Artur, son of Russian activist Svetlana Davydova and her husband Anatoly Gorlov, holds up a photo of his mother to the camera, at their home in Vyazma, Jan. 30, 2015. More than 30,000 people have signed a petition asking President Vladimir Putin to release until trial a woman accused of treason for a call she placed to Ukrainian diplomats, warning them that Russian troops may be en route to their country.

The Russian ruble weakened of Monday, with market players still reacting negatively to the Central Bank's unexpected decision on Friday to cut rates, and a decline in oil prices weighing on the currency. At 8:55 p.m. Moscow time, the ruble was around one percent stronger at 68.39 against the dollar and around 0.6 percent stronger on the day at 77.5 versus the euro.

The MT Conferences section did not involve the reporting or the editorial staff of The Moscow Times. Natalia Stenina Head of Real Estate and Construction Practice, PhD Pepeliaev Group On Dec. 29, 2014, Russian lawmakers finally approved changes to production and consumer waste legislation that had been under discussion since 2011.

Russia has delivered four attack helicopters to the Iraqi air force to assist in Baghdad's struggle against Islamic State militants, the Interfax news agency reported citing a Russian military source. The Mi-28 Night Hunters were delivered on Sunday, the source said, as part of a 2012 agreement for the supply of 40 Mi-28 and Mi-40 military helicopters. The $4.2 billion contract also covers the delivery of 42 anti-aircraft systems.

Men load the body of a victim of shelling into a vehicle at a site hit by shelling in Donetsk, eastern Ukraine, Feb. 1, 2015. Separatist rockets streaked across hills in eastern Ukraine on Monday as rebels pounded the positions of Ukrainian government troops holding a strategic rail town while both sides pressed ahead with mobilizing more forces for combat.

Ukrainian servicemen sit atop an armored personnel carrier as they patrol Orekhovo village in Luhansk. Jan. 28, 2015. MOSCOW/KIEV — By considering giving weapons to Kiev, the U.S. could be contemplating a risky venture that advocates say would help end the conflict in Ukraine but opponents warn might fan the flames of war. A senior U.S.

A poster for the Russian National Commercial Bank (RNCB) hanging over one of the bank’s branches in Crimea. The Crimean government has sold a bank that became the largest in the region by scooping up branches from Ukrainian lenders fleeing the region after Russia annexed it from Ukraine last year. Crimean authorities took control of the Russian National Commercial Bank (RNCB) from major state lender VTB for an undisclosed sum just weeks after Russia seized the peninsula.

What should I do with my savings?" is a question I have heard often in the last six months. It usually concerns a sum ranging from $10,000 to $100,000 that members of Moscow's middle class have saved up from their monthly salaries of 150,000 rubles or more. Early in the crisis the question was whether to convert those ruble savings into dollars, but now the situation has changed considerably. Now they have three options: keep their money in dollars, hold it in euros or buy an apartment with it.

Medvedev did not offer specific measures, but President Vladimir Putin had earlier asked the prime minister to consider a proposal to drop mortgage interest rates to 12 percent. Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev on Monday told the government to ensure that mortgage lending isn't "reduced to nothing" as crushing loan payments squeeze Russians amid sky-high interest rates and rising inflation, news agency Interfax reported on Monday.

The Polish foreign minister suggested Monday that this year's celebrations to mark the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II should not be held in Russia, the latest volley in an ongoing diplomatic spat between the two countries over war anniversaries.

The airplane shot was uploaded by user "Kseniya Infinity," whose page promotes a "girls-only" club in St. Petersburg. A snapshot of a pair of lesbian-rights activists smooching in front of anti-gay lawmaker Vitaly Milonov on an Aeroflot flight from Moscow to St. Petersburg has gone viral since it was uploaded to the VKontakte social network on Sunday. Milonov confirmed the photo's authenticity to the FlashNord news agency, which focuses on northeast Russia.

Members of a special unit of the Ukrainian armed forces line up before departing to take part in a military operation, during a farewell ceremony in Kharkiv, Jan. 30, 2015. Separatists battling government troops in east Ukraine plan a general mobilization and aim to boost their fighting force to 100,000 men, one of their main leaders said Monday.

People walk past a board showing currency exchange rates in Moscow, Jan 26. The economy may be in serious trouble, but Russians continue to trust and support President Vladimir Putin, and analysts say this is because he represents the focal point of the “symbolic unity” of the Russian nation. Putin is associated with Russia’s overall pride as a nation rather than anything immediately connected with everyday life, such as inflation, recession or the ruble exchange rate, they said.

The head of radical leftist Syriza party Alexis Tsipras speaks to supporters after winning the elections in Athens on Jan. 25, 2015. Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras ruled out seeking aid from Russia and said on Monday that he would pursue negotiations for a new debt agreement with European partners but met little sign of compromise from Germany.

The Vauxhall Center played host to the fourth solo exhibit of Vasilyeva since she was placed under house arrest. Oil paintings and graphic art with simple subjects line the walls of Vauxhall Center at Rizhsky railway station, the fourth exhibit of an artist who has never been to her own shows and whose main fame does not come from the canvas.