London, Feb 11: Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has denied attending a secret gig by UK Abba tribute band on January 22.

According to the members of Bjorn Again, Putin was seen dancing away and yelling bravo while the band performed some of its hit songs like Honey Honey in a theatre 200 miles north of Moscow.

However, while writing in the The Times, Kremlin officials have shot down reports that Putin was present at the concert.

Dmitry Peskov said he was "sorry to disappoint" the band over gig.

Moscow/Kiev - Customs formalities at the Russo-Ukrainian border have delayed a camel shipment for days and killed one animal, news agencies reported Tuesday.

The lorry-load of 19 surviving Bactrian (two-hump) camels had been en route from Russia's Caspian Sea autonomous republic Kalmykia to a Bulgarian zoo, only to be halted by Ukrainian border guards near the Russian city Rostov.

One camel died waiting as Russian and Ukrainian border officials wrangled for close to two weeks over the animals' further transit.

Tolyatti, Russia - The factory in this town on the Volga river has for years churned out thousands of cars and sports utility vehicles each day for the avidly growing domestic market, but since New Year, the conveyor belts have stood idle.

It is as if the meaning has gone from this sprawling industrial landscape. "This town exist only for one aim - to build cars ... If the plant goes the whole city goes ... There is no future without the factories" are some of the blunt truisms uttered by residents.

It is a sign of the deep depression that people here now voice. They have only one hope: that the government will soon step in.

Kiev, Moscow - Ukraine's cash-strapped government reached out to Russia and the International Monetary Fund in a hunt to keep its national budget afloat, officials said Monday.

A statement by Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko confirmed widely-reported rumours Kiev had requested a 5 billion dollar emergency loan from Russia, to keep the government solvent.

Tymoshenko's government in recent weeks has faced increasing difficulty in making ends meet due to a drastic drop in state revenues, and rising energy and social payment costs.

Munich  - Russia's deputy premier said on Sunday that he was "cautiously optimistic" on relations with the US after talks with US Vice President Joe Biden in Munich - the highest-level meeting yet between a Russian official and the new US administration.

"We are cautiously optimistic but let's wait and see. We need to be realistic, (US President Barack) Obama's administration has been in power for a very limited time," Sergei Ivanov said at the end of the prestigious Munich Security Conference.

Munich  - Where there's a will, there's a way: the saying is as old as the English language, dating back over 1,000 years.

But while European and US leaders on Saturday agreed that the West has the will to work with Russia on some of the world's toughest problems, they are still looking for a way to do it following Russia's "gas war" with Ukraine and its real war with Georgia.