Russia

MOSCOW, January 28. /TASS/:  Moscow and Ankara have launched expert discussions of sensitive issues related to the security of a planned gas hub, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Oleg Syromolotov said in an interview with TASS.

MOSCOW, January 28. /TASS/: Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev has lambasted Western attempts to justify arms deliveries to Kiev as an alleged effort to prevent a world war.

"Firstly, defending Ukraine, which nobody needs in Europe, will not save the senile Old World from retribution if anything occurs. Secondly, once the Third World War breaks out, unfortunately it will not be on tanks or even on fighter jets. Then everything will definitely be turned to dust," Medvedev wrote on his Telegram channel on Saturday.

MOSCOW, January 28. /TASS/: Ukraine’s Armed Forces have intentionally hit the hospital in Novoaidar in the Lugansk People’s Republic, using a US-made HIMARS rocket launchers, as a result, 14 people were killed and 24 more wounded, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Saturday.

"At about 7:30 a.m. on January 28, the Ukrainian armed forces conducted a deliberate strike, using rockets of a US-made HIMARS multiple launch rocket system, on the building of the district hospital in the urban settlement of Novoaidar in the Lugansk People’s Republic," the ministry said.

ST. PETERSBURG, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- Russia's second largest city St. Petersburg on Friday held the annual "900 Days and Nights" memorial event marking the 79th anniversary of the lifting of the Siege of Leningrad during World War II.

The commemoration featured an interactive performance held among military installations in the courtyard of the St. Petersburg State Academic Capella, the oldest Russian professional musical institution. The audience watched the light and sound performance of air raids and bombardments.

MOSCOW, January 27. /TASS/: Russian forces continued their offensive in the southern Donetsk and Zaporozhye areas, tightening their grip on Ugledar in the Donetsk People’s Republic over the past day during the special military operation in Ukraine, Defense Ministry Spokesman Lieutenant-General Igor Konashenkov reported on Friday.

MOSCOW, January 27. /TASS/: Only the successful completion of the special military operation may serve as the foundation for "meaningful and productive" talks on the situation in Ukraine, says First Deputy Chairman of the Federation Council Committee on Defense and Security, ex-Russian Permanent Representative to the European Union Vladimir Chizhov.

MOSCOW, January 27. /TASS/: Moscow doesn’t rule out that IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi may visit Russia soon to discuss issues of further cooperation, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Friday.

"We don’t rule out a possible visit by an IAEA delegation led by Mr. Grossi to Russia in the near future to discuss the parameters of our further cooperation," she said.

MOSCOW, January 27. /TASS/: The citizens of NATO’s member-states should understand that the bloc is completely involved in confrontation with Russia in Ukraine, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said at a news briefing on Friday.

"The citizens of NATO’s countries should know that their bloc is completely involved in confrontation with our country. And this confrontation is growing," Zakharova said.

MOSCOW (AP) — A former Russian Orthodox monk, who denied that the coronavirus existed and defied the Kremlin, was handed a seven-year prison sentence Friday.

Nikolai Romanov, 67, who was known as Father Sergiy until his excommunication by the Russian Orthodox Church, urged his followers to disobey the Russian government’s lockdown measures and spread conspiracy theories about a global plot to control the masses.

A court in Moscow convicted him of inciting hatred. His lawyer immediately announced plans to appeal.

MOSCOW, January 25. /TASS/: The Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) collected a total of 11,053 doping samples from Russian athletes in 2022, a spokeswoman for the agency told TASS on Wednesday.

"The Russian Anti-Doping Agency collected 11,053 doping samples in the period between January and December 2022," she said.

RUSADA Director General Veronika Loginova told TASS in late December that the agency had met its target for 2022 on doping testing of athletes ahead of schedule with the reported figure standing at over 11,000.