Russia said Friday it had captured a Georgian spy allegedly operating in southern Russia to destabilise the region, as tensions mounted between Moscow and its pro-Western neighbour.

Russia's domestic spy service accused Georgia on Friday of supporting armed rebels in southern Russia, an accusation that could further damage the strained relations between the two countries.

BBC Monitoring profiles the European press scene - Russia.

Israel lets fugitive ex-Yukos official keep Israeli citizenship
Israel e News, Israel - 1 hour ago
MOSCOW, May 14 (RIA Novosti) - The Supreme Court of Israel has ruled against stripping ex-Yukos official Leonid Nevzlin, wanted in Russia on charges of ...

RTS index sets new record
RosBusinessConsulting, Russia - 1 hour ago
Therefore, traders are optimistic and believe that the Russian stock market will be strong and the RTS index will hover around 2500 points by the end of ...

Javno.hr
German Foreign Minister Upbeat About Russia Partnership
Deutsche Welle, Germany - 1 hour ago
Germany’s Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier ended a four-day trip to Russia by emphasizing Germany’s willingness to help Russia modernize. ...

As Time Runs Out, Survivors Pulled From Quake Rubble
New York Times, United States - 1 hour ago
Experts from Taiwan, South Korea and Russia are expected to arrive soon. But rescue efforts have been hampered all week long by bad weather, ...

Clowning Around
Inside Futures, IL - 2 hours ago
He took over YUKOS, one of the crown jewels of the post Soviet Russian oil industry, because he said they were not paying enough money in taxes and also ...

WEEKEND READ: From Russia with love
Business Spectator, Australia - 2 hours ago
Medvedev’s meeting with Nazarbayev – which is in line with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s frequent visits during his term as Russia’s president ...

Tiraspol Times & Weekly Review
EU Parliament group wants Europe to "re-consider relations with ...
Tiraspol Times & Weekly Review, Moldova - 11 hours ago
In contrast to Moldova, there is a more tolerant and free climate in Pridnestrovie - an unrecognized country also known as Transdniestria, or Transdniester ...

Rosneft willing to work with western majors-Sechin
Reuters - 3 hours ago
Rosneft rocketed to the top position from seventh after it bought the main production and refining assets of YUKOS, previously Russia's largest oil firm at ...

Telegraph.co.uk
Russia to use 6000 police, troops secure Champions League final
The Canadian Press, MOSCOW - 3 hours ago
Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko said Russia would do "everything" to prevent violence and "ensure that there are no acts of revenge" following the ...

Sex, power and fabulous wealth are images of modern Russia and also the theme for an ambitious new musical evoking one of Russia's most famous rulers.

Telegraph.co.uk
Russia to use 6000 police, troops secure Champions League final
The Canadian Press, MOSCOW - 3 hours ago
Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko said Russia would do "everything" to prevent violence and "ensure that there are no acts of revenge" following the ...

Sportsnet.ca
Kovalchuk suspension shouldn't change classic Russia-Finland matchup
The Canadian Press, QUEBEC - 3 hours ago
QUEBEC — As Russia and Finland got ready on Thursday for their second semifinal meeting in as many years at the IIHF World Hockey Championship, ...

Sportsnet.ca
Kovalchuk suspension shouldn't change classic Russia-Finland matchup
The Canadian Press, QUEBEC - 3 hours ago
QUEBEC — As Russia and Finland got ready on Thursday for their second semifinal meeting in as many years at the IIHF World Hockey Championship, ...

Moldovagaz repays nearly all gas debt to Gazprom
RosBusinessConsulting, Russia - 4 hours ago
Gazprom supplied $225.7m worth of natural gas to Moldova's consumers, excluding those living in Transnistria, while Moldovagaz paid $219.4m for it in 2007, ...

Russia-InfoCenter
Russian minister says US, Japan block bigger G8
guardian.co.uk, UK - 4 hours ago
"Our British colleagues say the British Prime Minister Gordon Brown will soon make a statement to the next G8 summit in Italy, on the proposals about global ...

Russia has no plans to establish military base in Abkhazia, Yuri Baluevsky, chief of general staff of the Russian armed forces, said on May 16. “I do not now from where this information came,” RIA Novosti news agency quoted Baluyevsky as saying in Brussels.

British singer Amy Winehouse has been offered £1m to perform in an old Russian bus garage.

RIA Novosti
New technology to assist participants at St. Petersburg forum
RIA Novosti, Russia - 4 hours ago
MOSCOW, May 16 (RIA Novosti) - New technology will assist participants and organizers during the St. Petersburg international economic forum, ...

PENZA, Russia, May 16 (UPI) -- Authorities were conducting forensic tests Friday on the bodies of two women who died during a seven-month stay in a cave with Russian doomsday cult members.

BBC News explores how the Russian authorities are preparing for the arrival of fans for the Champions League final in Moscow.

CNN International
Remaining cult members quit cave
CNN International - 2 hours ago
MOSCOW, Russia (AP) -- The nine remaining members of a Russian doomsday cult holed up underground for months awaiting the end of the world abandoned it ...

CTV.ca
Last doomsday cult members abandon cave in Russia
The Associated Press - 7 hours ago
He left his family and established the True Russian Orthodox Church and recruited followers in Russia and Belarus. He reportedly told followers that in the ...

Our aim – to strength and deepen cooperation with Kazakhstan ...
Kazinform, Kazakhstan - 1 hour ago
/Aigul Turysbekova/ Indonesian delegation’s visit aims at strengthening and enlargement of cooperation with Kazakhstan. Good start for bilateral economic ...

Basic pension in Kazakhstan will be increased by KZT600 from July1 ...
Gazeta.KZ, Kazakhstan - 1 hour ago
It was reported in the interview with press by the head of the ministry of economy and budget planning (MEBP) of Kazakhstan, Bakhyt Sultanov, agency reports ...

Russia's security service reportedly said Friday that it detained a man accused of spying for Georgia in the restive North Caucasus, adding to escalating tension between the former Soviet republics.

Russian stocks open on positive note
RosBusinessConsulting, Russia - 7 hours ago
Today's session on the Russian stock market opened with a rise in most traded securities. On the RTS, Gazprom went up 1 percent and Surgutneftegas gained ...

Russia's domestic spy service on Friday accused Georgia of supporting armed rebels in southern Russia, an accusation that could further damage the strained relations between the two countries.