Tycoon Roman Abramovich may invest in the reconstruction of an 18th century man-made island in Russia’s second city of St. Petersburg.

The 7.9-hectares New Holland Island was created in 1719, when two newly-built channels connected the Moika River with the Neva River, to house warehouses and shipbuilding facilities.

Russian planemaker Superjet unveiled a $900 million, 30 plane order on Wednesday, capping a bumper Farnborough Airshow that has seen belated overseas interest in its passenger plane.

The much delayed Superjet 100 will be the first passenger plane built by Russia since the fall of the Soviet Union, and will attempt to challenge market leaders Boeing and Airbus in the regional carrier sector.

The U.S. Department of State has apologized to Russia for a delayed notification on the arrest of a Russian pilot in Liberia, suspected of drug smuggling.

The Russian Foreign Ministry criticised on Wednesday the United States over the detention of Konstantin Yaroshenko, 41, saying it the Russian was practically kidnaped and the incident was a violation of international law.

Kyrgyz President Roza Otunbayeva expressed hope on Wednesday that OSCE police consultants to be sent to the republic would help prevent human rights violations that still remain a high concern in the aftermath of June’s riots in the republic.

Russia will most likely continue holding a second place on the global market of new multirole fighter jets until at least 2013, a Russian arms trade expert said.

A NATO delegation will visit Russia on July 22-24 to discuss cooperation on the fight against sea piracy and Russia’s assistance to NATO contingent in Afghanistan, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

Arctic sea ice is melting faster than expected and this season’s loss may match the record reached three years ago, Russia’s environmental agency said.

«Ice in the Arctic is melting very fast,» Federal Hydrometeorological and Environmental Monitoring Service chief Alexander Frolov said today.

The deployment of Iskander missiles in Russia’s northwestern military district is incomprehensible in view of Russia’s current relations with NATO, Estonian Defense Minister Jaak Aaviksoo has said.

Two-day military exercises involving NATO fighter jets will begin on Tuesday at the Adazi training around outside Riga, the mixnews.lv website has said, quoting NATO Air Force officer Miroslav Svoboda.

A delegation of U.S. experts is to arrive in Moscow on Tuesday for the forth round of talks on child adoption, the U.S. Department of State has said.