A collector from Oryol city had long dreamt of purchasing Chemiakin’s works. Finally he managed to find two paintings from the series Carnivals of Saint Petersburg.

The exhibition The Echo of Russian Seasons dedicated to tours of Sergey Diaghilev’s ballet company and Russian art exhibitions in Paris has been recently opened in the Hermitage, St. Petersburg.

The State Religious History Museum in St. Petersburg has opened an exhibition of Fathers Frosts and Santa Clauses as they are seen in different countries of the world.

Amusement ice burgh has been built in Moscow for the New Year’s celebrations. The icy towers and castles and sculptures cover the area of about 1 hectare at Poklonnaya Gora near Kutuzovski Prospekt.

An unveiling ceremony of the tombstone of Nikolai Gogol took place at Novodevichi Cemetery on Tuesday, December 29.

The exhibition Moscow 1993-2009: The Burden of Changes opened at the Shchusev Architecture Museum illustrates drastic deformation of the image of Moscow in recent 16 years.

The famous Georgian sculptor Merab Berdzenishvili, the author of the Memorial of Glory recently destroyed in Kutaisi, is grateful to the Russian Culture Minister Aleksandr Avdeyev for the offer to reconstruct the monument in Moscow, but it is impossible, according to the sculptor.

A small tax for tourist stay in Saint Petersburg is planned to be established in the city; the assets will be used mainly for protection of the historical centre and restoration of architecture monuments of Saint Petersburg.

On December 25, 2009 Mstislav Zapashny was removed from his position as the head of the Russian State Circus due to financial violations.

Legends of the German hard rock - the Scorpions - are going to introduce their new album Sting In The Tail in Moscow.