After being sidelined since December 2011, the Kremlin's once-mighty propagandist Vladislav Surkov was today ousted from government. Mikhail Loginov looks back at the career of the former 'grey cardinal', and defines the man who has replaced him, Vyacheslav Volodin.

Throughout Russia’s history its rulers have attempted to curtail the consumption of alcohol and/or tobacco. Gorbachev had little success in the 1980s; will this year's new laws have any more success, asks Mikhail Loginov? 

Most radiators in urban Russian homes are fed by hot water transported from heating plants miles away. Ageing pipes frequently burst, causing hardship and even fatalities. Could a return to an older form of heating be the answer? Mikhail Loginov reports from one small town in the provinces. 

October is Russia’s local election month, and some regions have just elected governors for the first time in seven years, part of an electoral reform designed to appease the opposition. But as Mikhail Loginov reports, another aspect of this reform will antagonise the regime’s most loyal supporters – its own bureaucrats.

The break-up of the Soviet Union made foreign travel for Russians much easier, except, paradoxically, over the internal Soviet borders that previously required no passports or visas. The border guards that now patrol these crossings have too little to do and often turn to extortion in an attempt to increase their modest salaries - recounts Mikhail Loginov.

One of the iconic sights of Leningrad, and now St Petersburg, has been the cruiser Aurora, permanently moored in the centre of the city. A symbol of the Bolshevik revolution, she has survived several wars, mass tourism and drunken bankers. But will she survive a handover to the civilian authorities? Mikhail Loginov reports.

Just about everyone in Russia - the Kremlin, the opposition and most Russians in the street – agrees that corruption is one of the country’s most serious problems. Newly re-elected President Putin has promised to fight it, but where should he start, and what models in other parts of the world should he be looking at? Mikhail Loginov considers some of the possible alternatives.