Moscow  - Russia has increased its peacekeeping force in the Georgian breakaway provinces of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, Interfax news agency reported Tuesday.

Moscow was responding to Georgia's relocation of troops to the Abkhazian border, Interfax cited the Russian Defence Ministry as saying.

Russia has stationed troops in the disputed region since 1994 under an agreement with the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), a collection of former Soviet republics, to maintain the peace.

Moscow  -  More than 100,000 Russian Orthodox Christians celebrated Easter in the 700 or so churches of the Russian capital Sunday.

Many politicians and intellectuals also attended the Easter service in the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, the seat of the Russian Orthodox Church, including outgoing President Vladimir Putin, his successor Dmitry Medvedev and their wives.

The service was carried live on Russian television.

"We have to thank you, highly esteemed Vladimir Vladimirovich (Putin), for your eight-year presidency. You have done a lot for our country," Patriarch Alexy II said.

Moscow/Tbilisi  - The Georgian government on Saturday accused Russia of open military aggression

Kiev/Moscow  - Twenty-two years after the atomic reactor disaster in Chernobyl, people in Ukraine, Russia and Belarus held memorials to the victims Saturday.

Moscow - Russia held out the threat Friday that it could use military force to protect the citiz