Russian President Dmitry Medvedev intends to hold a meeting on the fight against drunkenness and alcoholism in the near future. According to ITAR-TASS, the head of state said this on Wednesday during a meeting with residents of Zvenigorod near Moscow.

The authorities of St. Petersburg decided to dismantle the blown-up monument to Lenin on the Finland Station Square for restoration, Interfax reports . Restoration with dismantling turned out to be two times cheaper and will take place one and a half times faster than restoring the monument on site. According to the Committee for State Control, Use and Protection of Historical and Cultural Monuments of St.

Two Russian Akula-class submarines have been spotted off the US east coast, the New York Times reports, citing Pentagon sources. According to sources, the submarines arrived on the American coast a few days ago. "Russian submarines have not approached the American coast for 15 years," Norman Polmar, a specialist in the history of the submarine fleet, told the publication.

The World Organization Organization turned to Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Prosecutor General Yuri Chaika with a request to provide information about the whereabouts of the political prisoner Tatyana Kharlamova, National Bolshoi.ru reports. According to official figures, Kharlamov is currently being transferred from Smolensk to Khabarovsk. Where specifically it is and what is the state of her health, it is already unknown for more than a month.

Yekaterinburg, August 4, 2009. Bailiffs do not allow the public to attend the court hearing in the case of human rights activist Alexei Sokolov. His colleague Sergei Kuznetsov calls the police. Source: 6_6pam Sokolov was charged with a new crime Other videos from the court (interview of the defense lawyer and escort of Sokolov)

The prefect of the North-Western District of Moscow, Viktor Kozlov, resigned due to a scandal with the construction of a house in Kurkino Park. about this writes Kommersant with reference to the SZAO information portal. Sergei Mitrokhin, leader of the Yabloko-United Democrats faction in the Moscow City Duma, agrees with this version.

The most likely candidate for the post of head of the government of South Ossetia, "Kommersant" calls the general director of the Chelyabinsk construction company CJSC "Vermiculite" Vadim Brovtsev. According to the publication, the change of government was one of the outcomes of President Dmitry Medvedev's recent trip to Tskhinvali. Medvedev was dissatisfied with the pace of restoration of the republic.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Il pardoned and released two American journalists who were previously sentenced to 12 years hard labor for illegally crossing the border. AR reports. The decision to pardon Laura Lin and Yuna Lee was made after the meeting of the DPRK leader with former US President Bill Clinton. The North Korean media characterized the release of the journalists as evidence of the humane and peaceful policy of their leadership.

On Wednesday night, 6 people were injured in an accident on Dmitrovskoye Highway, Ekho Moskvy reports. At about 2.00 Moscow time, two cars collided at the intersection of the highway with the 800th anniversary of Moscow street. One of them ran into a lamppost, the pole fell and blocked traffic on the highway. Three victims were hospitalized with serious injuries, the rest received first aid on the spot and refused hospitalization.

In the Naro-Fominsk district of the Moscow region, a projectile from a military training ground hit the territory of a garden partnership, ITAR-TASS reports, citing a source in the regional department of the Ministry of Emergency Situations. "The cumulative projectile hit the Rassudovo garden partnership. There were no casualties," the source said. However, according to preliminary data, he destroyed the fence of one of the houses and the well.

The "Georgian issue" no longer interferes with Russia's relations with the West, and this was confirmed during US President Barack Obama's visit to Moscow, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in an interview with the Vesti TV channel.

The Parliament of South Ossetia supported the appointment of Vadim Brovtsev as the chairman of the government of the republic, Interfax reports . 24 out of 27 deputies voted for him. President Eduard Kokoity submitted Brovtsev's candidacy to the legislative assembly on Wednesday morning. Brovtsev heads the Chelyabinsk construction company Vermiculite, which is involved in the construction of Olympic facilities in Sochi.

Georgia "did not have and does not have any desire to fight with Russia" because "it would be suicide for the country." According to ITAR-TASS, President of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili made such a statement in an interview to a French TV channel. Fragments of the speech were also shown on Wednesday by Georgian TV.

The traffic police department for the Sverdlovsk region published information about a car accident with the participation of Governor Eduard Rossel. It is reported by RIA Novosti. The accident occurred on July 27, but until August 5, information about it was hidden in the traffic police.

8 employees of the Federal Migration Service and the FSB in Moscow were locked in a fruit and vegetable base, Gazeta.ru reports. They carried out an inspection of compliance with the migration regime at the base at 26a Kuskovskaya Street. By order of the director of the base, all the inspectors were locked in the room without explanation. The demands of the employees of the inspection bodies to release them were ignored by the guards for 2 hours.