President Vladimir Putin attended an early Wednesday Russian Orthodox Christmas service and hailed his troops' 'holy mission' to defend Russia, pairing the ceremony with a holiday address on unity, charity and support for the armed forces.
Red Square and VDNKh easily rank among the most striking places I've visited -- both for their historical significance and architectural splendour.
My admiration for Russian culture, vision and ambition grew with every step as I clocked the miles, Nitin Sathe tells us after a visit to Moscow and St Petersburg.
It stands to reason that at the meeting on Friday, Pope Francis conveyed to the Kremlin, some message in regard of the developments in Ukraine. The long duration of the meeting in the Russian embassy flags that it was substantive. Indeed, it took place even as the first Russian tank column was sighted on the outskirts of Kyiv, notes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'Parents are forced to provide their children to Russian re-education camps in occupied territories and in different parts of Russia, for example, in Chechnya, where Ukrainian children wearing military uniform are taught to use weapons.'
'If we truly wish to understand and apply Marx's insights today, we must reject the rigid dogmas that later 'Marxists' imposed in his name.'
Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu to introduce a 36-hour ceasefire along the entire line of contact between the warring sides in Ukraine from January 6-7, the Kremlin said on Thursday.
Russian police reportedly raided an art gallery in St Petersburg to seize a painting that allegedly depicted President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev in lingerie.
Alina Kabaeva was first linked to Putin more than a decade ago, while she was a medal-winning gymnast.
The Moscow and All-Russia patriarch has died at the age of 79, an official church announcement said. A senior church official quoted by RIA Novsoti said heart failure was believed to be the cause of the death.
Hindus condemn Russian Archbishop's comments against Krishna
Putin on Thursday announced that the ceasefire will allow Orthodox Christians to attend services in Church on Christmas, according to the statement released by Kremlin on its website.
A Russian court on Monday suspended its verdict till December 28 on the demand for banning Hindu scripture Bhagavad Gita, which a group linked to the Christian Orthodox Church has described as 'extremist'.
'Another friend told me that the Russians had come to their homes, killed their neighbours and raped his neighbour's wife, and they killed even children in Bucha.'
Four days before the first anniversary of Russia's brutal invasion of Ukraine, United States President Joe Biden sent the tyrant in the Kremlin a message by making a surprise visit to Kyiv, Ukraine's capital, to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
When will Vladimir Putin end this war and its devastation?
In 1511 The Chora Church was converted into a mosque and in 1958 it was opened as a museum to the public.
Scenes from the bitter fighting in trenches in Bakhmut in Ukraine's Donetsk region during a bitter and cold winter have been compared to scenes from trench warfare during World War more than a century ago.
Glimpses of rare snowfall in Jerusalem, Israel, and Athens, Greece.
'He will consolidate the Russian hold over the Eastern Russian majority provinces in Ukraine and quickly withdraw from the rest of Ukraine.' 'At all costs, the Russians should avoid attacking and capturing urban areas, else they risk getting into a quagmire,' cautions Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
American analysts and their camp followers in India are talking absolute rubbish when they try to establish that India is facing a Hobson's choice in regard of Donbass, called upon to take sides between Russia and the West, asserts Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
India has approached top Russian authorities to appropriately resolve the move to ban Hindu scripture Bhagavad Gita, saying it is not merely a religious text, but one of the defining treatises of Indian thought.
India has strongly taken up the demand for banning Hindu scripture Bhagavad Gita, which a group linked to the Christian Orthodox Church has described as 'extremist', with the Russian authorities, Indian Ambassador to Russia Ajai Malhotra said.
The Bhagavad Gita has lasted for centuries and will continue to last for centuries regardless of what a court in Siberia decides, says Bibek Debroy, who spoke to Rediff.com's Toral Varia Deshpande on the controversy.
Supporters of the campaign include the Mayor of London and several British MPs.
We bring you a presentation of some of the best photos from around the world in the month gone by
Madonna's Moscow concert kicked up controversy, but went off without incident.
How many of these destinations will you add to your 2020 bucket list?
'But Russia is well aware of Pakistan's nuisance power on its border.'
There will be no discrimination against gay people during the Winter Olympics in Sochi next month, a Russian lawmaker said on Monday.
'I want to show that we are also part of this society and want to participate just as much, whether it is for security or whatever community work there.'
Members of the all-women protest group Pussy Riot released a new music video on Thursday criticising Russia's staging of the Winter Olympics and its human rights record, in a rare show of dissent during the Games.
Here's a collection of some of the best photos from around the world shot in the last 24 hours
The U.N. General Assembly called on Wednesday for an international truce during the 2014 Winter Olympics in Russia and urged Moscow "to promote social inclusion without discrimination" amid outrage over the country's ban on gay "propaganda" among minors.
'There were moments when you didn't know if you will get out of there alive.'
Vaihayasi Pande Daniel glances at the life and political career of Alexey Navalny who has been banned from challenging Vladimir Putin in Russia's presidential election.
About 41,000 rooms are being provided for the Games and any failure to have them ready in time would be a potential blow to President Vladimir Putin's hopes that the Winter Olympics will show how far Russia has come since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.
Triggering angry criticism from the West and even calls to boycott the Sochi games, Russia adopted in June a ban on homosexual "propaganda" among minors, a law denounced by critics as discriminatory and aimed at stifling dissent.
Here's a collection of images of the past week.
Australian photographer Warren Richardson has won the Photo of the Year 2015 award at the 59th annual World Press Photo Contest, results of which were announced on Thursday.
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