* Russia's ruling party, United Russia, has taken a substantial lead in the parliamentary elections in the North Caucasus republic of Chechnya
* The Russian Ministry of Natural Resources said water samples had shown that polluted waters from China's River Songhua would reach the Amur River in Russia's Far East within two-three days
* November 28 marks the beginning of the 40-day Russian Orthodox Christmas Fast, one of four lengthy fasts on the Orthodox calendar
* Russian Space Agency head Anatoly Perminov said Russia was expecting a breakthrough in Russian-U.S. space cooperation following the bill on amendments to the Iran Nonproliferation Act of 2000, recently signed by the U.S. president
* The Russian Emergency Situation Ministry said three undersea earthquakes were registered in the far-eastern Kuril-Kamchatka zone November 27.
