Father Frost and Snow Maid wished happy New Year to homeless people in Moscow. In order to hand in presents all the crews of the Social Patrol service dressed like the magic characters.

The insatiable year has taken away another beautiful person - the outstanding composer Isaac Schwartz. It is impossible to imagine Russian cinema without him – it will already be totally different cinema.

The well-known Russian writer Grigory Yakovlevich Baklanov has died, aged 86, in Moscow.

By results of an internet poll the writer Viktor Pelevin has been recognized the most influential intellectual of Russia.

Yegor Gaidar, the Russian economist, who is believed to be in charge of Shock Therapy reforms in early 1990s, died this morning aged 53 in his house outside Moscow.

The new survey conducted recently showed that 12% of Russians see Matryoshka Doll as the national symbol of the country.

On Monday, December 7, writer and journalist Pyotr Vail died at hospital in Prague after a long and hard disease, Radio Freedom reports.

The notable actress Alisa Freindlich refused from celebrations of her 75th anniversary while mourning her former son-in-law, who had perished in the catastrophe of Nevsky Express train.

Today at 3.35 pm the great actor passed away.