THE head of Russia’s deep cover US spying operations has betrayed the network and defected, a Russian paper said, potentially giving the West one of its biggest intelligence coups since the end of the Cold War.

VLADIMIR Putin, who has carved out a strongman image by wrestling with tigers or judo opponents, raised eyebrows yesterday as he was pictured caked in make-up, apparently to mask a black eye.

DMITRY MEDVEDEV told U2 lead singer Bono that he’s a fan of rock group Led Zeppelin over tea during a meeting at the Russian president’s residence in the Black Sea resort of Sochi.

RUSSIA has identified a 17-year-old widow of a Caucasus militant as one of the Moscow suicide bombers, while the country remained on high alert after the attacks.

RUSSIAN investigators yesterday sifted through the wreckage of an Aeroflot jet that crashed in the Ural mountains killing all 88 people on board, as the region marked a day of mourning.

More than 30 people were blinded by a laser show at a Russian music festival and some may lose their sight permanently.

Britain's ambassador has issued a direct challenge to Russia over its refusal to extradite the man accused of killing Kremlin critic Alexander Litvinenko in London.

RUSSIAN President Vladimir Putin has described himself as the world’s only “pure” democrat and accused the United States and Europe of falling short of their own ideals.

A Russian journalist who wrote a highly critical book about President Vladimir Putin has asked for political asylum in Britain, claiming her life was in “mortal danger,” she said today.

Russian investigators are focusing their inquiry into the killing of a Russian investigative reporter on former police officers linked to crimes against civilians in Chechnya, it was today reported.

Russian investigators continue to probe the brazen daylight killing of star investigative journalist and fierce government critic Anna Politkovskaya, singling out her work as the most likely motive for the killing, news reports said.

Russian politicians were to vote today on a motion fiercely condemning Georgia’s pro-Western leadership as an anti-Georgia campaign gathered steam after Moscow imposed sweeping sanctions on the small neighbouring state.

Russian sailors rescued with British help after three days trapped in a mini-submarine deep in the Pacific revealed today how they struggled with rapidly decreasing water and oxygen supplies while waiting anxiously in the darkness and cold.

Billionaire Chelsea football club owner Roman Abramovich is in the final stage of talks to sell a majority stake in Russian oil company Sibneft to the state-controlled gas monopoly Gazprom, the Kommersant business daily reported today.

SPECULATION that Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich is spreading his financial interests in football to South America has resurfaced in the Russian billionaire’s homeland.

Wails of mourning echoed through the streets of Beslan today, and the region’s top police officer reportedly resigned in the wake of the school hostage taking that left more than 350 people dead.

Commandos stormed the Russian siege school today as near-naked children fled the building amid explosions and gunfire.

RUSSIA’S navy chief said yesterday that one of the nation’s most powerful ships, the nuclear-powered Peter the Great missile cruiser, was in such dire condition that it could explode at “any moment”.

One of Russia’s most powerful ships, the nuclear-powered Peter the Great missile cruiser, was in dire condition and could explode at any moment, a Russian navy chief said today.

The jailing of Russia’s richest man in what is widely seen as a politically-driven attack on his oil empire could herald a return to Soviet-style repression that is bound to trigger capital flight, media and politicians warned today.

THE Kremlin’s candidate Akhmad Kadyrov won a landslide victory in Chechnya’s presidential election but few voters believed he would bring a rapid end to the fighting that has devastated their republic.

THE dollar rose to a seven-day high against the euro in New York trading as signs the world’s biggest economy is strengthening lured investors to US assets such as stocks and corporate bonds.

At least 114 servicemen were killed when the world’s biggest helicopter, probably carrying almost double its permitted load, crashed outside a Russian base in Chechnya, state television reported today.

Ninety-nine Russian servicemen were killed and 33 injured yesterday when a huge Mi-26 troop transport helicopter fell onto a Chechen minefield.

Hundreds of mourners gathered today for a memorial ceremony on the charred Ukrainian airstrip where a military jet ploughed into hundreds of spectators at an air show, killing at least 83.

Authorities are today examining flight data recorders from a Russian jet that slammed into a forest near Moscow just after take off, killing 14 people. Two flight attendants survived the crash.