• City news

• Journeying to Father Frost’s Hometown

  The Russian north has always held a fairy-tale appeal for its wooden architecture, historical monuments and expanses of forest, marshland and lakes. Nestled in the northeastern corner of the Vologda region, the town of Veliky Ustyug is no exception.

• THE DISH: Magnolia

  Gorgeous Georgia It should immediately be admitted that our attempt to get a feel for this relatively new Georgian on the Petrograd Side was hampered by one of those horrific events that assails Petersburg at this time of year.

• in the spotlight: Back to the Grindstone

  This week, the State Duma opened for business with the new deputies including actress Maria Kozhevnikova, 27, who once posed for Playboy and this year was voted Russia’s sexiest woman by the readers of men’s magazine Maxim.

• Vysotsky Recreated for First Biopic

  MOSCOW — Thirty-one years after Vysotsky’s death during the Moscow Olympics, the first-ever biopic has made it to the screen, drawing crowds, controversy and some displeasure from fans of one of the most revered artists in the Soviet Union.

• Girls on top

  Iva Nova, a local all-women band that blends Slavic folk, punk and avant-rock into a wild, danceable mix, is preparing to perform its traditional New Year concert on January 1.

• always a dissident: Why Russia No Longer Emulates the U.S.

  Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has declared that those who participated in the recent wave of protests against rigged State Duma elections were encouraged and paid for by the United States.

• Putin’s Halcyon Days Are Over

  In 2007, right before he stepped down after his second term in office, then-President Vladimir Putin was at the height of his political career, enjoying ratings of 80 percent.

• Ferrero’s Spanish Director Leads With the Heart

  MOSCOW — Arturo Cardelus has spent hundreds of hours on Russian lessons in the eight years since he moved to Moscow to build up the local operations of Ferrero, the Italian family-owned chocolate giant.

• Udaltsov Given New Jail Term

  MOSCOW — Radical opposition activist Sergei Udaltsov will meet the new year in a Moscow prison, a city judge decreed in a ruling that sparked protests outside the courtroom.

• Kostenko Loses Release Appeal

  The appeal court on Monday refused to free Filipp Kostenko, who — after serving 15 days in prison — was sentenced to another 15 days last week in what his lawyer describes as a “political reprisal.

• Kremlin Keeps Silent on New Massive Protest

  MOSCOW — Organizers of last weekend’s anti-Kremlin rally in Moscow, allegedly the biggest street protest since 1993, were divided on whether they could press authorities into cooperating.

• ‘Pearl Ensign’ Avoids Time in Prison

  A former police officer was given a suspended sentence for beating up and insulting political protesters on camera last year, Interfax reported Monday.

• Numbers Down, Rallies Meet With Mixed Results

  The Moscow anti-electoral fraud rally held as part of national campaign of protests on Saturday, was reported as having attracted even more people than the Dec.

• Frequent Oil Spills Wreak Devastation on Russia

  USINSK — On the bright yellow tundra outside this oil town near the Arctic Circle, a pitch-black pool of crude stretches toward the horizon. The source: A decommissioned well whose rusty screws ooze with oil, viscous like jam.

• THE DISH: Rada & K Vegetarian Establishment

  Vegan in furs Of all the things one might expect to find in a vegetarian café (a green color scheme, ethno music, wait staff with dreads, perhaps), a patron in a fur coat is probably not on most people’s list, even in Russia.

• Wake-up call

  Vasily Shumov, singer and guitarist with the reformed veteran Moscow band Center, which has recently come up with a new album examining and dissecting Putinism, is determined to hold a concert-cum-exhibition in defense of Russian political prisoners — even if the planned show due last Saturday was abruptly shut down.

• CHERNOV’S CHOICE

  Few local rock musicians were in the crowd during the recent anti-electoral fraud rallies in St. Petersburg, but the situation may change this Saturday when a concert/rally is planned to take place in the city.

• Big screen for little guys

  A feature-length prequel to Smeshariki, one of Russia’s most popular modern cartoon series, will be released across the country Thursday. The 90-minute 3D cartoon called “Smeshariki.

• Culture lessons

  As the festive season gets underway, the city’s museums are preparing a host of seasonal exhibits, including special programs and excursions aimed at younger visitors.

• A musical dynasty

  The concert held at Tavrichesky Palace on Dec. 10 could probably have claimed a Guinness book entry: It took at least 15 years to put together. The cause was well worth the lengthy preparations.

• always a dissident: Politics Without Choice

  The surge in street protests this month was the natural result of widespread discontent that has been building up steam for several years without any outlet.

• A Crisis of Confidence

  It is already clear that Russia will experience a systemic political crisis in 2012. The country’s leaders and institutions will completely lose the people’s trust by next summer.

• IN BRIEF

  Family Housing ST. PETERSBURG (SPT) — The city should develop a financial support program to help families with a lot of children to build dachas or other detached houses on the land they are given by the city, Poltavchenko said last week, Interfax reported.

• St. Petersburg Automobile Sales Have Doubled During Past Year

  Sales of new cars in St. Petersburg have grown by almost 50 percent during the past year, AlfaStrakhovaniye insurance company’s analytical center reported.

• Megafon Slashes Charges

  Russian cell network operator Megafon has cut international roaming fees for subscribers by three to nine times in most European countries, Turkey and in the European part of CIS countries.

The poster from a site feedsportal.com