Russia

Feb 20 (Reuters) - The Kremlin said on Monday that Russia's relations with Moldova were very tense and it accused Moldovan leaders of pursuing an anti-Russian agenda, one week after Chisinau said it had foiled a Russian coup attempt.

Moldova's parliament last week approved a new pro-Western government after the previous administration resigned en masse following months of political and economic scandals.

Feb 20 (Reuters) - Yevgeny Prigozhin, the founder of Russia's mercenary group Wagner, accused unspecified officials of deliberately denying his fighters sufficient ammunition as part of an ongoing rivalry between himself and parts of the Russian elite.

A onetime catering entrepreneur who once shunned the public spotlight, Prigozhin has assumed an ever more public role in Russian politics since the start of the war in Ukraine a year ago, with his Wagner Group spearheading Russia's months-long battle for the town of Bakhmut in Ukraine's Donetsk region.

MOSCOW, February 19. /TASS/: In his upcoming State of the Nation Address to the Federal Assembly, Russian President Vladimir Putin will pay attention to topics related to the special military operation, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in an interview with Rossiya 1 TV channel.

"Our lives are now centered around the subject of the special military operation. The military operation affects our entire lives one way or another, as well as life on the continent. So, we should anticipate the president to pay particular attention to it," Peskov said.

MOSCOW, February 19. /TASS/: The investigation of the terror attack on the Crimean Bridge has proved that it was organized by Ukrainian special services, chief of Russia’s Investigative Committee Alexander Bastrykin said in an interview with TASS.

"The investigation has proved that Ukrainian special services were behind the organization of the terror attack on the Crimean bridge," he said.

MOSCOW, February 19. /TASS/: Kiev is plotting a provocation ahead of the United Nations General Assembly session to accused Russia of the violation of the Convention on Nuclear Safety, the Russian defense ministry said on Sunday.

"Ahead of the beginning of the 11th emergency special session of the United Nations General Assembly, the Kiev regime continues plotting a large-scale provocation to accuse Russia of an alleged ‘blatant violation’ of the Convention on Nuclear Safety in the course of the special military operation," it said.

MOSCOW, Feb 19 (Reuters) - Ramzan Kadyrov, the ally of President Vladimir Putin who leads Chechnya, said on Sunday that he one day planned to set up his own private military company in the style of Yevgeny Prigozhin's Wagner Group of mercenaries.

The rise of Wagner and other mercenary forces outside the traditional Russian military command structures has raised concerns among Western diplomats that such groups could one day pose a threat to stability in Russia.

MOSCOW, Feb 19 (Reuters) - Russia on Sunday scolded Emmanuel Macron over remarks about wanting to see Russia defeated, saying Moscow still remembered the fate of Napoleon Bonaparte and accusing the French president of duplicitous diplomacy with the Kremlin.

Macron told paper Le Journal du Dimanche France wanted Russia to be defeated in Ukraine but had never wanted to "crush" it.

18 Feb 2023; MEMO: Russia is to propose a partnership with the Gulf States to produce its cutting-edge fighter jet Su-75, also referred to as Checkmate, Russian media reported on Thursday.

"Rosoboronexport is considering options for joint design and manufacture of cutting-edge high-tech products, including a fifth-generation fighter based on the Checkmate light tactical aircraft," shared Rosoboronexport's Director General Alexander Mikheev.

19 Feb 2023; MEMO: Russia is to propose a partnership with the Gulf States to produce its cutting-edge fighter jet Su-75, also referred to as Checkmate, Russian media reported on Thursday.

"Rosoboronexport is considering options for joint design and manufacture of cutting-edge high-tech products, including a fifth-generation fighter based on the Checkmate light tactical aircraft," shared Rosoboronexport's Director General Alexander Mikheev.

MOSCOW, Feb. 16 (Xinhua) -- Moscow has declared four employees of the Austrian Embassy in Russia "personae non gratae" in a retaliatory move, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Thursday.

The ministry summoned Austrian Ambassador to Russia Werner Almhofer on Thursday in protest over a decision of the Austrian authorities to expel four employees from Russia's foreign missions, it said, adding that the Austrian diplomats must leave Russia by Feb. 23.

Austria's unfriendly and unjustified move causes serious damage to bilateral ties, said the ministry.