A teacher who worked with disabled children is the latest educator fired for being in violation of Russia's so-called "gay propaganda" law.
Eighteen-year-old Yevgeny Pushkaryov was buried last week near St. Petersburg after being killed in eastern Ukraine. His mother says Russian television reports prompted the teenager to secretly join the separatist movement.
A state opera theater in St. Petersburg this week premiered a modernized version of a Stalin-era opera about Crimea. The uber-patriotic show has some critics beaming and others worried about the "brainwashing" of the public.
Police in St. Petersburg have seized four satirical paintings featuring high-ranking Russian politicians, including a portrait of President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev in women's underwear. Gallery owner Aleksandr Donskoi says police have shut down his Museum of Authorities.
A Russian composer has put the closing statement of jailed Pussy Riot member Maria Alyokhina, delivered at the end of her trial, to music. The result is a compelling work that was first performed in Italy this month after winning a prestigious composition prize.
When she first appeared in the Soviet Union, she was clearly from a different world. Barbie embodied all that was silently or openly scorned, and presented Soviet girls with a totally unfamiliar role model.
