Short answers, pulled from the story.
The current coat of arms of Russia was first adopted by presidential decree No. 2050 on the 30th of November 1993. It was confirmed as a permanent state symbol on the 25th of December 2000, when President Vladimir Putin signed Federal Constitutional Law No. 2 on the State Coat of Arms of the Russian Federation.
The current coat of arms of Russia was designed by artist Yevgeny Ukhnalyov. His drawing appears in the appendices of both the 1993 presidential decree and the 2000 federal constitutional law.
The double-headed eagle derives from the Byzantine Empire and was adopted by Ivan III after the fall of Constantinople in 1453. Ivan used it to assert Muscovy's claim as successor to the Byzantine heritage and to present himself as a sovereign equal to the Holy Roman Empire. The three crowns on the modern version symbolize the unity and sovereignty of Russia as a whole and of its constituent republics and regions.
The horseman on the breast of the eagle is Saint George slaying a dragon. The image of an armed rider first appeared in the seal of Vasili I of Moscow in 1390, but the figure was not formally identified as Saint George until an Imperial decree of 1730. Saint George later became the patron saint of Moscow.
Ivan III first documented the golden double-headed eagle in his seal in 1472. In 1497 it was stamped on a charter of share and allotment of independent princes' possessions. Around the same time, a gilt double-headed eagle on a red background appeared on the walls of the Palace of Facets in the Moscow Kremlin.
The orb and scepter were retained from the imperial arms as traditional heraldic symbols of sovereign power and authority. Their inclusion prompted objections from Communists at the time of the 1993 restoration, since Russia is a republic. The designers removed other imperial elements, including the blue ribbon and the collar of the Order of St. Andrew, but kept the orb and scepter.