Dance in the footsteps of Pushkin's lover, the Leontiyev princesses and the cast of the 1968 film of War and Peace at the annual Embassies of the World Dinner and Ball.

The event, with a Valentine's Day Aphrodite theme, has been joint organised by the Greek Embassy and Moscow's International Women's Club (IWC). Glittering entertainment, prizes and auctions make it one of the highlights of the year's fund-raising calendar culminating in a grand ball at the 200-year-old palace at 4, Leontiyevsky Pereulok on Friday, Feb. 12.

"We have an action-packed evening in store for our guests. The Moiseyev Troupe and the Utusev Jazz Orchestra alone will knock your socks off." said Laura Schueneman, IWC Newsletter Editor.

Ball tickets are still available at 4,500 roubles each. More details are available from http://www.iwcmoscow.ru/

Rail un-fare

Protesters against a sharp hike in rail fares from Moscow Region into the city have vowed to keep fighting - despite the reversal of the so-called "Moscow visa" levied against commuters entering the city.

At a small demonstration outside Russian Railways' Moscow headquarters on Monday, consumer rights campaigners said the battle was only half won.

Now they want passengers to be refunded for the enhanced fares they faced while the surcharge was in place.

Sokol next

Despite the on-going controversy over the demolition of Rechnik, city authorities are keen to push ahead with plans to remove unauthorised buildings from the Sokol village just off Leningradsky Prospekt.

The original 1920s garden suburb won awards for its town planning, but northern area prefect Oleg Mitvol is concerned that almost a quarter of the buildings now on the site are illegal.