MOSCOW, December 23 (RIA Novosti) - Moscow...

MOSCOW, December 23 (RIA Novosti) - Moscow police officially rejected media reports on Tuesday that two violinists from a famed Russian orchestra had been attacked by racists, a police spokesman said. A member of the Moscow Virtuosi chamber orchestra, Denis Shulgin, was hospitalized with a fractured skull and brain concussion after an attack in the Russian capital on Monday. Attackers stole his valuable violin. In a separate incident on Sunday, his colleague Georgy Tsai, an ethnic Korean, was stabbed in the stomach and suffered numerous hand injuries. His bag was stolen during the attack, which occurred near his home. Both men are reported to be in a stable condition. Police are investigating whether the attacks were linked. After the first incident, media said the violinist had been a victim of a race-hate attack. However, the police spokesman Viktor Biryukov dismissed the reports saying: "We officially deny this information as there no grounds for such allegations." Criminal cases into assault and robbery have been opened, he said. Racially motivated crimes have become common in Russia since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. Attacks by gangs of youths on foreigners and people with non-Slavic features are a routine occurrence in Moscow and St. Petersburg, as well as the city of Voronezh, which hosts many foreign university students. Last week, the Moscow City Court sentenced seven young men, convicted of 20 race-hate murders and 12 other attacks, to between six and 20 years in prison. The gang carried out a series of attacks between August 2006 and October 2007 targeted at foreigners and non-Slavic migrants. The suspects filmed some of the attacks and posted them on the Internet.

MOSCOW, July 16 (RIA Novosti) - The Russian...

MOSCOW, July 16 (RIA Novosti) - The Russian Orthodox Church is holding services and processions across the country on Wednesday and Thursday to commemorate the killing of the last Russian tsar and his family 90 years ago. Tsar Nickolas II, his wife, their four daughters and son, and several servants, were shot dead by the Bolsheviks in a basement in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg in the early hours of July 17, 1918. The Romanovs were canonized in 2000. Russia"s Investigation Committee marked the anniversary by confirming Wednesday that the bone fragments exhumed near Yekaterinburg last July belong to the emperor"s son and heir, and one of his four daughters. "The overall data obtained during a DNA analysis ... supports the theory that the remains of Crown Prince Alexei and Grand Princess Maria have been found," the committee said referring to DNA and other tests carried out in Russia, the United States, and other countries. The remains of Nicholas II, his wife Empress Alexandra and three daughters were found in Yekaterinburg in 1991 and reburied in 1998 in St. Petersburg, the Russian imperial capital. The last tsar"s great-grandson, Dmitry Romanov, who heads the Romanovs for Russia foundation, welcomed the news. "It is very important to me. It is an official confirmation... The family had hoped this would happen some day." However, the Russian Orthodox Church, which has doubted the accuracy of similar tests 10 years ago, urged more studies to prove that the remains belong to the tsar"s children. The Russian church leader, Patriarch Alexy II, said Tuesday that "the 1918 atrocity" gave a start to a string of tragic events in Russia in the 20th century - "the horrors of war, fratricidal conflicts, famine, and unprecedented political repressions." The patriarch also called on the government to condemn the killing of the emperor and his family, an appeal the Communist leader described as "provocative" and "an attempt to rewrite history." The Russian Imperial House in exile has sought since 2005 to have the Romanov family exonerated as victims of political repression. Grand Duchess Maria Romanov, who heads the House, insists the killings were a state-sponsored execution rather than murder. Russia"s judiciary has rejected the demands saying the Romanovs never faced any formal charges before being executed by Bolsheviks.

MOSCOW, August 8 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's...

MOSCOW, August 8 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's strategic aviation started Wednesday an active phase of military exercises to fly over the North Pole and conduct test launches of cruise missiles, an Air Force spokesman said.