News Memory quiz getting tougher By Anna Arutunyan In some respects Memorial, the research and human rights society that tracks victims of Stalinist repression, is doing all right.

News Sochi election a litmus test By Andy Potts and Ayano Hodouchi With one candidate facing an ammonia attack, Russia's most famous murder suspect flitting in and out of the race and the country's leading freemason joining a cast-list of 23 hopefuls at the latest count, it's no surprise that the Sochi mayoral election is seen by some as a farce.

Comment Alms for an ex-oligarch Tim Wall If Sochi's mayoral election really is a "circus", who is the ringmaster?

Comment Viewing Georgia from both sides By Shaun Walker Even though some eight months have passed since Russia's war with Georgia over the breakaway republic of South Ossetia, both parties are still feeling its consequences and remain very sensitive to interpretations of these events that appear in the media.

Comment Putin’s report card By Sergei Balashov The State Duma may be “no place for discussions”, but the prime minister will use his annual report to parliament to dispel criticisms of his government’s handling of the economy

Business Mystery over RusAl debt deal By Ayano Hodouchi In a move which seems to make no commercial sense, Mikhail Prokhorov has agreed to write off $2 billion of debt in exchange for an extra 4.5 per cent share in RusAl.

News Vologda battles unemployment By Maria Levina As home to Severstal, one of the world's largest steel producers, the Vologda region has been particularly hard hit by skyrocketing unemployment.

Comment Mikhalkov takes lead in film directors’ dispute By Dmitry Babich Nikita Mikhalkov, a charismatic film director and an outspoken Vladimir Putin loyalist, appears to be winning the fight for control over the Union of Cinematographers of Russia, one of the few remaining influential artistic guilds in the country.

Business G-20 dominated by economic woe By Anna Arutunyan As presidents Dmitry Medvedev and Barack Obama seek to renew security relations when they meet at the G-20 summit in London on April 1, cooperating on a roadmap to get through the global financial crisis will top the agenda.

Business Managing a resurgent rouble By Yaroslav Lissovolik The main revelation in the Russian market this month has been the resurgence of the rouble after the Central Bank completed its step-by-step depreciations of the currency in February.

Local Gogol galore By Vladimir Kozlov Celebrate the 200th anniversary of the great writer’s birth

Local Going for Gogol By Phoebe Taplin The great comic writer, Nikolai Gogol, was born 200 years ago this Wednesday, on April 1, 1809, in what is now Ukraine.

Local Mending Gorky By Nathan Toohey Plans have been announced for the reconstruction of Gorky Park after the Public Chamber called for its upkeep to be prioritised.

Culture Funny balls on a roll By Vladimir Kozlov Russian feature films' international successes are few and far between, with "Nochnoi Dozor" ("Night Watch") remaining the only recent Russian movie to be released in several major markets.

Restaurants & Bars Anti-crisis cocktails By Dominic Esler International cocktail-making champion Dmitry Sokolov already runs four successful bars in Moscow - Tema, Help, Tiki Bar, and Booze Bub.