Reuters The Internet banner on the web site of telecom provider Alyans Telekom in the Far East advertises a promotion plan called "Moscow" with a Medvedev look-alike cartoon popping up from behind the red-brick Kremlin walls. With a click of the mouse, visitors can shoot the cartoon effigy and send up a golden halo around his head. Primorye prosecutor's office aide Yelena Telegina said the office had been informed of the web site and asked the police to investigate further. "An order was given to the Primorye police department by the prosecutor to carry out a corresponding inquiry," she said. Pro-government groups have used pictures of Kremlin critics such as Boris Berezovsky for publicity-generating target practice in the past. Galust Akhoyan, a leading Primorye politician and United Russia member, said the use of Medvedev's likeness in the game was unacceptable. "Caricatures of politicians in civilized societies — that is business as usual. But to use the head of state as a target, that is extremism," Akhoyan said. The computer game also gives Internet users a chance to shoot other targets such as a hot air balloon, a ship and a submarine.

The Associated Press

The boy was walking with his grandmother in St. Petersburg when the ice plummeted from a rooftop. He died 30 minutes later in the hospital. He was named by Channel One television as Ivan Zavyalov.

"We heard a big bang, then a girl's shout for help," a passer-by, Irina Nikonorova, told NTV television. "The boy's face was all bloody."

Investigators are examining if the building's owner was negligent in failing to clear the roof.

Dozens of people are killed every year by ice crashing down from overhanging roofs and awnings, a phenomenon that the country appears helpless to address.

Some people have resorted to walking in the road, especially along the narrower lanes, to minimize the risk. Pavements are often cordoned off as workmen hack down ice deemed too dangerous to walk under. The often-spectacular formations, which can grow meters long, smash into the ground with brutal force.

Fluctuating temperatures and heavy snowfall have made the problem particularly bad this year, as melting snow drips over the edge of rooftops and refreezes.

On Monday, two children and a baby were hurt in separate similar incidents in St. Petersburg. The children, aged 11 and 10, were hospitalized, one in critical condition. The baby suffered a broken nose.

A 22-year-old student hit by ice last year remains in serious condition in the hospital after coming out of a nine-month coma in November.