Galina Gubchenko Vasily Gatov Five years ago, then-President Dmitry Medvedev met with leading representatives of Russia's online media community — digital entrepreneurs, executives, scholars, authors and some opposition-minded bloggers. The gathering took place in a refurbished Moscow City Youth Library, and it had the look and style of a U.S. town hall meeting. Back then, exactly one year before President Vladimir Putin's return to Kremlin, the reality of Russian media seemed so different.

The hospital has a special ward for children under 3 years old. Often these children have suffered household accidents, like scalds. Children wearing brightly-colored cardboard wings play and talk with family members in their rooms. A little girl sits with a teacher at a desk going through a lesson. The atmosphere is lively, the activities everyday, but this isn't a school or a play area.

"3,200 rubles to the center," says a stocky, middle-aged man in Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport, quoting a taxi fare equal to about one-and-a-half times the average Muscovite's daily wage. He pauses to register amazement on the face of his potential ride. "Alright, alright," he says. "Special offer then, just for you: 3,000 and you're done." Souk-style bargaining is still par for the course at most Russian airport arrivals halls, with few bargains on offer.

Russia's Interior Ministry have purchased 120 Shmel portable flame rocket launchers, used by Soviet troops in Afghanistan and by Russian troops in Chechnya, the Kommersant newspaper reported on Thursday. The model bought by the ministry suggests that the weapon is designed for use in urban areas, though it could be also used to destroy buildings, transport and lightly armored vehicles in the field and in mountainous areas, according to gazeta.ru.

Traditional brass bands will be performing in many of Moscow's parks on Victory Day. Victory Day is a time of brass bands, heavy artillery and a whole load of flag waving. Given that the government spends a lot of money chasing away the clouds and ensuring blue skies and sunshine on May 9, there's no better way to celebrate than by relaxing in one of Moscow's parks.

Portuguese police, supported by Europol, have arrested three members of a Russian organized crime network suspected of laundering money through European football clubs. A press release from the European Union's law enforcement agency said that the group was directly responsible for laundering several million euros across several EU countries since 2008. Investigators allege that the group targeted football clubs with financial problems and infiltrated them using generous benefactors.

NOON AGAINST PUTIN Russians Abroad Take Part in Anti-Putin Election Protest, In Pictures Russians living across the world took part in the anti-Putin protest on the last day of voting in the presidential election. 1 Min read

Media Alliance, a joint venture of the National Media Group and the U.S. media giant Discovery Communications, has closed a deal to buy the Russian assets of broadcasting company Turner, the RBC newspaper reported Thursday. As a result of the deal, Media Alliance will be allowed to distribute and market Turner's Cartoon Network, the Boomerang children's channels and the CNN news channel in Russia, RBC reported, citing the company's statement.

A Country Church by Alexandra Kramorow The Solzhenitsyn House of the Russian Diaspora is hosting a new exhibit that celebrates the work of Antonina Woronyn and Alexandra Kramorow, two Russian sisters born to an aristocratic Russian family who fled during the Revolution. The exhibit, entitled "School of Two Sisters" came about thanks to the efforts of Antonina W. Bouis, an accomplished English-Russian translator and daughter of Antonina Woronyn.

An experimental ice cream brand named “Little Obama” has appeared on sale in the Russian republic of Tatarstan, the regional evening-kazan.ru news website reported. “Obamka” (Little Obama) ice cream went on sale in the city of Naberezhnye Chelny in late April. Deputy development director at the Slavitsa ice cream factory Rasil Mustafin, said that the name was not political but chosen due to the product's chocolate flavor. “There's no political underpinning.

An orchestra from Russia's famed Mariinsky theater held a performance in the ancient ruins of the Syrian city of Palmyra on Thursday evening. The concert was organized in memory of Alexander Prokhorenko, a Russian soldier who died while fighting to retake the city in March. The soldier called air strikes on his own position after being surrounded by Islamic State fighters.

If any city has the right to call itself the city of Chekhov, it's Moscow. Although the great playwright and short story writer was born in the south of Russia, he spent most of his adult life in Moscow and it was here that he solidified his status as one of the pillars of modern theater. "Chaika" (The Seagull) is probably Chekhov's best-known work.

The Armenian government has approved a draft bill recognizing the Nagorno-Karabakh region's independence and sent it to the country's parliament, the RIA Novosti news agency reported Thursday. The bill was submitted by Armenian opposition lawmakers Zarui Postanjan and Grant Bagratyan.

All internal organs, including the brain, have been removed from Lenin’s embalmed body. He lies in a glass sarcophagus. His eyes are closed, reddish beard and mustache trimmed, and his hands rest calmly on his thighs. Dressed in an austere black suit, Vladimir Lenin, the first Soviet leader, looks, on first impressions, to be sleeping. His image is so lifelike that it often scares children. Many adults assume it is a waxwork, rather than the actual body of someone who died 92 years ago.