Russia

MOSCOW, July 6 (Reuters) - Russia's defence ministry said on Wednesday its armed forces had destroyed two advanced U.S.-made HIMARS rocket systems and their ammunition depots in eastern Ukraine, an assertion later rejected by Kyiv.

Moscow said it had destroyed two launchers for the High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) that the United States and its allies have been supplying to Kyiv.

MOSCOW (AP) — A top Kremlin official warned the U.S. Wednesday that it could face the “wrath of God” if it pursues efforts to help establish an international tribunal to investigate Russia’s action in Ukraine, while the Russian lower house speaker urged Washington to remember that Alaska used to belong to Russia.

Dmitry Medvedev, the deputy secretary of Russia’s Security Council chaired by President Vladimir Putin, denounced the U.S. for what he described as its efforts to “spread chaos and destruction across the world for the sake of ‘true democracy.’”

(AP) --- Ever since Russia invaded Ukraine, Anastasia has started her day by composing an anti-war message and posting it on the wall at the entrance of her apartment block in the industrial city of Perm in the Ural Mountains.

“Do not believe the propaganda you see on the TV, read independent media!” reads one. “Violence and death have been constantly with us for three months now — take care of yourselves” reads another.

MOSCOW, July 5. /TASS/: Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine will continue until all the tasks set by Russian President Vladimir Putin are accomplished in full, Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu said at the ministry’s conference call on Tuesday.

The lives and health of the Russian military personnel and the safety of civilians are top priority tasks, the defense minister emphasized.

TASS offers highlights of the defense minister’s speech.

MOSCOW, July 5. /TASS/: Moscow has named a stretch of land located outside the UK Embassy "Lugansk People's Republic Square" thanks to a decree signed by Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin, sources from the press service of the mayor’s office and the city government told TASS on Tuesday.

MOSCOW, July 5. /TASS/: Russia was among the founders of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and is not going to withdraw from it, a Russian senator said on Tuesday.

"If anyone is dreaming to see us leaving the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, he or she is profoundly wrong. Russia was among the founding nations of the OSCE," Vladimir Dzhabarov, first deputy chairman of the international committee of Russia’s Federation Council, or upper parliament house, told a news conference.

MOSCOW, July 5. /TASS/: Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov rejected on Tuesday previous reports that Chinese leader Xi Jinping allegedly refused President Vladimir Putin’s invitation to visit Russia.

"This is completely not true," he said adding that all mutual presidential visits would be paid after the Chinese side started gradually lifting anti-COVID restrictions.

MOSCOW, July 5 (Reuters) - The speaker of Russia's lower house of parliament asked a senior lawmaker on Tuesday to look into scrapping a treaty that establishes the country's maritime border with NATO member Norway.

The treaty, which was signed in 2010, aimed to put an end to disputes between Russia and Norway in the Barents Sea, the part of the Arctic Ocean adjoining the northern coasts of Norway and Russia.

MOSCOW, July 4. /TASS/: Russia welcomes measures taken in Uzbekistan to normalize the situation in the country, the Russian foreign ministry said on Monday, following the situation in Karakalpakstan.

"We welcome measures taken by Uzbekistan’s authorities and are convinced that they will help normalize the situation in this part of the country," it said.

MOSCOW, July 4. /TASS/: The events in the Karakalpakstan region are Uzbekistan’s domestic affair, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Monday.

"Uzbekistan is our ally, a friendly country and a very important partner for us. Everything that happens in Uzbekistan is this country’s domestic affair," he pointed out, when asked if Moscow was keeping an eye on the developments in Karakalpakstan.

According to Peskov, Russia has no doubt that "all the existing issues will be resolved through active efforts by Uzbekistan’s leadership."