We can all heave a sigh of relief. Russian financier Andrei Vavilov has reached a settlement with the developer of the Plaza Hotel! We were worried the Vavilovs might not receive adequate compensation after they were duped into buying two Plaza penthouses (sight unseen) with lower-than-acceptable ceilings. But justice has been served, according to Vavilov's lawyer, who was "very pleased" with the outcome.

Don't look now, Stalin's skyscrapers, but there's a new, equally unsettling panorama in town: Moskva-Siti (literally Moscow-City) is a cluster of angular skyscrapers that, when completed, will be the Putin generation's futuristic monument to papa ruble. In the thin fog of a mild January, it looks positively dystopian. But there's one lingering question: Why on earth does it have a blue, digital clock tower?

Didn’t want to let this one go without a raised eyebrow. A feature appeared in Sunday's New York Times about oligarch Alexander Lebedev and his plans to purchase British tabloid The Evening Standard. Nothing particularly strange or funny about that, but the editors did their best to make the piece utterly baffling. To start with, there’s the picture.

Looks like Siberia and Alaska are even closer than we’d thought! The seven senior government officials who died in a helicopter crash earlier this month in the Altai region of Siberia were apparently enjoying Sarah Palin’s favorite pastime: aerial wolf gunning. Or, sheep gunning, to be exact. Endangered wild argali sheep gunning, to be even more exact.

It’s a dark day for the world’s budding space playboys: Roskosmos has announced it will discontinue its space tourism program after 2009. You can still blow $20 million dollars, you just can’t do it at Star City. In theory, it’s about the math: the space agency discovered that by eliminating one eccentric rich person from each Soyuz mission (much the way American Airlines once did with olives in salads), they can fit more cosmonauts on the international space station and thus get more work done. That’s the official story. But we know what this is really about: foreigners.

Don’t ever try to deduce what a Russian billionaire is thinking. You will get sued for defamation. Just ask the Times of London. They ran a story on Sunday alleging that Roman Abramovich was considering selling his football club, Chelsea; now it’s Wednesday and the judge is already hearing the case. Abramovich and the team are suing the paper’s parent company, Times Newspapers Limited, for an unspecified amount.

Hey America, seems you’re riding a wave of patriotic bliss this week.Well, Russia sees your patriotism and raises you the most patriotic movie trailer ever. Vladimir Bortko’s adaptation of Nikolai Gogol’s Taras Bulba actually looks decent, but the voiceover on this TV spot could keep any sane person away. There’s so much Russian pride here, you almost forget that Taras Bulba takes place in Ukraine! Watch the trailer here, but be warned: this thing was intended for Russian eyes only. The last line is “Coming April 22 to all the theaters of our undefeatable country.” Yeah. Full translation below.

Despite help from his trusty AutoTune,Kanye West ended 2008 on a very sour note: in Kazakhstan, at an oligarch New Year’s bash, getting all but booed by the audience. As RUSSIA! has reported in the past, most A-list Western celebs are not above whoring themselves at private parties in post-Soviet pleasure dens when the price is right. Sure, a multi-platinum artist like West won’t be telling all his friends that he opened for a Russian dance band called Fast Food, but a gig is a gig. And with $1.5 million on the line for just one show, Kanye probably saves his best performances for these VIP events. Right?

January in Moscow can be gloomy, particularly if you have to take the subway. Fortunately, the government is doing its best to keep our spirits high with its jaw-dropping propaganda efforts. This poster, from the federal department for narcotics control, encourages you to “Take part in the fate of your friends.” How? By calling an anonymous tip line and telling them your friends are using DRUGS!