Pyotr Mamonov, Russian rock musician and actor, dies at 70

Hell Let Loose, Black Matter Games CEO Max Rea explains how much work goes into every update for the game, particularly the new Russian faction.Put simply, “huge huge amounts” of work went into adding Russia into the game.“I can personally guarantee that every single piece of equipment and every single model, I mean, even the recon planes that the commander can call in are the correct Soviet recon planes,” claims Rea.

Soviet gymnast Elena Mukhina was a rising star who was tipped for glory at the 1980 Olympic Games but pushed to extremes and facing mounting pressure, the 20-year-old suffered a life-altering fall.

LONDON -- A British journalist and her publisher faced defamation claims in a London court on Wednesday from billionaire Chelsea Football Club owner Roman Abramovich and other wealthy Russians over a book about the rise of President Vladimir Putin.Catherine Belton’s book, “Putin’s People: How the KGB Took Back Russia and then Took on the West,” charts the rise to wealth and power of former KGB agent Putin and a circle of associates after the breakup of the Soviet Union.Abramovich says the book’s

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Trouble in Tokyo. Athletes and celebrities are speaking out after Simone Biles withdrew from the gymnastics final at the Tokyo Olympics on Tuesday, July 27.

Will Thorne Staff WriterReason 8 is prepared to make moves at the upcoming Locarno Film Festival.The London-based sales and production outfit has secured the international sales rights to Russian drama “Medea.” Reason 8 will be on the ground in Switzerland ahead of the film’s premiere on Aug.

EXCLUSIVE: German actor August Diehl, whose credits include The Young Karl Marx, Inglourious Basterds and A Hidden Life, has signed on to play the lead role in big-budget Russian drama Woland.

**Minor spoilers ahead for “Black Widow.”** Marvel‘s “Black Widow” had plenty of Easter Eggs and a big standout was the prison arm wrestling scene when David Harbour‘s Red Guardian snaps the wrist of a large fella that was willing to call him out on his tall tales of battling against Captain America, who is pointed out to be frozen at this point time.

Guy Lodge Film CriticCANNES — At a banner ceremony for female filmmakers, Russian writer-director Kira Kovalenko’s sophomore feature “Unclenching the Fists” won the top prize for best film in the Un Certain Regard section at the Cannes Film Festival this evening, from a jury headed by British filmmaker Andrea Arnold.

Christopher Vourlias When she was growing up in Nalchik, the capital of Russia’s remote Kabardino-Balkarian Republic, Kira Kovalenko wasn’t particularly interested in cinema. She can cite few films that inspired her as a girl.

Jon Burlingame It’s a pretty rare occasion when the director of a superhero movie sits down with the composer to talk about music and neither of them ever uses the word “action” or even “superhero.”Instead, “Black Widow” director Cate Shortland and composer Lorne Balfe talked about the backstory of Natasha Romanoff and her sister, Yelena Belova.

Christopher Vourlias Germany’s Sola Media has acquired sales rights across a host of territories for “Finnick,” an animated feature from leading Russian animation studio Riki Group, Variety has learned. The companies will be introducing the film to buyers during the Cannes Film Market.The CGI-animated comedy follows the adventures of 13-year-old Christine, who befriends the young prankster Finnick — one of the furry invisible beings known as Finns — in unlikely circumstances.