We talked about Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's dislike for punk rock back in August. The same can't be said about all types of music however - he spent Friday night at a live hip hop battle. Read more and see the video...

A senior Russian police officer who dared to denounce the corruption of his colleagues in a YouTube video has been fired just two days after his confession. Read more and watch the video...

This is an artist's impression of the second trial of Mikhail Khodorkovsky. Once Russia's richest man and a potential opponent of then president Vladimir Putin, his imprisonment six years ago could now be extended until well after 2035. To publicise the event, almost 40 Russian artists filed into court to compete in illustrating the case. See more...

With lyrics like "Just don't listen to him; a pig will always find mud to roll in", it's no surprise that punk band PTVP can't be found on Russian TV. But one of our pro-Kremlin Observers tells us it's got nothing to do with politics. Read more...

The Russian government is planning to allow pro-Kremlin volunteers to set up a nationwide youth militia by recruiting 100,000 destitute 17- to 25-year-olds to patrol the streets in return for food and shelter. The news comes just months after a similar initiative was set up in Italy. Is Europe seeing a return to citizen policing? Read more...

"Vova", commonly known as Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, is a superhero according to Ukrainian band Dress Code, who have released a song devoted to the merits of the James Bond-defying, child-saving, universally adored Russian. Banned in Ukraine, the video is causing quite a stir. Read more and watch the clip...

Why was Saturday's opposition rally in Moscow strikingly different from previous events? Because not one protestor was beaten or arrested. Even stranger - pro-Kremlin counter activists themselves were detained by the police. Which beggars the question; is the Russian government warming to the idea of freedom of speech? Read more and see the images...

Georgia is using this year's Eurovision song contest as an opportunity to poke fun at Russia. Not difficult to get their little joke, with a song entitled "We don't wanna put in". Read more and see the clip...

Putin flew groups of riot police 10,000 kilometres on Saturday to meet anti-government protestors gathered in Vladivostok. Around a thousand Russians from the east of the country showed disdain for the Prime Minister by taking to the streets. Their message: "United Russia can go to hell". Read more...

Russian protesters in the far east of the country plan to heighten pressure on the government this weekend by continuing to cause chaos in the city of Vladivostok. Read more...