On the eve of New Year, Itar-Tass traditionally presents the top ten headline news Russia has seen in the outgoing year.
Dima Yakovlev law
On January 1, Russia enacted a law that prohibited adoptions of Russian children by U.S. citizens.Russian presidential children’s rights commissioner Pavel Astakhov has welcomed the idea of a ban on all adoptions of Russian children by foreigners.
Chelyabinsk Meteorite
On February 15 a meteorite exploded in the atmosphere above the Chelyabinsk Region in the Urals. The celestial body, its size estimated at 17 metres in diameter and mass, at 10,000 tonnes, streaked across the early morning sky at a speed of 10 kilometers to 30 kilometres per second. The incident is unrivalled in the world’s recorded history by the number of those injured by minor fragments - over 1,500. On October 16, the largest fragment weighing 650 kilograms was recovered from the bed of Lake Chebarkul.
Federal law on gubernatorial elections
On April 2, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a federal law enabling individual regions to determine the rules of gubernatorial elections on their own. The regions that have declined to hold direct contested elections may opt for authorization procedures. On September 8, 2013 elections according to the new law took place in eight regions - Moscow, Vladimir, Magadan and Moscow regions, Transbaikal and Khabarovsk Territories, Chukotka Autonomous Area, and the Republic of Khakassia. Indirect elections of governors took place in two other regions, the republics of Ingushetia and Dagestan.
Snowden obtains temporary asylum in Russia
On August 1, former U.S. secret services’ contractor Edward Snowden who had handed over secret files about U.S. and UK large-scale online spying to Washington Post and The Guardian in June, obtained a temporary one-year asylum in Russia and left the transit area of Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport, where he had spent more than a month. We have complete coverage of Edward Snowden's activities in our special section.
Far east floods
Minutes after the end of his grand annual news conference on December 19 Russian President Vladimir Putin said the jailed former head of the Yukos oil company, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, had requested him for pardon. On December 20 Putin signed the pardon decree. On the same day Kodorkovsky was released from prison and flew to Germany. The ex-big business tycoon spent over 10 years in prison. His term was to expire in August 2014.