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1.jpg[break]Russia’s KAMAZ-master team won the Dakar-2011 rally, which ended Jan. 15 in South America.[break]ImageForum [break_string]2.jpg[break]The Jan. 24 bombing of Moscow's Domodedovo airport killed 35 people and wounded more than 150.[break]Reuters / VostotckPhoto [break_string]3.jpg[break]Mikhail Khodorkovsky, former head of the Yukos oil company, was sentenced to an additional six years in a penal colony after he was found guilty of theft and money laundering.[break]AP [break_string]4.jpg[break]According to research conducted by Forbes in March 2011, most of world’s billionaires live in Moscow. A third of Europe's 300 billionaires, and 15 of the world's 100 richest people reside in Russia.[break]Ilya Varlamov [break_string]5.jpg[break]As a result of domestic reforms, Russia’s "militia" was renamed "policia." [break]Lori Fotobank [break_string]6.jpg[break] Russian President Dmitry Medvedev signed a bill limiting when and where beer can be sold. The law will come into force in 2012.[break]Itar Tass [break_string]7.jpg[break]The Moscow Planetarium reopened after a 17-year-long reconstruction.[break]Itar Tass [break_string]8.jpg[break]A snow leopard, a skating bunny and a polar bear were selected as the symbols of Sochi’s 2014 Olympic Games.[break]Lori Fotobank [break_string]9.jpg[break]Mikhail Prokhorov, Russia's third-richest man, decided to start a new career in politics.[break]Reuters / VostotckPhoto [break_string]10.jpg[break]Russia refused to use filament lamps and replaced it with energy-efficient ones.[break]PhotoXpress [break_string]11.jpg[break]The Russian GLONASS Satellite Navigation System reached its full constellation of 24 operating satellites making it a globally available navigation and guidance system.[break]RIA Novosti [break_string]12.jpg[break]Moscow's iconic Gorky Park was modernized and reconstructed. It was the first park to undergo renovation as part of a plan by Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin to make the city more green.[break]Itar Tass [break_string]13.jpg[break]Alexander Sokurov’s "Faust" won the Golden Lion award at the Venice Film Festival.[break]AP [break_string]14.jpg[break]The authorities came up with a plan aiming at expanding Moscow’ territory twice in the south-west direction from its current boarders.[break]Cater News/Legion Media [break_string]15.jpg[break] The July 10 cruise of the Bulgaria riverboat had 129 passengers out 208 killed as a result of its crash in the Volga River.[break]RIA Novosti [break_string]16.jpg[break]Russia’s President Dmirty Medvedev cancelled the winter time introduced in 1981[break]Reuters / VostotckPhoto [break_string]17.jpg[break]Moscow mayor Sergei Sobianyn decided to replace the asphalt pavements with concrete bricks throughout the city which brought about a lot of indignation among Muscovites for boulevards and pavements were blocked because of the repairing works.[break]Itar Tass [break_string]18.jpg[break]Russia’s annual air show, MAKS-2011, had first jet of the fifth generation SUKHOI Т-50 PAK FA introduced before public in August when the audience could witness the demonstrative flights of this jet.[break]Sukhoi.org [break_string]19.jpg[break]The newborn boy Pyotr from Kaliningrad became the Earth's seventh billion resident in Russia.[break]RIA Novosti [break_string]20.jpg[break]The plan for Vladimir Putin and Dmitry Medvedev to swap positions has been announced at the United Russia congress in September.[break]AP [break_string]21.jpg[break]A flight crash had almost all members of Russia’s best Lokomotov hockey team killed as a result of the plane crash[break]Itar Tass [break_string]22.jpg[break]Russia had the sacred belt of God’s Mother brought into the Russian Orthodox Church.[break]Itar Tass [break_string]23.jpg[break]After a six-year-long, $700 million restoration, the Bolshoi Theater reopened.[break]Reuters / VostotckPhoto [break_string]24.jpg[break]The Mars-500 experiment, in which six astronauts spent 520 days in isolation imitating a journey to the red planet, came to an end.[break]IMPB/Oleg Voloshin [break_string]25.jpg[break]A Russian team won the Beach Football Championship and beat the Brazilian ream in the final game with the 12:8 score.[break]Itar Tass [break_string]26.jpg[break]The 2011 elections for the Russian State Duma took place Dec. 4.[break]Kommersant [break_string]27.jpg[break]Two Russian soccer clubs, Zenit (St.Petersburg) and CSKA (Moscow), joined the Champions League for the first time.[break]Itar Tass [break_string]28.jpg[break]On Dec. 16, the ministerial conference of the World Trade Organization meeting in Geneva approved the protocol for Russia’s accession to the WTO after 18 years of negotiations.[break]AFP / EastNews [break_string]29.jpg[break]The high-profile fire at the Zolotoy Rog (Golden Horn) bridge in Vladivostok put $563-million object at stake but, finally, the problem was fixed. The incident happened on the eve of the 2011 APEC Summit. [break]RIA Novosti [break_string]30.jpg[break]Following the Dec. 4 elections, protests against alleged election fraud took place in central Moscow. The demonstrations brought together thousands people who came to express their disappointment in the electoral process.[break]AP