United Russia party and government-linked trade unions take to the streets to mark May Day in Moscow with historical museum, center, and Kremlin at the background, Russia, Wednesday, May 1, 2013. Thousands of Communists, members of Russia's main political parties and opposition activists staged competing marches in Moscow and other cities Wednesday marking the traditional May Day holiday.
Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny holds a phone with a sticker that reads "thief's", as he takes a picture of journalists before an interview at the Echo Moskvy (Echo of Moscow) radio station in Moscow, Russia, Monday, April 8, 2013. Navalny made his name as an anti-corruption whistleblower and coined a popular phrase "a party of crooks and thieves" in reference to the ruling United Russia party.
Russian lawmaker, ruling United Russia Party member, three-time Russian Olympic champion Alexander Karelin, former wrestler, listens during a parliament session in Moscow, Wednesday, Feb. 13, 2013. Karelin noted in an interview with Vyes' Sport that Russians and Soviets have won 77 gold medals. "It's understandable that a lot of people didn't like this," Karelin said."I'm not a supporter of conspiracy theory, but it seems to me that the underlying cause here is obvious." While wrestling will be included at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, it was cut from the games in 2020, which have yet to be awarded to a host city.
FILE- In this Saturday, Sept. 24, 2011 file photo, then Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, left, and then Prime Minister Vladimir Putin synchronize their watches during a United Russia party congress in Moscow. Medvedev is reported Thursday Feb. 7, 2013, that he intends to fix Russia permanently on Summer Time, with no immediate intention of reversing his previous decision. Medvedev ruled in 2011 that Russia would remain permanently fixed on Summer Time, but the rule has proved widely unpopular and President Putin has indicated that he may reverse the decision.
Yekaterina Lakhova (C), a lawmaker with the ruling United Russia party, socializing with a fellow lawmaker in the lower house of Russia’s parliament, the State Duma, in Moscow, on December 21, 2012. Russian legislators debated today a bill banning Americans from adopting Russian children to give final approval to the legislation. Russia sees the ban as retaliation for a US human rights law that allows the seizure of assets from Russian officials implicated in the 2009 death of a lawyer who blew the whistle on a $235 million police embezzlement scheme.
General Secretary of the Communist Party of China's Central Committee, Xi Jinping (R), shakes hands with Boris Gryzlov, chairman of the United Russia's Supreme Council, at Zhongnanhai leadership compound in Beijing, December 19, 2012.
