This country has a knack for luxury. Several corrections officers were discharged in the Russian city if Volgograd for allegedly setting up 'VIP prison cells' — a five-star accommodation for wealthy mugs and senior mafia bosses.

At least 10 people were killed and 70 injured in a blast in Moscow’s international airport, Domodedovo. According to the airport officials, the blast was a suicide bombing that took place in the arrivals section, near the baggage claim section.

Russia’s President Dmitry Medvedev dismissed the long-serving Moscow mayor Yury Luzhkov today amid a bitter and conflicted dispute. Luzhkov was a dominant figure in Russian politics and business, and one of the main questions after his departure is who is going to take over Moscow, one of the most lucrative real estate and financial centers in the world.

As Moscow battles the unprecedented heat wave (this weekend is expected to the hottest ever here with temperatures reaching 40 degrees Celsius / 104 F), it finds itself completely unprepared for such extreme weather, making it yet harder for Muscovites.

Today, during his trip to California, Russia’s President Dmitry Medvedev visited Twitter headquarters and opened his Twitter account.

Dmitry Medvedev — the first Russian president who actually uses the internet, owns an iPad.

In a blow to the US Consumer Protection Act, which allows buyers to exchange and return unwanted merchandise, Russia suspended adoptions of Russian children by Americans.

At least 26 people died and dozens more were injured in the Moscow subway explosion Monday morning.

The figures are out on the volume of bribery in Russia and they are staggering. Experts estimate that bribery accounts for 20% to 30% of Russia's GDP. To prove the experts right, a police detective demanded a multimillion-dollar bribe and got arrested in Moscow.

We'd like to join the end-of-the-year lists party and bring you a peculiar interactive list of the top Russian news stories of 2009. That is, the list that shows what the people in Russia thought were the top news stories. Oh, wait! The list shows what the Russian media said and what the people in Russia thought were the main stories.

CNN reported today that the remains of Adolf Hitler were burned in 1970 by the KGB operatives at the German military base.

A fire broke out in a night club in Perm, an industrial city in Urals, killing over a 100 people and injuring dozens.

Vitaly Ginzburg, a physics genius, whose career spanned 7 decades and included development of the hydrogen bomb warheads as well as the work on superconductivity, for which he shared a Nobel prize in 2003, died this week.

In his advertisement on Russian radio, New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg says in Russian: "I love this town and know how to make it better." Russian-speaking voters would appreciate Mr. Bloomberg's effort, if only the mayor did not say this phrase with the worst Russian accent of all time.