Russia

Oct 22 (Reuters) - Russia said on Saturday its forces had prevented an attempt by Ukraine to break through its line of control in the southern Ukrainian region of Kherson, where it is evacuating civilians in anticipation of a wider Ukrainian counter-offensive.

"All attacks were repulsed, the enemy was pushed back to their initial positions," the Defence Ministry said, adding that Ukraine's offensive was launched towards the settlements of Piatykhatky, Suhanove, Sablukivka and Bezvodne, on the west side of the Dnipro river.

MOSCOW, October 21. /TASS/: Western countries are deliberately destroying any remaining chances for communication by distorting the position of Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia and the Russian Orthodox Church, and such steps are suicidal, Vladimir Legoida, head of the Russian Orthodox Church’s public and media relations department and Professor of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s MGIMO University, said on Friday.

MOSCOW, October 21. /TASS/: The number of officially registered unemployed in Russia decreased from 602,800 to 590,300 people in a week, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova told reporters on Friday.

The number of unemployed does not exceed 0.8% of the total number of workers in the country, she said as quoted by her secretariat.

MOSCOW, October 21. /TASS/: Indonesia may fully join the BRICS format (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa), the country’s ambassador to Russia Jose Tavares said in an interview with TASS.

"I hear my president spoke for it (full membership in the integration - TASS) during the BRICS summit. There is a possibility for Indonesia to fully join BRICS," he said, adding though that the embassy had not yet received any additional information on that.

MOSCOW, October 21. /TASS/: The proportion of Russian citizens' confidence in President Vladimir Putin dropped by 0.3% and stood at 80.6%, according to the All-Russian Public Opinion Research Center that published the results of a survey conducted from October 10 to 16 among 1,600 respondents aged over 18.

"When asked about trust in Putin, 80.6% of respondents answered positively (-0.3% over the week), the approval rate of the Russian president's work was 77% (+1.4 % over the week)," the pollsters noted.

MOSCOW, October 20. /TASS/: US statements about their willingness to resume talks with Russia on an agreement to replace the New START were not backed up by any communication between the two sides and are intended to stir up propaganda, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said at a briefing Thursday.

Oct 20 (Reuters) - Russia's foreign ministry on Thursday welcomed the departure of British Prime Minister Liz Truss, saying she was a disgrace of a leader who would be remembered for her "catastrophic illiteracy".

"Britain has never known such a disgrace of a prime minister," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a social media post.

MOSCOW, October 19. /TASS/: Russia’s COVID-19 case tally rose by 10,656 over the past day to 21,335,087, the anti-coronavirus crisis center reported on Wednesday.

A day earlier, 9,474 daily cases were recorded.

As many as 1,583 people were hospitalized with COVID-19 in Russia over the past day, down 18.3% from a day earlier. The number of hospitalized patients decreased in 49 regions, while in 28 regions the figure increased. The situation remained unchanged in eight regions. A day earlier, 1,937 people were rushed to hospitals.

MOSCOW, October 19. /TASS/: The Russian Interior Ministry has initiated more than 100 criminal cases over attempts at discrediting the Russian armed forces and 4,500 administrative offenses have been prevented, Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev said on Wednesday.

"A total of 4,500 administrative offenses involving attempts at discrediting the Armed Forces and spreading falsehoods about their operations have been upset. Over 100 criminal cases have been initiated on the basis of our materials," Kolokoltsev told the State Duma.

MOSCOW, October 14. /TASS/: The Kherson Region will be closed to inbound civilian traffic for seven days due to an uneasy situation in the region, the region’s acting governor, Vladimir Saldo, said on the Rossiya-24 round-the-clock television news channel on Wednesday.

"If hostilities break out, there will be an artillery cannonade. They will bomb the city. It is better to take people elsewhere, which we are doing right now. For this work to be more orderly, the entry of civilians into the territory of the Kherson region is suspended for seven days," he said.