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Boris Berezovsky, an exiled Russian tycoon, has been found dead at his home in Surrey, UK.
The circumstances of the death of Boris Berezovsky – a wanted man in Russia, and an opponent of President Vladimir Putin – at the age of 67, are not yet known.
Thames Valley Police said the death, at a property in Ascot, Berkshire, was being treated as unexplained.
The area around the property has been cordoned off to allow the investigation to take place, the force said.
The inquiry was at a very early stage and more details will be released when available, it added.
A South Central Ambulance Service spokeswoman said it had been called to the property at 15:18 GMT.
“We sent a number of ambulance officers and an ambulance to the address. The 67-year-old male was confirmed deceased at the scene,” she said.
A former Kremlin power-broker whose fortunes declined under Vladimir Putin, Boris Berezovsky emigrated to the UK in 2000.
Last year, he lost a £3 billion ($4.7 billion) damages claim against Chelsea Football Club owner Roman Abramovich.
Boris Berezovsky, an exiled Russian tycoon, has been found dead at his home in Surrey
Boris Berezovsky claimed he had been intimidated by Roman Abramovich into selling shares in Russian oil giant Sibneft for a “fraction of their true worth”.
The allegations were completely rejected by the London Commercial Court judge, who called Boris Berozovsky an “inherently unreliable” witness.
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Chinese President Xi Jinping has arrived in Russia on the first stop of his maiden overseas tour as president.
Xi Jinping is set to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin, with the two likely to discuss energy and investment deals.
Speaking ahead of the visit, Xi Jinping said the two countries were “most important strategic partners” who spoke a “common language”.
President Xi Jinping will also visit Tanzania, South Africa and the Republic of Congo on his tour, which continues until March 30.
In South Africa, he will attend the fifth BRICS summit from 26-27 March. BRICS stands for Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – five key emerging economies.
Xi Jinping’s wife, well-known military singer Peng Liyuan, is with him on this trip.
The choice of Moscow as Xi Jinping’s first destination is seen as symbolic, and a move from China to counter the US pivot to Asia.
Russia is one of the world’s biggest energy producers, and China is the world’s top energy consumer. Bilateral trade is booming, reaching a record $88 billion last year.
Beijing and Moscow have held similar positions over a number of thorny diplomatic issues, from Iran to Syria to North Korea, and some analysts suggest the bond is likely to strengthen.
Xi Jinping is accompanied by his wife, military singer Peng Liyuan, in his first overseas tour as China’s president
At a press conference, Xi Jinping called Russia China’s “friendly neighbor”, and said that the fact that he was visiting so soon after assuming presidency was “a testimony to the great importance China places on its relations with Russia.”
“China-Russia relations have entered a new phase in which the two countries provide major development opportunities to each other,” he said.
In an interview with Russian press, Vladimir Putin said that Russia-China co-operation would produce “a more just world order”.
Russia and China both demonstrated a “balanced and pragmatic approach” to international crises, he said.
In an article in 2012, Vladimir Putin had called for further economic co-operation with China to “catch the <<Chinese wind>> in [its] economic sails”.
China is also Africa’s largest trading partner, surpassing the US and its traditional European partners.
“China-Africa co-operation is comprehensive,” Xi Jinping said.
“It has contributed to Africa’s international standing.”
Xi Jinping was confirmed as China’s president last week, concluding a lengthy transition process that saw him assume the Communist Party leadership in November 2012.
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Gerard Depardieu has been formally registered as a permanent resident of the central Russian town of Saransk.
Gerard Depardieu, 64, sought Russian citizenship after the French government criticized his decision to move abroad to avoid higher taxes.
The French actor is now registered as living at No 1, Democracy Street in Saransk, in the region of Mordovia.
After the ceremony, Gerard Depardieu beamed and proclaimed a few words in Russian.
“Glory! Glory to Saransk, glory to Mordovia, glory to Russia!” he said.
Gerard Depardieu was quoted as telling Russian television that his registered new address, on Demokraticheskaya [Democratic] Street, was quite “symbolic”.
On Friday, after visiting Moscow’s famed Bolshoi Theatre and the Illuzion cinema, Gerard Depardieu said he was very familiar with Russian culture.
“I love it very much. I also know your composers. I can say that I was born with Russian culture.”
Gerard Depardieu was granted Russian citizenship by a decree signed by President Vladimir Putin on 3 January.
The central Russian region of Mordovia Gerard Depardieu will call home is known for its Stalin-era prison camps.
Gerard Depardieu has been formally registered as a permanent resident of the central Russian town of Saransk
Gerard Depardieu’s highly publicized tax row began last year after French President Francois Hollande said he would raise taxes to 75% for those earning more than 1 million euros ($1.3 million).
He accused the socialist government of punishing “success, creation and talent”, and announced in early December that he would move to Belgium.
French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault branded Gerard Depardieu’s decision to move abroad as “shabby and unpatriotic”.
Gerard Depardieu, described by President Vladimir Putin as a friend, has developed close ties with Russia, which has a flat 13% personal income tax rate.
He currently appears in an advertisement for Sovietsky Bank’s credit card and is prominently featured on the bank’s home page.
In 2011, Gerard Depardieu played the lead role in the film Rasputin, a Franco-Russian production about the life of eccentric monk Grigory Rasputin.
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Sergei Ignatiev, Russia’s central bank governor, has said that $49 billion left the country illegally last year.
The capital flight, some 2.5% of Russia’s annual economic output, was controlled by “one well-organized group of individuals.”
Sergei Ignatiev told a Russian newspaper that the money transfers could have been used to pay for supplies of narcotics, bribes and avoiding taxes.
But a government spokesman said the figure was “highly exaggerated”.
“You get the impression that they are all controlled by one well organized group of people,” Sergei Ignatiev told local newspaper Vedomosti, although he declined to name the individuals.
“With a serious concentration of efforts by law enforcement agencies, I think it is possible to find these people,” he added.
Sergei Ignatiev said the $49 billion figure was drawn from a central bank study that showed more than half the flows were made up of “dubious” capital transfers, “payments made by Russian organizations to non-residents, the stated aims of which are clearly false”.
“It can be payment for narcotics… illegal imports… bribes and kickbacks to officials (and) managers making large-scale purchases. It can be schemes to avoid tax,” he added.
Sergei Ignatiev, Russia’s central bank governor, has said that $49 billion left the country illegally last year
Sergei Ignatiev, who is expected to step down in June after 11 years at the helm of the central bank, also highlighted the prevalence of what are known in Russia as “one-day companies” used as conduits for money transfers that then vanish before paying taxes.
They are “the bane of our economy”, he said.
But Dmitry Peskov, spokesman for President Vladimir Putin, dismissed the central bank’s findings, saying the figure was “highly exaggerated”.
A study by Washington-based Global Financial Integrity found that an average of $62 billion in income earned from corruption, weapons smuggling, human trafficking, and other illicit activities has entered or left Russia each year since 2004.
Alexander Lebedev, who owns The Independent and Evening Standard newspapers and is a frequent critic of the Kremlin, wrote in a blog that Sergei Ignatiev’s comments were long overdue.
“Let’s hope the next head of the central bank heeds these words,” he said.
However, Sergei Ignatiev did not refer to the subject when he testified in front of Russia’s upper house of parliament on Wednesday.
Russia starts a big rescue and clean-up operation involving more than 9,000 workers in the Ural Mountains following Friday’s meteor strike, Emergencies Minister Vladimir Puchkov says.
President Vladimir Putin ordered the operation to help some 1,200 people who were injured, including 200 children, mostly by shattered glass.
The shockwave damaged an estimated 200,000 sq m (50 acres) of windows.
Russian officials put the cost of the damage at about 1billionn roubles ($33 million).
A fireball had streaked through the sky on Friday, followed by loud bangs.
A large fragment reportedly landed in a lake near Chebarkul, a town in the Chelyabinsk region. A Russian army spokesman said a crater 6 m (20 ft) wide had been found there.
An emergencies ministry spokeswoman said a group of six divers would inspect the waters for the presence of pieces of a meteorite.
Vladimir Puchkov toured Chelyabinsk city on Saturday to assess the damage.
He said: “We have a special team working… that is now assessing the seismic stability of buildings. We will be especially careful about switching the gas back on.”
More than 9,000 people are working to clear up the damage in the Chelyabinsk region. Most are locals, but some 1,800 people came from neighboring regions.
Vladimir Putin said he had thanked God that no big fragments of the 10-tonne meteor – which was thought to be made of iron and travelling at some 30 km (19 miles) per second – had fallen in populated areas.
It had entered the Earth’s atmosphere and broke apart 30-50 km (20-30 miles) above ground, according to Russia’s Academy of Sciences, releasing several kilotons of energy – the equivalent of a small atomic weapon.
Vladimir Puchkov said there was no confirmation yet that any fragments had been found.
The emergencies ministry urged calm, saying background radiation levels were normal after what it described as a “meteorite shower in the form of fireballs”.
Russia starts a big rescue and clean-up operation involving more than 9,000 workers in the Ural Mountains following Friday’s meteor strike
Some 50 people remain in hospital for treatment – mainly for cuts and bruises from shattered glass.
The Chelyabinsk region, about 1,500km east of Moscow, is home to many factories, a nuclear power plant and the Mayak atomic waste storage and treatment centre.
The shockwave blew out windows in more than 4,000 buildings in the region.
Regional governor Mikhail Yurevich said damage was estimated at 1 billion roubles but dismissed as a “journalistic spoof” reports in Russian media that people had deliberately shattered windows to claim on meteorite-related insurance.
Many children were in classrooms when the meteor fell at around 09:20 local time.
Video posted online showed frightened, screaming youngsters at one Chelyabinsk school, where corridors were littered with broken glass.
Scientists have played down suggestions that there is any link between the event in the Urals and 2012 DA14, an asteroid which raced past the Earth later on Friday at a distance of just 27,700 km (17,200 miles) – the closest ever for an object of that size.
Such meteor strikes are rare in Russia but one is thought to have devastated an area of more than 2,000 sq km (770 sq m) in Siberia in 1908.
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The meteor crashing in Russia’s Ural Mountains has injured at least 985 people, as the shockwave blew out windows and rocked buildings.
Most of those hurt, in the Chelyabinsk region where the meteor fell, suffered cuts and bruises but at least 46 remain in hospital.
A fireball streaked through the clear morning sky, followed by loud bangs.
President Vladimir Putin said he thanked God no big fragments had fallen in populated areas.
A large meteor fragment landed in a lake near Chebarkul, a town in Chelyabinsk region.
The meteor’s dramatic passing was witnessed in Yekaterinburg, 200 km (125 miles) to the north, and in Kazakhstan, to the south.
Officials say a large meteor partially burned up in the lower atmosphere, resulting in fragments falling earthwards.
Thousands of rescue workers have been dispatched to the area to provide help to the injured, the emergencies ministry said.
The Chelyabinsk region, about 1,500 km (930 miles) east of Moscow, is home to many factories, a nuclear power plant and the Mayak atomic waste storage and treatment centre.
One Russian politician said the event was not a meteor shower but a US weapons test, Russia’s Interfax news agency reported.
The meteor crashing in Russia’s Ural Mountains has injured at least 985 people, as the shockwave blew out windows and rocked buildings
Vladimir Zhirinovsky, the leader of the ultra-nationalist Liberal Democratic Party, was quoted as saying: “Meteors are falling. Those are not meteors, it is Americans testing their new weapon.”
Chelyabinsk’s health department said 985 people had sought medical treatment, including 204 children, Interfax reported. Two people in the town of Kopeysk were in a serious condition, it added.
The governor of Chelyabinsk region, Mikhail Yurevich, was quoted elsewhere as saying 950 people had been hurt, two seriously.
Vladimir Putin promised “immediate” aid for people affected, saying kindergartens and schools had been damaged, and work disrupted at industrial enterprises.
Many children were at lessons when the meteor fell at around 09:20.
Video posted online showed frightened, screaming youngsters at one Chelyabinsk school, where corridors were littered with broken glass.
The Russian Academy of Sciences estimates that the meteor weighed about 10 tonnes and entered the Earth’s atmosphere at a speed of at least 54,000 km/h (33,000mph).
It would have shattered about 30-50km (18-32 miles) above ground, with most of the meteor burning up.
Scientists have played down suggestions that there is any link between the event in the Urals and 2012 DA14, an asteroid expected to race past the Earth on Friday at a distance of just 27,700 km (17,200 miles) – the closest ever predicted for an object of that size.
Prof. Alan Fitzsimmons, of the Astrophysics Research Centre at Queen’s University Belfast, said there was “almost definitely” no connection.
“One reason is that 2012 DA14 is approaching Earth from the south, and this object hit in the northern hemisphere,” he said.
“This is literally a cosmic coincidence, although a spectacular one.”
Such meteor strikes are rare in Russia but one is thought to have devastated an area of more than 2,000 sq km (1,250 m) in Siberia in 1908.
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Two Russian fighter jets have breached Japanese airspace, prompting Tokyo to scramble its own aircraft, reports say.
Japan lodged a protest after the planes were detected off the northern island of Hokkaido for just over a minute.
The incident happened after Japanese PM Shinzo Abe said he was seeking a solution to a territorial dispute with Russia over a Pacific island chain.
Russia’s military denied the incursion, saying the jets were making routine flights near the disputed islands.
Shinzo Abe was speaking on the anniversary of an 1855 treaty which Japan says supports its claims to the islands.
The four islands – which Russia calls the Southern Kurils and Japan calls the Northern Territories – are the subject of a 60-year-old dispute.
Because of the dispute, the two nations have not yet signed a peace treaty to end World War II.
Two Russian fighter jets have breached Japanese airspace, prompting Tokyo to scramble its own aircraft
“Today, around 03:00, military fighters belonging to Russian Federation breached our nation’s airspace above territorial waters off Rishiri island in Hokkaido,” the foreign ministry said, quoted by AFP news agency.
Hours earlier, Shinzo Abe told former inhabitants of the disputed islands and their descendents: “In the telephone talks, I told [Russian] President [Vladimir] Putin I would make efforts to find a mutually acceptable solution so as to ultimately solve the issue of the Northern Territories.”
In December, Shinzo Abe and Vladimir Putin agreed to restart talks on signing a peace treaty.
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Russian government has decided to abandon an agreement with the US on fighting crime and the drugs trade, in an apparent sign of worsening relations.
Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said the decade-long agreement no longer addressed “realities” and had “exhausted its potential”.
The agreement saw the US funding anti-crime projects in Russia.
Meanwhile, two US pro-democracy groups have helped staff who were reportedly threatened with arrest to flee Russia.
The National Democratic Institute and the International Republican Institute closed their Moscow offices last year after laws were passed cracking down on organizations which receive foreign funding.
Unnamed sources in the non-governmental organizations said six Russian staff members and their families had arrived in Lithuania at the end of December or early in January on tourist visas.
Staff had been approached by Russia’s domestic security service, the FSB, and other law enforcement agencies who warned them they could face prosecution for treason, one of the sources said.
There was no immediate confirmation of the report from the two NGOs.
News that the anti-drugs-trade agreement was being scrapped appeared in a decree on the Russian government’s website.
It came a few days after the US government pulled out of a joint working group with the Russians on civil society.
Russian government has decided to abandon an agreement with the US on fighting crime and the drugs trade, in an apparent sign of worsening relations
Russia has been grappling for years with a huge heroin abuse problem, exacerbated by its proximity to drug-trafficking routes from Afghanistan.
It has accused the US of failing to use its influence in Afghanistan to tackle the trade effectively.
Ever since Vladimir Putin returned to the presidency last May, a chill has returned to US-Russian relations.
The two countries seem locked into a spiral of deteriorating ties.
Underlying it is US concern at the state of democracy and human rights under President Vladimir Putin, and Moscow’s anger at being lectured by the Americans.
The US Magnitsky bill adopted late last year sparked particular fury in Moscow as the law bars Russian officials suspected of human rights violations from entering America and freezes any US assets they may have.
In response Moscow has not only barred US officials it suspects of rights abuses, it has banned American families from adopting Russian children.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is now rumored to have a second love child with former Olympian gymnast Alina Kabaeva.
Vladimir Putin has long been linked to the 29-year-old rhythmic gymnast, and the two were already believed to have a 3-year-old son together.
The new child, a daughter, was born in November, a source tells the New York Post. Russian media have never officially named Vladimir Putin and Alina Kabaeva the parents of the boy, and she’s called the child her nephew in the past.
The Russian media has, however, reported Vladimir Putin and Alina Kabaeva were engaged in the past, though the newspaper that did so quickly retracted the story and was then shut down.
Vladimir Putin’s wife, Lyudmila, hasn’t been seen in public in quite some time and the Chechen president recently referred to her as Putin’s “first wife.”
President Vladimir Putin is now rumored to have a second love child with former Olympian gymnast Alina Kabaeva
Gerard Depardieu is expected to appear before a French court today, charged with drink-driving.
Gerard Depardieu was arrested in November after a scooter accident in Paris, in which he was found to be three times over the alcohol limit.
Last month, the actor announced his decision to move to Belgium to avoid the French government’s plan for a top tax rate of 75%.
Gerard Depardieu became a Russian citizen at the weekend, receiving a Russian passport.
But on the eve of his scheduled court appearance he was in Switzerland, for the annual Ballon D’Or football award ceremony.
Gerard Depardieu has already pleaded guilty to the charge of drink-driving, which carries a maximum fine of 4,500 euros ($5,880) and a sentence of up to two years in prison, along with six penalty points.
On November 29, he lost control of his scooter in Paris and crashed. A breathalyser test showed he had a blood alcohol rate of 1.8g per litre, more than three times the French legal limit of 0.5g.
Gerard Depardieu, who owns several vineyards, once admitted to drinking up to six bottles of wine a day.
If the actor fails to appear before magistrates, his case could be referred to the criminal court, who tend to be less lenient.
Gerard Depardieu is expected to appear before a French court today, charged with drink-driving
Gerard Depardieu’s tax row with the French authorities began last year after President Francois Hollande said he would raise taxes to 75% for those earning more than 1 million euros ($1.3 million).
The film star, renowned for his roles in Cyrano de Bergerac and more recently as Obelix, announced in early December that he would move to Belgium, accusing France’s Socialist government of punishing “success, creation and talent”.
French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault branded Gerard Depardieu’s decision to move abroad as “shabby and unpatriotic”.
The actor has developed close ties with Russia and during his visit at the weekend hugged President Vladimir Putin, who described him as a friend.
Russia has offered him a flat tax rate of 13% if he stays in the country for more than half the year. On his trip to Russia he travelled to the central region of Mordovia, which has invited him to make his home there.
Mordovia is best known for its Stalin-era gulag prison camps.
But the actor said on Monday he was not turning his back on his country.
“I have a Russian passport, but I remain French and I will probably have dual Belgian nationality,” Gerard Depardieu told French sports channel L’Equipe 21.
Under France’s civil code, dual citizenship is permitted but it is unlawful to be stateless. A person must obtain another nationality before giving up French citizenship.
Gerard Depardieu also rejected claims that his decision to move abroad was to avoid paying taxes.
“If I’d wanted to escape the taxman, as the French press say, I would have done it a long time ago.”
Gerard Depardieu made the remarks in Zurich where he was attending the Ballon d’Or ceremony in the company of FIFA boss Sepp Blatter.
Gerard Depardieu has arrived in Russia, where he has been granted citizenship and a private meeting with President Vladimir Putin.
A Kremlin spokesman said Gerard Depardieu may receive his new Russian passport personally from the president.
The actor announced he was seeking Russian citizenship after the French government criticised his decision to move abroad to avoid higher taxes.
Last month Vladimir Putin had said he would be happy to welcome him to Russia.
President Vladimir Putin will hold a private meeting with the actor in the Black Sea resort of Sochi later on Saturday, his spokesman said.
Earlier this week President Vladimir Putin signed the decree granting Russian citizenship to Gerard Depardieu.
The actor responded by writing an open letter saying: “I love your country, Russia – its people, its history, its writers. I love your culture, your intelligence.”
Gerard Depardieu went on describe Russia as “a great democracy, and not a country where the prime minister calls one of its citizens shabby”.
Gerard Depardieu has arrived in Russia, where he has been granted citizenship and a private meeting with President Vladimir Putin
Gerard Depardieu’s highly publicized tax row began last year after new President Francois Hollande said he would raise taxes to 75% for those earning more than 1 million euros.
The actor accused the socialist government of punishing “success, creation and talent”, and announced in early December that he would move to Belgium.
French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault branded his decision to move abroad as “shabby and unpatriotic”.
Gerard Depardieu, described by Vladimir Putin as a friend, has developed close ties with Russia, which has a flat 13% personal income tax rate.
He currently appears in an advertisement for Sovietsky Bank’s credit card and is prominently featured on the bank’s home page.
In 2011, Gerard Depardieu played the lead role in the film Rasputin, a Franco-Russian production about the life of eccentric monk Grigory Rasputin.
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Brigitte Bardot has threatened to apply for Russian citizenship unless France stops two sick zoo elephants from being put down.
The elephants, which suffer from tuberculosis, were due to be killed in December, but were granted a reprieve until after Christmas.
Brigitte Bardot said she would move abroad if the reprieve was not made permanent.
Fellow actor Gerard Depardieu obtained a Russian passport this week following a tax row with the French government.
Gerard Depardieu had earlier threatened to move to Belgium to avoid higher taxes.
After the government criticized his decision, he declared he would give up his French nationality.
Earlier this week, the Kremlin said President Vladimir Putin had personally signed a decree granting actor Gerard Depardieu Russian citizenship.
Vladimir Putin and Gerard Depardieu are said to be personal friends.
Brigitte Bardot has threatened to apply for Russian citizenship unless France stops two sick zoo elephants from being put down
Brigitte Bardot, a prominent animal rights campaigner, warned she would follow Gerard Depardieu’s example if authorities failed to save the elephants, known as Baby and Nepal.
“If the powers that be have the cowardice and the shamelessness to kill Baby and Nepal… I have decided to apply for Russian citizenship and leave this country, which is nothing more than an animal cemetery,” Brigitte Bardot said in a statement posted on the website of her animal welfare charity.
The case of the sick elephants, in Lyon’s Tete d’Or zoo, has gripped the city since mid-December.
The authorities deemed Baby and Nepal a health threat to other zoo animals and visitors, and ordered them to be put down.
But a circus director who used to own the elephants launched a petition to save their lives.
Thousands signed the petition, gaining the animals a temporary reprieve.
Brigitte Bardot joined the campaign and wrote a letter to French President Francois Hollande earlier this week, asking him to intervene.
She posted Friday’s announcement after her plea failed to elicit a reply.
Brigitte Bardot has been making headlines in recent years for her controversial remarks about Islam and its followers.
In 2008, Brigitte Bardot was convicted for the fifth time for inciting racial hatred after complaining on her website that Muslims were “destroying our country by imposing their ways”.
Gerard Depardieu has obtained Russian citizenship, according to a brief statement posted on the Kremlin website
Gerard Depardieu has obtained Russian citizenship, according to a brief statement posted on the Kremlin website.
“Vladimir Putin has signed a decree granting Russian citizenship to Gerard Depardieu,” the message read.
Gerard Depardieu recently announced he would give up his French passport after the government criticized his decision to move abroad to avoid higher taxes.
In December, Vladimir Putin said he would be happy to welcome the actor in Russia.
“I’m sure the French authorities did not want to offend Mr. Depardieu. But if he’d like to have a Russian passport, consider it settled,” Vladimir Putin said during his annual news conference on 20 December.
Under France’s civil code, dual citizenship is permitted but it is unlawful to be stateless.
A person must obtain another nationality before giving up French citizenship.
Gerard Depardieu has not yet commented on the Kremlin’s latest announcement.
His highly publicized tax row began last year after Socialist President Francois Hollande said he planned to raise taxes to 75% for those earning more than 1 million euros.
Lambasting the government for punishing “success, creation and talent”, Gerard Depardieu announced in early December that he would move to Belgium.
Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault retaliated by calling the decision “shabby”.
Although the Constitutional Council struck down Francois Hollande’s tax rise proposal on Sunday, Gerard Depardieu said this did not change the situation “one bit”.
The French actor, described by Vladimir Putin as a successful businessman and friend, has developed close ties with Russia, which has a flat 13% personal income tax rate.
He currently appears in an advertisement for Sovietsky Bank’s credit card and is prominently featured on the bank’s home page.
In 2011, Gerard Depardieu played the lead role in the film Rasputin, a Franco-Russian production about the life of eccentric monk Grigory Rasputin.
In addition, Gerard Depardieu has also helped raise funds for a children’s hospital in St Petersburg.
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President Vladimir Putin has signed into law a ban on Americans adopting Russian orphans.
The law is a reaction to the US Magnitsky Act, which blacklists Russian officials accused of rights abuses.
The death of anti-corruption lawyer Sergei Magnitsky in 2009 became a symbol of the fight against corruption in Russia, and soured relations between Russia and the US.
The US state department says it “deeply regrets” the passing of the law.
On Friday, a Moscow court acquitted a prison doctor accused of negligence over Sergei Magnitsky’s death. It was the only trial to be held in the case.
The judge said Dmitry Kratov had acted appropriately when Sergei Magnitsky fell ill in jail. Dmitry Kratov was deputy head of the high-security Butyrka prison in Moscow at the time.
A Russian official report last year concluded that Sergei Magnitsky had been tortured and handcuffed in jail.
Sergei represented London-based Hermitage Capital Management (HCM). He uncovered what he described as a web of corruption involving Russian tax officials, including the alleged theft of more than $200 million.
After reporting it to the authorities, he was himself detained on suspicion of aiding tax evasion, and died in custody on 16 November 2009 at the age of 37.
President Vladimir Putin has signed into law a ban on Americans adopting Russian orphans
US-born fund manager Bill Browder, who runs Hermitage Capital, spearheaded efforts in the US to put pressure on Russia over the Magnitsky case. Bill Browder was a major investor in Russia before Sergei Magnitsky’s arrest.
Earlier this month the US Congress adopted the Magnitsky Act, prompting Russia’s retaliation. The EU has also criticized Russia over its handling of the case.
Vladimir Putin signed the Russian law after it had been approved by the Russian parliament.
He told officials he saw no reason not to sign it, and said he would sign a presidential decree to “modify the support mechanisms for orphaned children”.
“There are lots of places in the world where living standards are higher than they are here,” Vladimir Putin said.
“Are we going to send all our children there? Perhaps we should move there ourselves?”
Some 3,400 Russian children were adopted by foreign families in 2011, almost one-third of the children going to American homes.
Over the same period, the number of children adopted by Russian citizens was 7,416.
In the past two decades Americans have adopted more than 60,000 Russian children.
“The Russian government’s politically motivated decision will reduce adoption possibilities for children who are now under institutional care,” US state department spokesman Patrick Ventrell said.
“We are further concerned about statements that adoptions already underway may be stopped and hope that the Russian government would allow those children who have already met and bonded with their future parents to finish the necessary legal procedures so that they can join their families,” he added.
The Moscow judge ruled on Friday that Dmitry Kratov had organized Sergei Magnitsky’s transfer to hospital and had “taken all the necessary measures to treat the illnesses” that Sergei Magnitsky was suffering from.
Sergei Magnitsky had pancreatitis, but an investigation by Russia’s presidential council on human rights concluded that he had been severely beaten and denied medical treatment.
The council’s report, compiled while Dmitry Medvedev was president, singled out senior interior ministry investigator Oleg Silchenko and prison chief Ivan Prokopenko as being at fault for neglect over the lawyer’s death.
The document said they “obstructed” his medical care by moving him to another prison just before he was due to have an operation, where there was a criminal failure to provide him with care in the last days of his life.
Sergei Magnitsky’s mother, widow and lawyers believe that Dmitry Kratov has been used as a decoy by the authorities to protect the real culprits in the lawyer’s death.
Dmitry Kratov’s assistant Larisa Litvinova had also been a suspect in the case, but the investigation into her actions was dropped in April.
President Vladimir Putin has defended a ban on Americans adopting Russian children, which has been proposed by the Russian parliament.
Vladimir Putin said the bill, a response to the US Magnitsky Act which bars entry to Russian alleged human rights violators, was “appropriate”.
Russian officials, he said, were not allowed to sit in on US cases involving the mistreatment of Russian children.
In a marathon news conference, Vladimir Putin also restated his views on Syria.
The president also spoke about relations with fellow ex-Soviet states Ukraine and Georgia and sought to dispel speculation about his health.
A number of cases where Russian children have apparently been mistreated by US adoptive parents have made headlines in Russia.
Vladimir Putin said he still needed to read the Russian bill in detail, though he backed it in principle.
The rate of adoption in Russia is low. Some 3,400 Russian children were adopted by foreign families in 2011, nearly a third of them by Americans.
“The State Duma’s response may be emotional, but I consider it to be appropriate,” Vladimir Putin said, referring to Russia’s lower house.
Vladimir Putin called the Magnitsky Act “unfriendly”. The act replaced the US Jackson-Vanik amendment, which dated back to the Cold War.
President Vladimir Putin has defended a ban on Americans adopting Russian children, which has been proposed by the Russian parliament
“They have replaced one anti-Soviet, anti-Russian law with another… That is very bad. This, of course, in itself poisons our relations,” Vladimir Putin said.
He said the US had its own human rights abuses to address, pointing to mistreatment of prisoners at Guantanamo in Cuba and Abu Ghraib in Iraq.
Moscow, Vladimir Putin said, had “practically no interests” in Syria but did not want to see “mistakes” made in Libya repeated. Libya, he said, was “falling apart” as a result.
In 2011 Libyan rebels supported by Western air strikes ousted Col Muammar Gaddafi. The campaign was backed by a UN resolution, but Russia, a longstanding ally of Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad, has blocked a similar resolution on Syria.
Vladimir Putin said Syrians themselves needed to agree how to live in the future, and a military intervention would be “inappropriate”.
Asked about relations with Georgia, Vladimir Putin said he had seen “positive signals, very restrained so far” from the new coalition government led by Bidzina Ivanishvili, which defeated allies of President Mikheil Saakashvili at elections.
Russia, however, would not revoke its recognition of South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent states, Vladimir Putin said.
Asked to explain a last-minute decision by Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych to cancel a trip to Moscow on Tuesday, Vladimir Putin said there were some economic problems to be resolved such as disagreement over import quotas.
But he denied that at issue was Ukraine’s reluctance to join a Moscow-led Customs Union linking Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan.
Vladimir Putin insisted that Russia’s long-term gas contract with Ukraine was not in dispute now but he said Ukraine had made a “strategic mistake” by refusing to lease its gas pipeline network to Gazprom and other European operators.
He pointed out that Russia was now developing gas export infrastructure outside Ukraine: the Nord Stream pipeline in the North Sea, Blue Stream in the Black Sea and the recent launch of the South Stream undersea pipeline project, which will deliver Russian gas directly to the Balkans.
Vladimir Putin, 60, dismissed media reports about the state of his health.
“I can give a traditional answer to the question about my health: dream on,” he said.
Last month there were reports that Vladimir Putin, a keen sportsman, was suffering from a bad back.
He dismissed suggestions he was “authoritarian”.
“Had I considered a totalitarian or authoritarian system preferable, I would simply have changed the constitution, it was easy enough to do,” Vladimir Putin said.
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Media mogul Alexander Lebedev expects to be jailed in Russia over a punch-up live on TV last year, his son Evgeny has said today.
Evgeny Lebedev said he feared his father could be killed in jail because of his anti-corruption campaign.
Alexander Lebedev owns two British newspapers and holds a major stake in Russia’s opposition Novaya Gazeta.
He is a critic of President Vladimir Putin. Moscow denies it is behind the criminal case against him.
If convicted for knocking another businessman off his chair during a heated TV debate in September 2011, Alexander Lebedev faces up to seven years in prison.
He is the owner of Britain’s Evening Standard and the Independent newspapers.
Media mogul Alexander Lebedev expects to be jailed in Russia over a punch-up live on TV last year
In September, Alexander Lebedev was charged with hooliganism and assault “motivated by political, ideological, racial, national or religious hatred, or hatred of a particular social group” – the same offense that two members of Russia’s Pussy Riot punk group were jailed for earlier this year.
The 52-year-old former KGB agent – whose net worth was recently reported by Forbes magazine to be $1.1 billion – has reportedly signed an undertaking not to leave Russia.
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Vladimir Putin’s spokesman has admitted that Russia’s president is suffering from an injury, but denied media reports that it is affecting his work.
Dmitry Peskov said the president had “pulled a muscle”, adding that it was sports-related.
He dismissed claims that the injury had got worse after Vladimir Putin’s flight last month with Siberian cranes.
Vladimir Putin, 60, has recently postponed a series of foreign trips, and media reports suggested he had a back injury.
And in a recent TV documentary made for his birthday, the Russian leader was seen limping.
On Thursday, Dmitry Peskov told Russia’s Kommersant FM radio station that his boss indeed had “an old injury”.
“It’s a common sports injury – Vladimir Putin pulled a muscle,” the spokesman said, without adding any details about where the injury was.
Kremlin spokesman dismissed claims that Vladimir Putin’s back injury had got worse after his flight last month with Siberian cranes
The speculation in Russia’s media started last week after Vladimir Putin had put off a summit with other leaders of counties from the former Soviet Union. He has also postponed trips to Bulgaria and Turkey.
But Dmitry Peskov said that the dates for those visits “have not been fixed”.
Kremlin officials earlier denied that the real reason for the much-curtailed schedule is that the president is suffering from a bad back and may need an operation.
Dmitry Peskov also said the president had hardly left his country house outside Moscow in the past two weeks because he did not like his convoy causing traffic jams in central Moscow.
Vladimir Putin – a black belt in judo – has over the years portrayed himself as a macho man.
Russia’s state-run TV has shown videos of him tagging whales, swimming in freezing waters, horse-riding bare-chested and even saving a TV crew from a tiger.
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The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has announced it will close its offices in Russia following an order from the authorities there to cease operations.
The Russian government gave the US until 1 October to close the mission.
USAID has worked in Russia for two decades, spending nearly $3bn on democracy and other programmes.
Correspondents say the government’s antipathy towards pro-democracy groups may be to blame for the move.
USAID has announced it will close its offices in Russia following an order from the authorities there to cease operations
The Russian authorities have become increasingly suspicious of non-governmental organisations (NGOs), which it believes are using foreign funding to foment political unrest.
Earlier this year, President Vladimir Putin alleged that protests surrounding his re-election were orchestrated by US-funded NGOs.
Among the groups likely to be affected is Golos, whose exposure of electoral fraud at last year’s parliamentary elections helped spark huge anti-Kremlin street demonstrations.
Golos is partly funded by USAID.
In announcing the closure of the USAID office, US state department spokesperson Victoria Nuland said: “We remain committed to supporting democracy, human rights, and the development of a more robust civil society in Russia and look forward to continuing our cooperation with Russian non-governmental organizations.”
She would not be drawn on the reasons behind the Kremlin’s decision, but said there was a sense “that they don’t need this anymore”.
The United States began its operations in Russia after the end of the Soviet Union, spending around $2.7 billion on a wide range of human rights, civil society, health and environmental programmes.
USAID was due to spend around $50 million on its work in Russia this year.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said that the US administration wants to normalize trade relations with Russia this month.
Hillary Clinton said the government was working closely with the US Congress to get the necessary legislation passed.
She was speaking ahead of the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) summit in Vladivostok.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has urged a fight against protectionism to turn the global economy around.
And Chinese President Hu Jintao promised his country would try to help the world’s economy by increasing the demand in China for imported goods.
Hillary Clinton speaking ahead of the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation APEC summit in Vladivostok
Although Russia is now a member of the World Trade Organisation, there is still a piece of legislation that prevents US companies trading normally with Russia – the 1974 Jackson-Vanik amendment which, although suspended, remains in place.
In her speech to the APEC summit in the Russian port city, Hillary Clinton – who is standing in for President Barack Obama – said she welcomed Russia’s commitment to playing a greater role in the Asia-Pacific region.
She added: “To make sure our companies get to compete here in Russia, we are working closely with the United States Congress to terminate the application to Jackson-Vanik to Russia and grant Russia permanent normalized trade relations.
“We hope that the Congress will act on this important piece of legislation this month.”
However there are concerns in the US Congress about Moscow’s support for Iran and Syria, as well as its broader human rights record, so the timing of a vote on the issue remains unclear.
Vladimir Putin, who is hosting the summit, expressed concern about the world economy, and particularly Europe’s debt crisis.
“The priority goal is to fight protectionism in all its forms. It is important to build bridges not walls,” he said.
President Hu Jintao said: “The world economy today is recovering slowly, and there are still some destabilizing factors and uncertainties.
“The underlying impact of the international financial crisis is far from over.
“We will work to maintain the balance between keeping steady and robust growth, adjusting the economic structure and managing inflation expectations. We will boost domestic demand and maintain steady and robust growth as well as basic price stability.”
Meanwhile, Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard has left the talks early to return home after her father died.
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China’s President Hu Jintao has promised to maintain economic growth to support a global recovery, at the start of an Asia-Pacific summit in the Russian port city of Vladivostok.
China would pursue steady policies and seek to boost domestic demand, he said.
He was speaking ahead of the start of the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) summit.
All countries in the region, he said, shared a responsibility to maintain peace and stability.
“The world economy today is recovering slowly, and there are still some destabilizing factors and uncertainties,” President Hu Jintao told businessmen in a speech before the summit.
“The underlying impact of the international financial crisis is far from over.
“We will work to maintain the balance between keeping steady and robust growth, adjusting the economic structure and managing inflation expectations. We will boost domestic demand and maintain steady and robust growth as well as basic price stability.”
President Hu Jintao has promised to maintain economic growth to support a global recovery, at the start of APEC summit in Vladivostok
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has urged countries in the region to lift more barriers to free trade in the Pacific. American officials say they would welcome a more active Russian role in the region.
“Fostering a balanced and stable economy is a challenge too sweeping and complex for countries to approach in isolation,” Hillary Clinton said.
“If we do this right, globalization can become a race to the top, with rising standards of living and more broadly shared prosperity.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is hosting the summit, has expressed concern about the world economy, and particularly Europe’s debt crisis.
“The recovery of the global economy is faltering. We can only overcome negative trends by enhancing the volume of trade… enhancing the flow of capital. It is important to follow the fundamental principles of open markets and free trade,” he said.
“The priority goal is to fight protectionism in all its forms. It is important to build bridges not walls.”
Meanwhile, Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard said she was leaving the talks early to return home after her father died.
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Hopes of an early jail release for the Pussy Riot punk protesters dimmed last night after Russian president Vladimir Putin launched a scathing attack on the three women singers.
The three Pussy Riot members are to appeal their two years prison sentences for staging a cathedral stunt opposing the strongman leader.
Supporters of the women – who have called for a revolution against Vladimir Putin – fear his hardline stance will sway judges and rule out their punishments being reduced.
“First they went to the Yelokhovsky Cathedral and conducted an orgy there and then they went to the other cathedral and had another orgy,” Vladimir Putin said in a major TV interview.
“The state is obliged to protect the feelings of the faithful.”
Vladimir Putin dashes hopes for Pussy Riot release as he says faithful must be defended after two Cathedral orgies
The women were found guilty of “hooliganism motivated by religious hatred” for dancing and singing in Christ the Saviour Cathedral.
He also chided the police for taking no action when one of the three – Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, 22 – was involved in a sexually explicit protest four years ago in a biological museum.
“They had a group sex session in a public place. They then uploaded it onto the Internet. The authorities should have looked at this too,” he stressed.
Recalled a Soviet-era joke, he said: “Some fans say that group sex is better than one-on-one because – like in any collective work – you can take it easy a bit.”
But he stressed: “Uploading it onto the Internet is controversial and can be subject to legal proceedings.”
Vladimir Putin asked his interviewer if he knew what the band’s name meant.
“There is no need to pretend that you don’t know. It’s indecent,” he said.
He claimed the repression suffered by the church in Soviet times meant it had to be respected now.
But he denied behind the scenes pressure to send the women to jail, despite suspicions of this among the opposition and in the West.
“I know what is going on with Pussy Riot, but I am staying out of it completely,” he said.
Vladimir Putin also denied he was clamping down on protest, declaring: “What is <<tightening the screws>>? If this means the demand that everyone, including representatives of the opposition, obey the law, then yes, this demand will be consistently implemented.”
He also blasted Britain for “double standards” in the case of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, alleging political interference in the attempt to extradite him to Sweden for sexual offences.
Julian Assange is holed up in the Ecuador embassy and has been granted political asylum by the South American country.
“They decided to extradite him. What is this? Of course it is double standards, that is clear,” he told Russia Today television.
“As far as I know, Ecuador asked Sweden for guarantees that Assange will not be extradited from Sweden to the United States. It has received no such guarantees.
“Of course this leads one to think that this is a political case.”
The decision made a mockery of Britain’s claim of judicial independence, he said.
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Two members of punk-rock group Pussy Riot, who are being sought by Russian police, have fled the country, the band’s Twitter account says.
Three members of the group were jailed this month for staging an anti-Vladimir Putin protest in a Moscow cathedral.
The pair who fled has not been named but the husband of one of the jailed women said the duo had taken part in the cathedral protest in February.
Many in the West condemned the Pussy Riot sentences as disproportionate.
However, the Kremlin has rejected accusations by musicians and some governments that the case was politically motivated.
Two members of punk-rock group Pussy Riot, who are being sought by Russian police, have fled the country
Maria Alyokhina, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Yekaterina Samutsevich were found guilty of “hooliganism motivated by religious hatred” and jailed for two years.
The Twitter account called Pussy Riot Group said: “In regard to the pursuit, two of our members have successfully fled the country! They are recruiting foreign feminists to prepare new actions!”
Nadezhda Tolokonnikova’s husband, Pyotr Verzilov, told Reuters news agency: “Since the Moscow police said they are searching for them, they will keep a low profile for now. They are in a safe place beyond the reach of the Russian police.”
He suggested that this meant a country that had no extradition arrangement with Russia.
Pyotr Verzilov told Reuters: “Twelve or even 14 members who are still in Russia actively participate in the band’s work now, it’s a big collective.”
The jailed women are appealing against their sentences.
Following the verdict, Russian police said they were actively searching for other members of the group who had taken part in the cathedral protest.
But they gave no names and did not say how many were being sought.
The jailed women said their performance of a “punk prayer” on 21 February in the Christ the Saviour Cathedral had been to highlight the Russian Orthodox Church leader’s support for Vladimir Putin.
Their brief, obscenity-laced performance, which implored the Virgin Mary to “throw Putin out”, enraged the Orthodox Church.
The three members of Russian punk band Pussy Riot accused of hooliganism have been jailed for two years after staging an anti-Vladimir Putin protest in a Moscow cathedral.
Judge Marina Syrova convicted the women of hooliganism motivated by religious hatred, saying they had “crudely undermined social order”.
The women say the protest, in February, was directed at the Russian Orthodox Church leader’s support for Vladimir Putin.
The US, UK and EU all criticized the sentences as “disproportionate”.
Prosecutors had been seeking a three-year jail sentence for the women.
Judge Marina Syrova said Maria Alyokhina, 24, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, 22, and Yekaterina Samutsevich, 29, had offended the feelings of Orthodox believers and shown a “complete lack of respect”.
“Tolokonnikova, Alyokhina and Samutsevich committed hooliganism – in other words, a grave violation of public order,” Judge Marina Syrova said.
Along with other members of their band, the women staged a flashmob-style performance of their song close to the altar in the cathedral on 21 February.
Judge Marina Syrova convicted Pussy Riot members of hooliganism motivated by religious hatred
Their brief, obscenity-laced performance, which implored the Virgin Mary to “throw Putin out”, enraged the Orthodox Church – its leader Patriarch Kirill said it amounted to blasphemy.
Vladimir Putin was elected for a third term as president two weeks later.
Maria Alyokhina, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Yekaterina Samutsevich, watching Friday’s proceedings from inside a glass-walled cage in the courtroom, smiled as the widely predicted conviction was announced.
The judge then took three hours to read the verdict, before handing down “two years deprivation of liberty in a penal colony” for each defendant.
“Considering the nature and degree of the danger posed by what was done, the defendants’ correction is possible only through an actual punishment,” Judge Marina Surova said.
One man in the courtroom shouted “shame” at the sentencing, and there were chants and whistles from the band’s supporters outside.
Nadezdha Tolokonnikova’s husband, Pyotr Verzilov, said: “Russia’s image was quite scary even before [this]. What happened now is a clear sign that Russia is moving towards becoming more like China or North Korea.”
Opposition leader Alexei Navalny added: “They are in jail because it is Putin’s personal revenge. This verdict was written by Vladimir Putin.”
The defendants’ lawyer, Nikolai Polozov, said they would not appeal to President Vladimir Putin for a pardon. However, there will be a legal appeal against the verdict.
Amnesty International said the ruling was a “bitter blow” for freedom of expression in Russia.
EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton and the UK’s Foreign Office criticized the severity of the sentences.
US state department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said: “We urge Russian authorities to review this case and ensure that the right to freedom of expression is upheld.”
On Thursday, Nadezdha Tolokonnikova had said she was “not bitter about being in jail”. But, speaking through her lawyer on Twitter, she said: “Politically, I am furious.”
“Our imprisonment serves as a clear and unambiguous sign that freedom is being taken away from the entire country,” she said.
The women have been detained for the past five months.
Associated Press news agency said a number of protesters had been arrested outside the court before the sentencing was announced, including ex-world chess champion Garry Kasparov and opposition politician Sergei Udaltsov.
There were also pro-Pussy Riot protests in Paris, where demonstrators in Igor Stravinsky square chanted “Freedom”, and in Kiev, where women protesters sawed down a wooden cross in a central square.
Other shows of support took place in Belgrade, Berlin, Sofia, London, Dublin and Barcelona.
The band has also had vocal support from artists including Paul McCartney and Madonna, and from politicians.
Critics of the band have also been demonstrating, saying the stunt was an insult to the Russian Orthodox Church.
Igor Kim from Moscow said: “Shouting and screaming and spreading hate in Church is unacceptable and is contrary with Christian ethics.”
Valentina Ivanova, a retired doctor, told Reuters: “What they did showed disrespect towards everything, and towards believers first of all.”
One protester outside court in Moscow simply shouted: “Let Pussy Riot and all their supporters burn in hell.”
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Madonna has appealed for the release of three members of the Russian punk band Pussy Riot during her MDNA show in Moscow.
Madonna told a crowd at the Olympic Stadium on Tuesday night that she was praying for the women’s freedom.
She briefly wore a balaclava – in a nod to Pussy Riot’s trademark outfits – and had the group’s name on her back.
Prosecutors have called for the women, who are accused of inciting religious hatred, to be jailed for three years.
The judge is expected to start delivering her verdict on 17 August. Announcing the verdict could take days, correspondents say.
Madonna has appealed for the release of three members of the Russian punk band Pussy Riot during her MDNA show in Moscow
Maria Alyokhina, 24, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, 22, and Yekaterina Samutsevich, 29, played a song attacking Russian leader Vladimir Putin in front of the altar of Moscow’s main cathedral on 21 February.
They said it was a reaction to the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, publicly backing Vladimir Putin in elections.
Addressing cheering fans at the stadium, Madonna said: “I know there are many sides to every story, and I mean no disrespect to the church or the government, but I think that these three girls – Masha, Katya, Nadya – I think that they have done something courageous.”
“I know that everyone in this auditorium, if you are here as my fan, feels they have the right to be free,” she said.
Other international musicians including Sting and the Red Hot Chili Peppers have also appealed for leniency.
Artist Yoko Ono has spoken out in support of the band.
In a Twitter post, John Lennon’s widow said: “Mr. Putin you are a wise man & don’t need to fight with musicians & their friends.”
In a closing statement to the court on Wednesday, Pussy Riot’s lead singer, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, said the court was carrying out a Stalin-era “political order for repression”.
She said that the authorities had refused to listen to the group, and that it was “not a trial over Pussy Riot but of the entire Russian political system”.
The three women have been sitting inside a glass cage at the courtroom.
Last week, Vladimir Putin, who was re-elected president in March, called for leniency towards the women during a visit to London for the Olympic Games.
There are fears among Russian opposition activists that the trial is part of a crackdown on dissent since Vladimir Putin’s return to the Kremlin, following the biggest anti-government protests in recent Russian history.
Pussy Riot’s performance inside Christ the Saviour Cathedral was captured on video.
The women danced and sang a song which parodies a Christian prayer, imploring the Virgin Mary to rid Russia of Vladimir Putin.
Defence lawyer Mark Feygin argued on Tuesday that the case against the women did not stand up because they had been charged with hooliganism under Article 213 of the Russian penal code yet no violence or damage had occurred or been threatened.
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Russian anti-corruption campaigner Alexei Navalny has been charged with embezzlement in a case he describes as “strange and absurd”.
Federal investigators in Moscow brought charges over a timber deal in the Kirov region in which he was involved as an unofficial adviser three years ago.
The case was previously investigated and dropped by regional prosecutors.
Alexei Navalny, who was also ordered not to leave the country, suggested the new charges were aimed at discrediting him.
Supporters of the anti-corruption lawyer, who led mass protests in Moscow against Russian leader Vladimir Putin this winter, demonstrated outside the offices of the Investigative Committee (SK) in Moscow, where he was charged on Tuesday.
Under Article 160 of the Russian criminal code on “misappropriation or embezzlement”, Alexei Navalny faces between five and 10 years in prison if convicted.
Russian anti-corruption campaigner Alexei Navalny has been charged with embezzlement in a case he describes as "strange and absurd"
Reacting to news of the case, Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt said on Twitter: “We should be concerned with attempts in Russia to silence fierce opposition activist Alexei @navalny.”
The case relates to a loss-making contract concluded by a state-owned timber company in Kirov, a region just west of the Ural Mountains, with another company.
The Kirov regional budget for 2009-10 suffered a loss of 1.3 million roubles ($40,000) and Alexei Navalny was investigated as he was acting at the time as an adviser to Kirov’s governor, Nikita Belykh.
The charges were announced on Tuesday by Vladimir Markin, official spokesman for the SK, a federal body set up to act as the equivalent of the FBI in Russia.
Alexei Navalny was charged under articles 160 and 33 (acting as an accomplice to a crime), Vladimir Markin told Russian news agencies.
Investigators, Vladimir Markin said, had originally sought to charge Alexei Navalny with causing “damage to property by means of deceit or abuse of trust” but they proceeded to more serious charges after reviewing the evidence.
Alexei Navalny pointed out that he had gone to the SK expecting to be charged with the lesser offence, only to find the case had been altered against him into something much more serious.
“This charge is strange and absurd,” he said after emerging from the building.
“They have completely changed the essence of the charge.”
This winter saw the biggest anti-government demonstrations in Moscow since the fall of the USSR. Protesters rallied around Alexei Navalny, who accused Vladimir Putin’s allies of rigging elections.
Since Vladimir Putin was re-elected president in March, legal action against opposition figures has increased markedly. A tough new law was passed on public order offences and tight curbs were placed on non-governmental organizations.
In recent weeks, Alexei Navalny, a lawyer by training, turned his fire on the SK’s chief, Alexander Bastrykin.
Alexander Bastrykin denied Alexei Navalny’s allegations that he had undeclared business interests in the Czech Republic.
He admitted once owning a flat there but said he had given it to his first wife. As for commercial activity, he said: “I was never in business. Business in the sense of aiming to make a profit. If they can find a single euro in profit, I’ll resign.”
Alexei Navalny vowed on Tuesday to continue his political activities despite the case against him.
“I will continue doing what I did before – nothing has changed for me,” he was quoted as saying by AFP news agency.
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