Moscow's highest court has rejected an appeal by punk group Pussy Riot against their sentence for a protest against Vladimir Putin.
Other host countries have overwhelmingly used public funds to pay for construction of needed venues.
The Russian government has gotten business powerhouses to foot more than half of the $51B bill.
Most of the projects the tycoons are involved in are not profitable — and many businessmen are making no secret of the losses they are incurring.
Vladislav Surkov's ouster followed feud with investigators of innovation project.
Russia is pushing to enforce law requiring all NGOs funded from abroad to register as 'foreign agents.'
Since it began on May 7, Putin's third term in the Kremlin has appeared mostly defensive and downbeat.
