A St. Petersburg court has sentenced a history teacher to five years in prison for stealing dozens of works from the Hermitage Museum. Nikolai Zavadsky pleaded guilty to stealing more than 200 silver and enamel artifacts worth an estimated $5 million.

Vitaly Sokolov, a retired school teacher, who has lived all his life in St Petersburg, is an angry man. Last month he spent several days gathering signatures for the Yabloko party to allow them to run in the March 11 municipal elections.

Across the Neva River from the Peter and Paul Fortress and beneath the towering blue and gold minarets of the massive St. Petersburg Mosque, stands a dusty, gray building that is home to the Museum of Russian Political History.

Russia's Supreme Court has rejected an appeal by the opposition Yabloko party to reinstate it for St. Petersburg's upcoming local elections.

Violence broke out between police and protesters in Russia's second largest city of St. Petersburg today, where an estimated 3,000 people demonstrated against the leadership of President Vladimir Putin.

The decision to bar Yabloko from upcoming elections in Russia's second city met with dismay from liberals.

Russian election authorities have barred the liberal political party Yabloko from competing in local elections March 11 in the city of St. Petersburg.

Extending its strategy of establishing research centers in growing economies, HP today announced it will open a lab in St. Petersburg, Russia, to pursue advanced information management technologies.

Russia's lower house of parliament has passed legislation that would move the country's Constitutional Court from Moscow to St. Petersburg.

Police in St. Petersburg said unknown persons threw black paint on the walls of the Estonian Consulate in the city center early today.