The Moscov Times

In 2015 Russia was shaken by a series of high-profile trials, with authorities coming down hard on enemies of the regime and showing leniency to friends.

When the Soviet Union crumbled, foreign media companies and entrepreneurs swept into Russia, bringing with them a wave of modernization and expertise.

A Crimean official said on Thursday that Ukraine had cut off a major source of electrical power to the region, a month after saboteurs first plunged the Russian-annexed peninsula into darkness.

The leaders of Russia, Ukraine, France and Germany have agreed to extend the Minsk peace accord on Ukraine into 2016, the Kremlin said in a statement on Wednesday, following a phone call between the four leaders.

The Ukrainian government will approve a ban on the import of some Russian goods later on Wednesday, said Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk, a retaliatory move in a growing trade row between the two former allies.

A Russian court on Wednesday sentenced a blogger to five years in jail for what it said was his extremist activity on the Internet after he urged people to attend a protest against high transport fares.

As the year ends, where does Russia stand? How do Russians see key political issues, what do they spend their money on, how health-conscious are they? And how is the country seen by its neighbors?

European Athletics president Svein Arne Hansen does not expect Russia to return to international competition in time for next year's Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.

Even as Russia's beleaguered NGOs were struggling to come to terms with the "foreign agents" label, a sweeping new law against "undesirable" organizations has dealt them yet another blow.

Russia is ready "to show flexibility" on the possible easing of sanctions imposed on Afghanistan's Taliban movement by the United Nations Security Council, TASS news agency quoted a senior Russian diplomat as saying.

The outgoing year in Russia generated a lot of very important political, economic and social news - much of which got transformed at coub.com, the Russian analogue of the short-form video service Vine.

A ship carrying more than 25,000 pounds (11,000 kg) of low-enriched uranium materials left Iran for Russia on Monday in an Iranian step toward honoring a July 14 nuclear deal.

Some of Vladimir Putin's saltiest one liners have been turned into a book by his supporters who have sent a batch to the Kremlin touting it as the ideal holiday gift for patriotic Russian officials.

Every Western expat seems to know someone who has left Russia. An economic slump and increasing political and cultural isolation have transformed an expat community.

Russia does not rule out phone contacts in the so-called "Normandy format" on the Ukraine crisis before the end of 2015, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Monday.

In 2015, a lot of smart people in Russia said a lot of smart things. But that's not what this is about. This is about statements that were so ignorant or outrageous, even cats couldn't help but react in horror.

The Taliban denied reports that representatives had met Russian officials to discuss the common threat from Islamic State in Afghanistan as a British newspaper reported that President Vladimir Putin had met the Taliban leader.

The head of the most powerful Syrian insurgent group in the rebel-held suburbs of Damascus was killed on Friday in a Russian air strike on the secret headquarters of his group, rebel sources said.

Russia's air force has made 5,240 sorties since it started the strikes in Syria on Sept. 30, including 189 sorties on Thursday alone, Russia's defense ministry told reporters on Friday.

Russia plans to build at least six new nuclear power units in India in the next 20 years, President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday.