U2 is visiting Russia as part of its 360 World Tour. Bono, using the opportunity, got to visit with Dmitry Medvedev in the president's private residence in Sochi, where Winter Olympic Games 2014 will take place. As the result of the high-profile meetings, aside from an agreement to fight AIDS, Russian President Medvedev and Irish Singer Bono concluded that they both love Led Zeppelin.

Enjoy the photos of Bono's visit at Medvedev's dacha in Sochi in the extended post.

Today, in Dagestan--that neighbors with Chechnya--one of the masterminds of the Moscow subway attacks Mr. Vagabov was killed together with his gang. The intelligence found out some very interesting facts about Mr. Vagabov, who was self-renamed and crazy-islamic-jihadists-blessed as Amir Abdullah. Mr. Amir Abdullah received his college education in Karachi, and proceeded to training in terrorists camps in Pakistan. When a Jordanian Doctor Muhammad was killed in 2009, Amir Abdullah married the widow, former Mrs. Muhammad. Upon becoming Mrs. Abdullah, the lady provided access to infinite Jordanian money, and then--in search of a better afterlife--blew herself up at one of the subway stops in Moscow.

Amir Abdullah was not necessarily looking forward to that same afterlife, as he and his gang offered a very strong resistance to Russian Special Forces. Russian SWAT team helped Mr. Abdullah reunite with his wife by killing the entire team of jihadists. Another suicide bomber of the Moscow attacks, 17-year-old Djennet Abdurahmanova, has joined her husband Umalat Magomedov--one of the Dagestan's Islamic terrorist leaders--who was killed by Russian forces in December 2009. Two aforementioned ladies detonated themselves, killing 40 and injuring 160 civilians in two Moscow subway stations during a rush hour on March 29, 2010. Russia Blog congratulates Russian Special Forces with the successful operation and wishes them luck in safety in their future raids against the terrorists.

Djennet Abdurahmanova and her husband Umalat Magomedov. Umalat was killed by Russian forces in December 2009, Djennet--17 years old--blew herself up in March 2010.

In the recent study in Milwaukee, students entering college this fall filled out a survey that showed how different their view of the world is from the one of their parents. Aside from minor role of Clint Eastwood in their lives, the class of 2014 included in the 75 items on this year's Beloit College Mindset List the fact that Americans plus Russians means people of the two nations living together in outer space. "# 43: Russians and Americans have always been living together in space." After all, there is hope! My wish for these kids is to graduate with good grades and find their way to Washington, D.C., where the mindset of the 70-year-old leaders and advisors has not changed for the last half a century.

"Our game "RussPack" has finally been released!" e-mailed me one of the game's developers who got in touch with us earlier this year regarding the photo of St. Basil's cathedral that I took in Moscow in 2008. The game software was developed by two Russian engineers. We congratulate the World's Epsilon Enterprises, Inc. for their timely release, and hope that iPhone users around the world get to enjoy the game.

The smoke is back in Moscow, which hasn't seen rain or cool weather in two months. The promised departure of heat meant only the drop in temperatures from 100-115 F down to 90-95 F. The fires have killed more than 50 people, left dozens hospitalized, and thousands homeless, according to Russia's health and social development ministry.

"Russia is grateful to the United States over the assistance in tackling the wildfires raging across the country," said the Russian Foreign Ministry. According to CNN, the United States sent some $4.5 million in aid that included water tanks, pumps, hand tools, fire-protective clothing and medical kits, according to the U.S. State Department.

Last month amendments were passed to the law codifying the FSB's surveillance of those citizens deemed to be threats to national security. Nicolai Petro, unlike some Western commentators, sees these as potentially making Russia's domestic security procedures among the world's most transparent.

A series of amendments to the law on Russia's main domestic security agency, better known by its Russian initials FSB, was signed into law last month. These amendments codify a practice that security agencies all over the world typically like to shroud in secrecy--the surveillance of private citizens who are deemed potential threats to national security. Specifically, they give the FSB the ability to issue official warnings to individuals whose activities, while still legal, are deemed to verge on criminal acts that endanger national security.

Critics of these amendments have highlighted their potential for abuse. While this is always a potential concern, the assertion that they "restore Soviet era powers to the Federal Security Service" (the AP report by Mansur Mirovalev, "Russia grants more powers to KGB successor agency" of July 29 is one example), seems highly exaggerated and sensationalist. If anything, these new amendments have the potential to increase judicial oversight of such surveillance, potentially making Russia's domestic security procedures among the world's most transparent.

Nearly 1.8 million acres are burning in Central Russia, thousands of homes are destroyed, military and fire departments resources maxed out, and no end of the tragedy is in sight. Peat (a fossil fuel that lays underground close to the surface) caused current fires. The fuel, usually moist from the rivers, swamp, and underground creeks, has dried up during the record-breaking two-months-long draught with temperatures reaching 120 Farengheit across Central Russia. The greatest challenges in fighting the fires is that burning peat cannot be detected as the fire spreads rapidly underground and travelsin random directions. At any given moment the fire almost instanteniously appears above the ground igniting trees and homes above. While firemen tackle the smoking ground, chances are high that they are pouring water on a fire that has been burning for days or weeks, and its major flames have already traveled dozens and hundreds miles away from where it is being fought.

Putin made a promise that every village and town burnt by the current fires will be rebuit before September 1. Even though the promise is hard to keep, it will most likely be followed through. The humanitarian catastrophy during cold Russian winter will be more costly and devastating than the enourmous construction effort.

Watch the photo report and the video in the extended post.

On Monday, answering questions from journalists, President Medvedev said "I don't know what's going to happen in 2012, I don't know who'll be running. It can be Medvedev, it can be Putin, it can be someone third... I would prefer to avoid a competition within the friendly forces, it would be bad for the country" said Medvedev making clear that he will not compete with Putin if the latter decides to run. Russian political anaylsts called Medvedev's response a bluff. Sergey Mitrohin, chairman of political party "Yabloko" said that Sergey Ivanov can be that "third" candidate, since he did not get the Putin's endorsement in the last campaign, paving the way for Medvedev's easy victory.

In the meantime, public opinion poll--conducted by Russia's most respected independent agency Levada--showed that if Putin and/or Medvdev were to run today, 27% would give their vote to Putin, 20% to Medvedev, and 4% to Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov. Russia's liberal candidates popular in the West (like chess player Kasparov) did not get enough percentage to show even 0.1% (1 out of 1,000) chance of winning Russia's presidency. While 15% agree that Medvedev has been changing Russia's political course, 45% of the population do not know who to vote for and where to go. Russia, just like America's Republican Party, desperately needs new leader, but does not know where to find one.

First time in Russian history, terrorists managed to successfully attack an important piece of infrastructure. In the middle of the night, the terrorists shot and killed two police officers, taped two power plant workers to chairs, tortured them, found out where the generators were, and planted the bombs at a power plant in Kabardino-Balkaria. The first generator (that had been working since its construction in 1938) exploded at 5:20 am local time. The second generator (remodeled in 1962) exploded 20 minutes later. The third bomb did not work. The fire, amplified by the oil, was put out only by 8 am. FSB detached the third bomb and blew it up in a local forest.

The reports about the amount of power plant's security vary; power plant workers say there were only two police officers guarding the entire power plant at night, while Russian electric corporation Rusgidro says that there are many layers of security. Regardless, the terrorists' timing was perfect, as the day-time shift includes dozens of security and employees, who start their work at 8 am. However--overall--the terrorist act was unsuccessful, as the power plant did not suffer significant damages, and the electric supplies in the region were not interrupted. The Caucuses' Muslim terrorists claimed responsibility for the 2009 hydroelectric plant explosion in Siberia, but the official investigation proved that Islamic extremists were bluffing and had nothing to do with the explosion. This time they clearly did.

The record-breaking heat across Russia was interrupted by a short storm that hit some cities more than others. Not just the farmers, but common people prayed for the rain. And they got it. Now that the brief and strong rain is over, Moscow suburbs forecast for this weekend: 110F. The temperatures will stay high at least until the end of July. No one (but property) was hurt in eastern Moscow, where wind tore out the trees and a construction crane.

Finally, they are talking. I mean if the Chairman of the Duma's Foreign Relations Committee Konstantin Kosachev is saying things like that, it means something. Whether he consulted with the Kremlin before making such a bold and courageous statement or not is an open question, but when a man of his statue says that "our society is to no lesser extent the victim of the erstwhile regime, was no less articulate in condemning the crimes of Stalin's totalitarianism, and acted on its own, without external intervention and democratically, to remove the communist ideology from power," it tells you a lot.

Let us be fair. It is not easy for the country's leaders while the Communist Party (CPRF) still gets around 15 percent of the votes to say publicly that the Soviet system were a criminal one. And most likely the main reason why Lenin's tomb is still sitting on the Red Square is that no one wants CPRF to increase its ratings by getting their people on the streets to defend their beloved corpse.

I am not sure if the snowcaps are melting in the North Pole (there are none in Moscow), but one thing is sure: "current Russian temperatures have overtaken those in Turkey and Egypt," reports RIA Novosti, calling Russia "tropical." The situation is verging on apocalyptic, continues the agency, and many people with heart problems and diabetes have been forced to see doctors, while children are suffering from heat stroke and sunburn. Russia's Prime Minister Vladimir Putin warned "We must stop any attempt to capitalize on this disaster, this drought." Moscow is forecasted to maintain

Moscow, indeed, has been sunny and hot for weeks. An 85-degree day is now considered a cooling. Parts of central Russia are hitting or expecting to hit 115F. Moscow, which is only 3 degrees south of Alaskan Juno's latitude, is not built for the African-style heat. Certain underground subway stations warmed up and reached 90F and pavement on the freeways is softening or melting. Many people do not own air conditioners. Despite the obvious dangers of the extreme heat, my friends and most Muscovites love the weather and are cancelling their plans to travel to warm-climate countries. After all, Moscow suburbs are hotter than Africa!

Visit RIA Novosti's website to see the photos of Russians enjoying the heat.

Many Western media outlets said that there has been a media blockade in Russia of the recent spy scandal. My experience in the Moscow suburbs has been quite the opposite.

When an FBI operative--posing to be a Russian agent--gave Anna Chapman a fake passport to pass it on to another "spy," she chickened out and called her father, a former KGB senior official. He told her to give up, and she went to the NYPD, reports Gazeta.ru. Yuliya Latynina of Echo Moskvi Radio station said phrases that have been repeated around Moscow: "look at that Western media! They call her [Anna Chapman] a [James] Bond girl! Katya the Cow-Girl she is; without bra and panties... In her reports to the Russian intelligence she wrote 'imagine, in America you can come into a café with a friend and meet an important businessman; unbelievable business opportunities!' Sounds more like an opportunity for prostitution," polished off Latynina. Other outlets have also commented that the U.S. initiated the scandal to get its own spies back home safe and soon.

When Vice President Joe Biden appeared on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" last Friday night, he said it was all right that the United States only got four accused spies from Russia while giving up 10. "We got back four really good ones," said Biden. "And the 10, they've been here a long time, but they hadn't done much." When comedy host Leno showed Biden an alluring photo of accused Russian spy Anna Chapman, a darling of New York tabloids, Biden said "let me make it clear, it wasn't my idea to send her back. I thought they'd take Rush Limbaugh."

Enjoy the full photo version of the spy swap brought to you by the Russian media (in the extended post).

Having visited then-Soviet and later Russian summer camps as a kid, and later having volunteered as a camp counselor in America, I have noticed the indescribable differences in attitude towards kids' safety in two countries. While the unregulated environment of Russian summer camps maybe provides for a better, wilder "summer adventure," American camps drill into camp counselors and children "safety first" and eventually provide it - the safety.

Yesterday's events in Yeysk (Krasnodar Krai) speak volumes about the degradation of Russian government and private institutions in their ensuring of children's safety. Seven camp counselors and 63 children (ages 8-16, all from Moscow), traveled by boat to a local island. Despite the signs "Swimming Strictly Prohibited" and absence of lifeguards or medical personnel, camp counselors allowed children to swim. In the meantime, counselors got drunk! While the counselors were drinking, six children disappeared. One counselor attempted to save the kids--who were being dragged into the open sea by strong currents--and died himself.

Government will cover all funeral expenses, and... that's basically it. Unlike the American Camping Association (ACA) there is no independent organization supervising summer camps' safety standards in Russia. Government officials who are supposed to fulfill the ACA's role are easily bribable, and most of them are using their 30-to-48-day vacations during summertime. An American family would see an opportunity to sue such a camp for millions of dollars. However, Russian camps do not have insurance to cover expenses associated with such legal cases, and the legal system itself does not allow for such law suits. I assume the parents of dead children can hope for about $5,000-$10,000 per child in government compensations from Moscow Mayor Luzhkov or Russian Federal government.

A friend in Moscow told me a true story. A couple weeks after the Moscow subway bombing, he was taking a train. A lady, in a traditional Muslim dress (but not in burqa), entered his subway car. All the passengers crammed--pressing each other--into the opposite side of the train car. The Muslim lady set down on the other side of the train car by herself, and started crying very hard. My friend was one of many who felt guilty, yet confused about what was right, and whose freedoms were more important. He still does not know what the right answer is. On the other hand, he told me how much he respects the U.S. for being able to fight for their freedom, yet respect each other's choices, no matter how challenging it is.

For over two centuries, America has been a free country with free people. The freedom of the nation as a whole and individual freedoms have not conflicted throughout the country's history but only complimented each other. Russia Blog's editors hope that today's ever-changing and challenging world will only strengthen America and its people. Happy Fourth of July, America!