Russia

MOSCOW, October 3. /TASS/: Moscow is closely monitoring the situation around Kiev's bid to join NATO, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Monday, recalling that Ukraine's aspiration to join the alliance was one of the reasons for the special military operation.

"We are monitoring this decision very closely. And we remember that it was Ukraine's NATO orientation and confirmation of Ukraine's future membership in NATO that was one of the reasons for the special military operation," he pointed out.

MOSCOW, October 3. /TASS/: The State Duma unanimously passed draft constitutional laws on accepting the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics (DPR, LPR), as well as the Kherson and Zaporozhye Regions, into Russia in the first reading and in their entirety on Monday.

MOSCOW, Oct 3 (Reuters) - The Kremlin on Monday said it favoured a "balanced approach" to the issue of nuclear weapons, not based on emotion, after a key ally of President Vladimir Putin called over the weekend for Russia to use a "low-yield nuclear weapon" in Ukraine.

Asked about the comments by Ramzan Kadyrov, leader of the Chechnya region, who also criticised Russia's military leadership over battlefield setbacks, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said he had the right to voice his opinion, but that Russia's military approach should not be driven by emotions.

Oct 3 (Reuters) - The military commissar of Russia's Khabarovsk region was removed from his post after half of the newly mobilised personnel were sent home as they did not meet the draft criteria, the region's governor said early on Monday.

Russia's first mobilisation since World War Two, declared by President Vladimir Putin on Sept. 21, has led to widespread discontent among officials and citizens over the way the draft has been handled, including complaints about enlistment officers sending call-up papers to clearly ineligible men. 

MOSCOW, October 2. /TASS/: The State Duma (lower house) will consider the drafts of constitutional laws on accession of the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics (DPR and LPR), and the Kherson and Zaporozhye Regions to Russia, as well as on ratification of respective international treaties, at a plenary meeting on Monday, October 3, Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin said in an interview with the host of the "Moscow. Kremlin. Putin" show Pavel Zarubin.

MOSCOW, October 2. /TASS/: Russian President Vladimir Putin introduced the four treaties on accession of the four new regions to Russia to the State Duma for ratification, according to the Duma online database.

"Ratify the treaty between Russia and DPR on accession of Donetsk People’s Republic to Russia as a new region," signed in Moscow on September 30, 2022," one entry reads.

MOSCOW, Oct 2 (Reuters) - Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said on Sunday that it was technically possible to restore the ruptured offshore infrastructure of the Nord Stream gas pipelines, TASS news agency reported.

A total of four leaks were discovered last week on the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines in the Baltic Sea near Denmark and Sweden, with a significant fall in gas pressure leading to the detection of the ruptures.

MOSCOW, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- Russia has registered 30,085 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, taking the nationwide tally to 21,049,027, the official monitoring and response center said Sunday.

The nationwide death toll increased by 96 to 387,468, while the number of recoveries grew by 46,992 to 20,140,608, the center said.

Meanwhile, Moscow reported 2,205 new cases, taking its total to 3,199,974.

PATRIOT PARK /Moscow Region/, October 1. /TASS/: Women will not be called up as part of Russia’s partial mobilization, the country’s Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu told reporters on Saturday.

"No. And there are no such plans for the future. We are not going to call up women," Shoigu said, when asked a corresponding question.

MOSCOW, October 1. /TASS/: The fighter aviation of Russia’s Aerospace Forces downed a Ukrainian MiG-29 in the vicinity of the Pavlovka populated locality in the Nikolayev region, Russian Defense Ministry Spokesman Igor Konashenkov said on Saturday.

"The fighter aviation of the Russian Aerospace Forces downed a MiG-29 of Ukraine’s air force in the vicinity of the Pavlovka community in the Nikolayev region," he said.