Poisoned former spy Alexander Litvinenko’s deathbed message accused Russian President Vladimir Putin, but pro-Kremlin MPs and state-controlled television networks today pointed the finger of blame at a prominent Putin enemy in Britain - tycoon Boris Berezovsky.

More than 100 bodies were reported to be lying in the burned-out gym of the Russian school where an armed siege ended in its third day after commandos stormed the building.

CHECHNYA presents a formidable challenge to the media outlets operating there and journalists attempting to cover events on the ground.

Heavily-armed militants launched near-simultaneous overnight attacks against police headquarters, border guard stations and other government offices in Ingushetia, a Russian region bordering warring Chechnya, killing 46 people including three high-ranking regional officials.

Attackers armed with grenade- and rocket-launchers seized the Interior Ministry headquarters in Ingushetia, a Russian region bordering warring Chechnya, a ministry official said today.

Brushing off US criticism of a one-sided election campaign, Russian president Vladimir Putin claimed victory early today after voters handed him an expected landslide win for a second four-year term.

A woman suicide bomber is believed to have blown up a train in the Moscow metro during rush hour today, killing at least 40 people and injuring more than 100.

At least three people were killed and eight others injured in Chechnya today when a bus hit a land mine and blew up in the capital Grozny.

TWO suicide bombers drove a truck full of explosives into a government complex in Russia’s rebel Chechnya yesterday.

Russian troops today continued pounding bands of Chechen rebels in the area where a British TV cameraman was killed yesterday.

Saying it is time to change strategy, President Vladimir Putin has transferred control of the war against Chechen rebels from the military to the country's main anti-terrorism agency.