Russia

Dec 6 (Reuters) - Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said on Tuesday that Ukraine was continuing to shell the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, deliberately creating the threat of a possible nuclear catastrophe.

Shoigu said Russian forces were taking "all measures" to ensure the safety of the power plant, Europe's largest, in the face of what he called "nuclear terrorism" from Kyiv.

Ukraine denies shelling the facility, which has been under the control of Russian forces since the first days of the war, and has accused Russia of firing on it.

MOSCOW, Dec 5 (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin on Monday drove a Mercedes across the Crimean Bridge linking southern Russia to the annexed Crimean peninsula, less than two months since an explosion tore through one of the Kremlin chief's showcase infrastructure projects.

The 12-mile (19 km) road and rail bridge, which was personally opened by Putin in 2018, was bombed on Oct. 8 in an attack Russia said was carried out by Ukraine.

MOSCOW, Dec. 5 (Xinhua) -- Ukraine launched a drone attack against two military airfields deep inside Russia on Monday morning, leaving three Russian servicemen dead and four others injured, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

The Soviet-made jet drones targeted the "Dyagilevo" airfield in the Ryazan region near Moscow and the "Engels" airfield in the Saratov region in a bid to disable Russian long-range aircraft, the ministry said in a statement.

MOSCOW, December 5. /TASS/: The US has state-of-the-art developments in the sphere of nuclear weapons in service, Head of the State Duma Defense Committee Andrey Kartapolov said during a plenary session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO PA) on Monday.

"Despite the ratification of the Chemical Weapons Convention, the United States is the only country in the world that still has not completed getting rid of them. And, by the way, it has the newest technologies in service in this sphere," the legislator pointed out.

MOSCOW, December 5. /TASS/: Russian air defense forces shot down two Ukrainian Mi-8 helicopters in the Donetsk People’s Republic in the past day during the special military operation in Ukraine, Defense Ministry Spokesman Lieutenant-General Igor Konashenkov reported on Monday.

MOSCOW, December 5. /TASS/: Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a law completely banning propaganda of nontraditional sexual relations, gender reassignment and pedophilia, according to a corresponding entry made in the Russian State Duma (lower parliament database) on Sunday.

Amendments have been made to the law on information, information technologies and information protection and to other documents.

Under the new law, such propaganda is now completely prohibited on social networks, in the mass media, films and advertisements.

MOSCOW, December 4. /TASS/: Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will hold talks with his Azerbaijani counterpart Jeyhun Bayramov in Moscow on Monday on normalizing relations between Baku and Yerevan, according to a statement published by the Russian Foreign Ministry on Sunday.

"It is planned to discuss the state and prospects of bilateral cooperation as well as exchange opinions on the most pertinent aspects of the regional and international agenda, including the issues of normalizing the Azerbaijani-Armenian relations," the diplomatic agency specified.

MOSCOW, December 4. /TASS/: Russian troops are gaining ground in the vicinity of Artyomovsk on the Donetsk front, Russian Defense Ministry Spokesman Igor Konashenkov told journalists on Sunday.

"On the Donetsk front, Russian troops are successfully advancing in the vicinity of the town of Artyomovsk in the Donetsk People’s Republic," he said. According to the spokesman, the adversary’s manpower and equipment were eliminated.

Ukrainian Su-25

Russia's Aerospace Forces shot down a Ukrainian Su-25 over the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), Konashenkov told.

MOSCOW, December 4. /TASS/: The global oil market is currently in a better state than it was two months ago, but it still has many uncertainties, including because of the coronavirus situation in China, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said on Sunday.

MOSCOW, December 4. /TASS/: The death toll from the partial collapse of an apartment block in Nizhnevartovsk has risen to six, a source in the local medical services told TASS on Sunday.

"Two more bodies have been found. In all, the death toll is six," he said, adding that clear-up operations continue and there could be more people under the debris.

Earlier, the Russian emergencies ministry reported four deaths.