Russia

MOSCOW, January 22. /TASS/: Vyacheslav Volodin, the Speaker of the Russian State Duma, the lower house of the Russian parliament, will pay an official two-day visit to Iran, the State Duma’s press service said.

"On January 22-23, the delegation of the State Duma headed by State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin will visit the Islamic Republic of Iran with an official visit," the press service said. Heads of relevant committees of the State Duma are among delegation members, it noted.

MOSCOW, January 22. /TASS/: Russia’s COVID-19 case tally rose by 5,729 over the past day to 21,894,157, the anti-coronavirus crisis center reported on Sunday.

As many as 427 people were hospitalized with COVID-19 in Russia over the past day (down by 48.8%). The number of hospitalized patients declined in 52 regions, while in 14 other regions the figure increased. The situation remained unchanged in 19 regions. A day earlier, 834 people were rushed to hospitals.

MOSCOW, January 22. /TASS/: The West will be ready to make endless attempts at mauling or destroying Russia, and a new military alliance may emerge globally, Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev wrote on his Telegram channel on Sunday.

"The Ramstein meeting and heavy weapons supplies to Kiev leave no doubt that our enemies will try to maul or even destroy us endlessly. And they have enough weapons for that. They could also start producing new ones, if need be," Medvedev said as he came to two conclusions.

Jan 22 (Reuters) - A close ally of President Vladimir Putin said on Sunday that deliveries of offensive weapons to Kyiv that threaten Russia's territories will lead to a global catastrophe and make arguments against using weapons of mass destruction untenable.

Vyacheslav Volodin, speaker of the Duma - Russia's lower house of parliament - warned that the United States and NATO's support of Ukraine is leading the world to a "terrible war".

Jan 21 (Reuters) - The private Russian military group Wagner plans to send the bodies of Ukrainian soldiers killed in fighting in the captured town of Soledar to territory held by Ukraine, a website linked to the group's founder Yevgeny Prigozhin reported on Saturday.

Wagner said on Jan. 11 it had captured Soledar, and Russian-installed authorities in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region said earlier this week they were in control of the salt-mining town, where intense fighting has taken place.

MOSCOW, Jan. 22 (Xinhua) -- Deliveries of offensive weapons to Ukraine will lead to a "global catastrophe," said Vyacheslav Volodin, chairman of the Russian State Duma, on Sunday.

"If Washington and NATO countries supply weapons that will be used to strike civilian cities and attempt to seize our territories, as they threaten, this will lead to retaliatory measures using more powerful weapons," Volodin said on Telegram.

MOSCOW, January 21. /TASS/: Russia will take retaliatory measures against French media in the country after RT France account have been blocked, the Russian Foreign Ministry told TASS on Saturday.

"Blocking RT France account will lead to retaliatory measures against French media in Russia. They will be very noticeable, if the French authorities do not stop intimidating Russian journalists," the ministry said.

MOSCOW, January 21. /TASS/: Volunteers of assault teams with fire support from the Southern Military District, liberated the village of Dvurechye in the Donetsk People’s Republic, the losses of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reached 50 servicemen killed and wounded, the official representative of the Russian Defense Ministry, Lieutenant-General Igor Konashenkov said on Saturday.

Jan 21 (Reuters) - The head of the Russian private military contractor Wagner published on Saturday a short letter to the White House asking what crime his company was accused of, after Washington announced new sanctions on the group.

White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said on Friday that Wagner, which has been supporting Russian forces in their invasion of Ukraine and claiming credit for battlefield advances, would be designated a significant Transnational Criminal Organization.

MOSCOW, January 20. /TASS/: The Russian public’s level of confidence in President Vladimir Putin fell by 0.3 percentage points to 78.1% on January 9-15, according to a poll released by the All-Russia Public Opinion Research Center on Friday.

"When asked if they trusted Putin, 78.1% of the poll’s participants said ‘yes’ (a 0.3 percentage point drop from a rating referring to December 26-30, 2022). The share of people who approve of the way the president is handling his job rose by 0.3 percentage points to 75.2%," the pollster said.