Corey Flintoff

The Russian protest group skewers Russia's prosecutor-general, Yuri Chaika, who's accused of corruption. The video stars one of two Pussy Riot members jailed in 2012 for "hooliganism."

Ramzan Kadyrov is an aggressive supporter of Vladimir Putin, vilifying opponents of the Russian president as traitors and "Satans" who should be eliminated. But his bluster may provoke a backlash.

The Russian government has reacted angrily to the British inquiry into the murder of Alexander Litvinenko. Moscow says what should have been a criminal inquiry was politicized by the British government, and risked damaging relations between the two countries.

To celebrate the feast of Epiphany marking the baptism of Jesus in the River Jordan, thousands of Russian Orthodox faithful take a dip in icy waters. How does it feel? "Absolutely good," one man says.

"It is not borders and state territories that matter," Putin told the German tabloid Bild, "but people's fortunes."

Russian tourists love the beaches of Egypt and Turkey. But the recent losses of a Russian civilian plane in Egypt and a military plane along the Turkish border have changed their plans.

Boris Nemtsov was murdered last February. Prosecutors indicted four men in the killing but they say the alleged mastermind is still at large. The opposition says the charges are part of a cover-up.

Near the end of this year saw a collision between the headstrong leaders of two powerful countries: Russia and Turkey. There are worries that a Russo-Turkish feud could escalate.

Vsevolod Chaplin, a high-profile religious conservative, was dismissed with little explanation on Thursday. He says he was sacked because church authorities want to silence independent voices.

The 100-ruble note is worth about half of what it was worth in February 2014, just before Russia seized the Black Sea peninsula. The ruble could depreciate even more in the coming year.