Russia

MOSCOW (AP) — Kazakhstan’s president authorized security forces on Friday to shoot to kill those participating in unrest whom he called “terrorists,” opening the door for a dramatic escalation in a crackdown on anti-government protests that have turned violent.

MOSCOW, January 5. /TASS/: Security at key facilities of Baikonur’s spaceport has been tightened and the branches of Roscosmos’ enterprises are working as normal, the Russian state space corporation’s head, Dmitry Rogozin, said.

MOSCOW, January 6. /TASS/: Russia has registered 15,316 new confirmed COVID-19 infections over the past 24 hours, the lowest number since June 17, 2021, with the total number of infections reaching 10,601,300 cases, the anti-coronavirus crisis center told reporters on Thursday.

According to the crisis center, the relative increase of new infections is at the level of 0.14%.

MOSCOW, Jan. 6 (Xinhua) -- The Russian Foreign Ministry said Thursday that it views the riots in Kazakhstan as an attempt, stoked by the outside, to undermine the country's security and integrity with trained armed formations.

In a statement published on its website, the ministry noted the rapid degradation of the internal political situation and the growth of violence in Kazakhstan.

MOSCOW, Jan. 6 (Xinhua) -- The Russian Aerospace Forces are delivering a contingent to Kazakhstan as part of a peacekeeping mission organized by the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), the military bloc said Thursday.

The Collective Peacekeeping Forces include troops from Russia, Belarus, Armenia, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, the Moscow-led CSTO said in a statement on its website.

MOSCOW (AP) — Dozens of protesters and 12 police died during extraordinarily violent demonstrations in Kazakhstan that saw government buildings stormed and set ablaze, authorities said Thursday. One police officer was found beheaded in escalating unrest that poses a growing challenge to authoritarian rule in the Central Asian nation.

MOSCOW, January 5. /TASS/: Russia’s COVID-19 cases surged by 15,772 in the past 24 hours to 10,585,084, the anti-coronavirus crisis center said on Wednesday.

In relative terms, the COVID-19 incidence increased by 0.15% over the past day.

Over the past day, some 1,273 COVID-19 cases were registered in St. Petersburg, 775 cases of the infection were confirmed in the Moscow Region, some 415 cases were recorded in the Krasnodar Region, 400 cases were disclosed in the Chelyabinsk Region, some 395 cases were reported in the Sverdlovsk Region.

MOSCOW, January 5. / TASS /: The Russian COVID-19 vaccines are likely to be authorized by international regulators, including the World Health Organization (WHO), in 2022, President of the Russian Academy of Sciences Alexander Sergeev told TASS.

MOSCOW, January 5. /TASS/: The price of Brent crude oil futures contract with March delivery on London’s ICE rose by 1.31% and reached $81.05 per barrel. The last time the price of Brent exceeded $81 per barrel was on November 26, 2021.

By 17:11 Moscow time, the price of Brent crude oil reached $80.68 per barrel (+0.85%).

The price of WTI crude oil futures contract with February delivery increased by 0.99% to $77.75 per barrel.

MOSCOW, January 5. /TASS/: Moscow is closely monitoring the developments in Kazakhstan, no casualties have been reported on the Russian side so far, the Foreign Ministry stated on Wednesday.

"We are closely following the developments in Kazakhstan. There is no data relating to any casualties on the Russian side," the statement reads.