MOSCOW, October 18 - RAPSI. The government has approved without objections a bill prohibiting smoking in public places.

"Decisions should be made and we need to move toward 'civilization,' as the entire world is doing," Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said to sum up the discussion.

The law will ban tobacco sales at the kiosks ubiquitous in Russian cities, along with smoking in children's films.

On Tuesday, Medvedev said tobacco advertising should be prohibited completely, as well as smoking in public places, while taxes should increase for tobacco product manufacturers. The draft law was put together by the Healthcare and Development Ministry and aims to meet the World Health Organization's recommendations.

According to the Global Adult Tobacco Survey, Russia is the number-one tobacco consumer in the world. Some 43.9 million Russians smoke, or 39.1 percent of the population.