed "in principle" to allow Arab League observers into Syria, a senior official tells the AP . "Syria has agreed in principle to the Arab League proposal ," he said. "We are...

Russian Craft's Quest: Grab Martian Moondust

Takes tiny creatures along for the ride

(Newser) - A Russian spacecraft will depart for a Martian moon as soon as tomorrow. Its mission: to land on Phobos and collect soil to bring home to Earth, Scientific American reports. Researchers aim to learn about the moon’s development and composition. And should they discover ice or hydrated rocks, the...

Crew Emerges From 520-Day Mars 'Flight'

Mission 'lands' without ever leaving planet

(Newser) - They’re free—and they don’t appear to have gone crazy. The crew of Russia’s simulated Mars mission has landed, by which we mean, been released from the narrow confines of the “spaceship” they’ve been trapped in for 520 days . The six men, ages 27 to...

Historian Lived With 26 Female Corpses

Grave-robbing Russian was writing a book about cemeteries

(Newser) - Somewhere along the way, Russian historian Anatoly Moskvin's interest in cemeteries went from academic to twisted. Police probing grave desecrations found the corpses of 26 women in the 45-year-old researcher's apartment, the Telegraph reports. The skeletal remains had been dressed up in new clothes. Moskvin was in the...

Cause of Deadly Hockey Plane Crash: Pilot Hit Brake

Had crew realized the problem, takeoff could have been aborted

(Newser) - A tragic coda to the story of the Russian hockey team that perished in a plane crash in September: The accident was caused because one of the pilots accidentally pressed the brakes during takeoff, officials revealed today. The New York Times calls it an "extraordinarily basic human error,"...

Switched at Birth: Russian Parents Raise Wrong Daughters After Maternity Ward Error
Parents Raise Each Other's Kid After Hospital Snafu
switched at birth

Parents Raise Each Other's Kid After Hospital Snafu

Mistake goes unnoticed for 12 years

(Newser) - Two Russian families raised each other's daughter without knowing it—and they didn't learn the truth until the girls were 12. After Yuri and Yuliya Belyaeva got divorced, Yuri wouldn't support his daughter because he didn't believe she was his. A DNA test confirmed his suspicion,...

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