Russian President Vladimir Putin has fired Sergei Ivanov, his chief of staff and once one of his closest allies, in the most high-profile power reshuffle at the Kremlin in years.

Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has dented EU hopes of an end to hard times for many farmers by saying Russia plans to extend its embargo on Western food products by a year and a half.

Britain and France criticised Russia’s role in Syria’s war and said Moscow must stop the conflict rather than fuelling it, after missile strikes killed dozens of civilians on Monday.

Diplomats have agreed to work toward a temporary “cessation of hostilities” in Syria’s civil war within a week, although efforts to secure a lasting ceasefire fell short.

A two-year feud between Ukraine and Russia is on the verge of being played out in a London courtroom after the government in Kiev defaulted on $3 billion (€2.75bn) in bonds.

Egyptian police were questioning employees of Sharm el-Sheikh hotels as they investigated whether a bomb may have been planted in the luggage of unsuspecting holidaymakers who boarded the doomed Metrojet flight.

The Obama regime has just refused to receive a Russian military delegation, headed by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, to discuss coordinated action on the fight against terrorism in Syria.

Russian president Vladimir Putin said the leader of Greece did not ask for financial aid during an official visit, easing speculation that Athens might use its relations with Moscow to gain an advantage in bailout talks with European creditors.

Russia saw a white Christmas today as a massive snowstorm in Moscow caused delays to more than 150 flights and brought traffic to a standstill.

Investors are prepared to pay the most on record to hold Russian shares abroad amid speculation that President Vladimir Putin’s government will be forced to implement currency controls to arrest the ruble’s decline.

Russian consumers have flocked to stores, frantically buying a range of big-ticket items as they looked to pre-empt price rises following the staggering fall in the value of the rouble over recent days.

Shelling has killed six people and wounded 15 others in the Ukraine rebel stronghold of Donetsk, the city council said.

Billionaire Richard Branson said he’s seeking an audience with President Vladimir Putin as business leaders call for a peaceful end to the conflict in Ukraine.

Russia has banned most food imports from the West in retaliation for sanctions over Ukraine.

Russia has cut off gas supplies to Ukraine in a dispute over unpaid bills that could disrupt supplies to the rest of Europe and set back hopes for peace.

Vladimir Putin has told European leaders that Ukraine’s growing gas debts to Moscow can threaten supplies to Europe.

Russia pulled back a battalion from along the Ukrainian border yesterday after sending its prime minister to shower promises on Crimea, pledging quick funds to improve power supplies, water lines and education on its newly annexed peninsula.

Russia’s prime minister has arrived in Crimea to consider priorities for its economic development following the Russian takeover.

President Vladimir Putin completed the annexation of Crimea yesterday, signing the peninsula into Russia at nearly the same time his Ukrainian counterpart sealed a deal pulling his country closer to Europe.

Russia:

Each Russian medallist from the Sochi games has been given a Mercedes by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev.

Ukraine issued an arrest warrant yesterday for its ousted pro-Russian president over “mass murder” and appealed for $35bn (€25bn) in Western aid as Moscow denounced Kiev’s new reformist interim government as “Kalashnikov-toting people in black masks.”

Russia has questioned the authority of Ukraine’s acting government, with prime minister Dmitry Medvedev saying the country’s acting authorities have come to power as a result of an ’armed mutiny’.

A Boeing 737 airliner crashed in the Russian city of Kazan yesterday, killing all 50 people on board and spotlighting the poor safety record of regional airlines that ply internal routes across the world’s largest nation.

Russia has made a last-minute attempt to put pressure on Ukraine over signing a landmark EU trade treaty.

Russian billionaire Viktor Vekselberg will name Conor Lenihan, the former minister of state for science, as a senior adviser for his Renova Group investment company, according to two people with knowledge of the move.

Russia has charged 14 Greenpeace activists with piracy after protesting at a Russian oil platform, leaving them facing up to 15 years in prison if convicted.

Russian police raided an exhibition and confiscated a painting that portrayed president Vladimir Putin and prime minister Dmitry Medvedev lounging together in women’s lingerie.

The artist whose paintings depicted Russian resident Vladimir Putin and prime minister Dmitry Medvedev in women’s underwear has fled the country.

The Russian leader hooks, nets, lands and snogs a sizeable pike while fishing on his holidays. Is there anything he can't do?

Documents leaked by US former spy Edward Snowden appear to show that Britain spied on foreign delegates at the 2009 London G20 meetings, a newspaper has reported.

Russia won’t bail out people or companies that stand to lose money held at Cyprus’s two largest banks, first deputy prime minister Igor Shuvalov said.

Russia’s prime minister has slammed the deal that saves Cyprus from bankruptcy but forces big losses on many bank deposits, a large chunk of which are held by Russians.

Moscow is heavily invested in Cyprus but is in no rush to help out, writes Felix Salmon

Cyprus’s relations with Russia are taking a severe battering.

It is still unclear who is taking charge of talks to save Cyprus. Is it Europe or Russia, asks Mike Peacock

A Russian banker accused of fraud says he has been granted political asylum in Britain.

Thousands of drivers in Russia have been stuck in a 190km traffic jam — some for up to three days in temperatures of minus five degrees Celsius.

Russia’s prime minister has said the women in the Pussy Riot punk band serving two-year prison sentences should be set free.

Russia’s prime minister Dmitry Medvedev has called for a ban on all tobacco advertising.

A Russian court has postponed the appeal of three members of jailed rock band Pussy Riot until October 10 after one of them fired her lawyers.