Russia

May 5 (Reuters) - The Kremlin said on Thursday that the United States, Britain and other NATO countries were "constantly" feeding intelligence to Ukraine but this would not stop Russia from achieving its military objectives there.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was responding to a New York Times report that the United States had provided intelligence that helped Ukrainian forces kill a dozen Russian generals.

Russia claimed on Wednesday that Israeli mercenaries are fighting alongside the far-right Azov Regiment in Ukraine, agencies have reported.

"Israeli mercenaries are practically shoulder to shoulder with Azov militants in Ukraine," the spokeswoman of Russia's Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, told Sputnik radio.

Zakharova added that she will say something that politicians in Israel, who "exaggerate" the misinformation campaign against Russian, will not like. They will be interested soon, she said.

05 May 2022; MEMO: A senior Hamas delegation arrived in Moscow on Tuesday at the invitation of Russia's Foreign Ministry to hold "important discussions" with Russian officials, Tass reported yesterday.

Deputy Head of Hamas' Political Bureau, Moussa Abu Marzouk, led the delegation, which included Fathi Hammad and Hussam Badran, as well as the movement's representative in Moscow.

05 May 2022; MEMO: Russia has rejected Israel's demand for an apology after Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov's remark about Adolf Hitler having "Jewish" roots, Al-Watan Voice reported on Wednesday. Lavrov made his comment on Sunday in an interview with Italian television.

During the interview on Rete 4, Lavrov was asked how Russia could say it needed to "de-Nazify" Ukraine, when the country's president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, is Jewish.

MOSCOW, May 4. /TASS/: Russian combat aircraft and helicopters practiced flying in parade formations in a rehearsal of the upcoming Victory Day Parade over Moscow’s Red Square, a TASS correspondent reported from the scene.

MOSCOW, May 4. /TASS/: Gazprom supplied 791 mln cubic meters of natural gas to Russian consumers on May 2. This is the record-breaking volume for this date due to the abnormally low temperature, official spokesman of the Russian gas holding Sergey Kupriyanov said.

"On May 2, the company delivered the record-high gas volume for this date to Russian consumers. The cause is the abnormally low air temperature in the operational envelope of the Russian United Gas Supply System for early May (plus 9 degrees [Centigrade])," Kupriyanov said.

May 4 (Reuters) - Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said on Wednesday the Russian military would consider NATO transport carrying weapons in Ukraine as targets to be destroyed, RIA news agency quoted him as saying.

Shoigu also said that the Ukrainian fighters holed up in the sprawling Azovstal plant in Mariupol were kept under secure blockade after President Vladimir Putin ordered that they be hermetically sealed off.

MOSCOW, May 4 (Xinhua) -- The Russian Foreign Ministry announced on Wednesday that 63 Japanese citizens, including top officials like Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, have been "permanently" barred from entering Russia.

"The administration of Kishida has launched an unprecedented anti-Russian campaign, allowing unacceptable rhetoric against the Russian Federation, including slander and direct threats," the ministry said in a statement.

MOSCOW, May 3. /TASS/: Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky does not need any peaceful settlement, Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev asserted.

"Zelensky does not need any peace treaty. For him, peace is the end," he said on his Telegram channel.

MOSCOW, May 3. /TASS/: Russia’s COVID-19 case tally rose by 5,466 over the past day to 18,201,074, the anti-coronavirus crisis center reported on Tuesday.

In relative terms, the growth rate reached 0.03% and in absolute terms, this is the lowest increase since September 13, 2020.

As many as 1,441 people were hospitalized with COVID-19 in Russia over the past day, up 25.1% from a day earlier. The number of hospitalized patients decreased in 28 regions, while in 45 regions the figure increased.