Russia

Nov 9 (Reuters) - One of Russia's most prominent officials in Ukraine was killed in a car crash on Wednesday, a blow to Moscow in the southern Kherson region amid growing talk it is poised to withdraw its forces from the city of the same name.

The death of Kirill Stremousov, deputy head of the Russian-installed local administration, was confirmed by his boss Vladimir Saldo, the Russia-backed acting governor of Kherson.

MOSCOW (AP) — American basketball star Brittney Griner has been sent to a penal colony in Russia to serve her sentence for drug possession, her legal team said Wednesday.

A Russian court rejected an appeal of her nine-year sentence last month. The eight-time all-star center with the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury and a two-time Olympic gold medalist was convicted Aug. 4 after police said they found vape canisters containing cannabis oil in her luggage at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport.

09 Nov 2022; MEMO: Russia has welcomed Algeria's intention to joining the BRICS group, special envoy for the Middle East and Africa and Deputy Foreign Minister, Mikhail Bogdanov, said yesterday.

Algerian officials on Monday filed a formal application to join the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) – an association that aims to promote peace, security, development and cooperation between the countries in the alliance.

MOSCOW, November 8. /TASS/: BRICS member states intend to negotiate the criteria and principles of potential expansion of the association shortly, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said during the meeting with his Indian counterpart Subrahmanyam Jaishankar.

MOSCOW, November 8. /TASS/: Russian diplomacy will continue to promote a unifying agenda in international relations, work to enhance global stability and help settle conflict by political means, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an address to a conference on international security amid geopolitical instability. 

The address to the conference organized by Russia’s ruling United Russia party was read out by Deputy Foreign Minister and presidential envoy for the Middle East and African countries, Mikhail Bogdanov on Tuesday.

MOSCOW, November 8. /TASS/: Russia and Ukraine have not held any constructive talks since April after Kiev had failed to respond to Moscow’s proposals, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said during an online meeting with Kazan Federal University students and teaching staff Tuesday.

"There is indeed a lot of talk about negotiations but they are in a different context. There are no constructive talks, they ended this April when in response to Ukraine’s proposal we yet again sent our suggestions and following this, everything was blocked," she said.

MOSCOW, November 8. /TASS/: Expenditures for the implementation of National Projects in Russia from the federal budget amounted provisionally to 2.46 trillion rubles ($40.3 bln) or 75.8% from the target as of November 1 of this year, the Finance Ministry reports on Tuesday.

"According to preliminary data, as of November 1, 2022, performance of federal budget expenditures for the implementation of National Projects amounted to 2.46 trillion rubles or 75.8% of the planned budget allocations," the ministry said.

MOSCOW, November 8. /TASS/: One person died and four more people were hurt in a Mi-2 helicopter crash in the Kostroma Region, a source in the emergencies services told TASS on Tuesday.

"According to preliminary data, one person died. Four people survived but receives injuries," he said.

A Mi-2 helicopter, which was on a sanitary flight, crashed some four kilometers of the Sokerkino airport in the Kostroma Region. There were five people onboard: two pilots, two medics and one patient.

MOSCOW, Nov. 8 (Xinhua) -- Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Tuesday praised the role of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and voiced confidence in its future development.

The SCO has completed its original task of ensuring order on the borders between the Central Asian countries, China and Russia, Lavrov said here during a press conference after talks with Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar.

MOSCOW, November 7. /TASS/: Russian President Vladimir Putin is not planning to go to the East Asia Summit, scheduled for November.

"This trip is not planned," Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists on Monday.