MOSCOW (Reuters) - Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, alarmed by Russians' love affair with alcohol, gave the go-ahead on Thursday for a campaign to cut consumption by more than half in the next 10 years. Putin approved a series of government steps to tackle the "national threat" of Russia's alcohol addiction including restrictions on alcohol sales and production, higher taxation and ...

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Minimum prices for vodka took effect in Russia on Friday as part of President Dmitry Medvedev's campaign to combat alcoholism at a time when Russians traditionally drink heavily during the New Year and Orthodox Christmas holidays. The price of the cheapest half-liter vodka bottle will nearly double to a new minimum of 89 roubles ($2.95), according ...

Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev criticized Kremlin policies Friday and toyed with the ambitious idea of attempting a political comeback. Gorbachev said that corruption and overdependence on oil exports have aggravated the impact of the global economic crisis on Russia. He urged President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin ...

MOSCOW (Reuters) - The Kremlin could have started World War Three in 1989 had it used troops to crush the demonstrations that preceded the fall of the Berlin Wall, former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev said on Tuesday. Gorbachev is hailed in the West for ignoring hardliners who advised him to guarantee the Soviet Union's future by crushing a growing wave ...