Russia on Monday marked the fifth anniversary of its annexation of Crimea from Ukraine, a move condemned by Kiev and its Western allies but celebrated by most Russians.

Russian President Vladimir Putin will travel to Crimea on Monday to mark the fifth anniversary of Moscow's annexation of the Black Sea peninsula from Ukraine, condemned by the West but celebrated by most Russians.

Turkey and Russia are discussing a "coordination centre" to better manage their operations in Syria's rebel-controlled Idlib province, Turkey's defence minister said.

Russia said on Tuesday it has stationed its newest S-400 air defense missile systems in the northwestern Leningrad region which includes its second city Saint Petersburg.

Russian telecoms giant MTS said Thursday it had agreed to pay $850 million to settle a US corruption case stemming from its operations in ex-Soviet Uzbekistan.

Lebanon and Moscow pursue the preparations for President Michel Aoun’s visit to Moscow on March 25 at the invitation of Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Saudi Asharq al-Awsat newspaper reported on Wednesday.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday was set to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss how to prevent Iran from "entrenching in Syria". 

Lebanon’s problematic electricity file is one of the government's focal issues amid reports claiming that a Russian proposal to build a power plant could end the suffering of Lebanese, al-Joumhouria daily reported on Thursday.

Russian lawmakers on Tuesday backed a bill that could cut off the country's internet traffic from servers abroad which critics say is a step towards censorship and possibly an isolated network like in North Korea.

The bill passed its first reading by 334 votes to 47 after an unusually heated debate in the State Duma, where many lawmakers from minority parties criticized it as too costly and argued that it was not written by experts. 

Soviet authorities themselves condemned the USSR's bloody occupation of Afghanistan, but 30 years later some in Vladimir Putin's Russia are coming to see the operation in a more positive light.

After a decade of military intervention to bolster Kabul's embattled Communist government against Islamist fighters, the USSR finally pulled out its last units on February 15, 1989.