Trans Siberian Art Festival in Novosibirsk closed without Gergiev who was stuck in New York.
Tomsk roads got a splash of colour as activists planted artificial flowers in the city's poorly repaired roads.
Bronze statue had been erected last month in Surgut by local people, but was seen as offensive by descendants of political detainees sent to Siberia.
A renaissance of one of Siberia's first outposts as the Far North becomes the new economic frontier.
Calls for 'federalisation' are a threat to country's 'constitutional order, territorial integrity and sovereignty'.
Police checking claims, with one suspect insisting she has been 'framed', and put under police guard after death threats.
Government announces $1.8 bln package, while volunteers from all over the wolrd collect more than 450 tonnes of trash from the shoreline of the unique lake.
Second female student held under house arrest in shocking Khabarovsk case: but is a disturbing sexual fetish behind the savagery?
Rodents also 'put in bottles and thrown to audience', claim protesters.