Russia

MOSCOW, August 16. /TASS/: The Russian anti-coronavirus crisis center is lifting restrictions imposed on regular and charter air travel from Russia to the Dominican Republic, the Czech Republic and South Korea on August 27, the crisis center said in a statement on Monday.

MOSCOW, August 16. /TASS/: The US leadership has been shrugging off responsibility for its geopolitical experiments for decades, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova wrote on her Telegram channel on Monday.

MOSCOW, Aug 16 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Russia said its ambassador to Afghanistan will meet with the Taliban in Kabul on Tuesday and that it will decide on whether to recognise the new government based on its conduct.

  “Our ambassador is in contact with the Taliban leadership, tomorrow he will meet with the Taliban security coordinator,” foreign ministry official Zamir Kabulov said in an interview with the Ekho Moskvy radio station on Monday.

MOSCOW, August 15./TASS/: The Taliban movement (outlawed in Russia) guarantees the safety of the Russian Embassy in Kabul, Suhail Shaheen, a spokesman for the Taliban’s political office told TASS on Sunday.

"Yes, we have good relations with Russia and our policy in general is to ensure the safe conditions for the functioning of the Russian and other embassies," he said in reply to a query.

MOSCOW, August 15. /TASS/: The Taliban radical militant group (outlawed in Russia) announced on Sunday it was controlling the entire territory of Afghanistan, the Al Arabiya TV Channel reported.

The Taliban said in a statement cited by the TV Channel that "no combat operations are underway in the capital of the country and the group has established control of the whole of Afghanistan".

MOSCOW, August 15. /TASS/: Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova called "utter nonsense" attempts to connect not renewing work visa to BBC correspondent Sarah Rainsford with her questions about Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko at his recent press conference.

MOSCOW, August 15./TASS/: Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree awarding the Order of Courage to five servicemen killed in the crash of a Be-200 plane in Turkey on Saturday, the Kremlin press service reported on Sunday.

Lieutenant Colonel Vladislav Berkutov, Lieutenant Colonel Vadim Karasev, Colonel Yevgeny Kuznetsov, Senior Lieutenant Nikolai Omelchenko, Senior Sergeant Yuri Chubarov were awarded for the courage and dedication displayed in putting out fires in the Republic of Turkey, the report said.

MOSCOW, August 15. /TASS/: Russia confirmed 21,624 COVID-19 cases over the past day, bringing the total caseload to 6,600,836, the anti-coronavirus crisis center told reporters on Sunday.

In relative terms, the incidence grew by 0.33%.

In particular, Moscow reported 1,954 new coronavirus cases, St. Petersburg recorded 1,668 new cases. The Moscow region reported 1,359 new cases, the Nizhny Novgorod Region - 539, while the Sverdlovsk Region - 526.

The number of active cases, the patients who currently undergo medical treatment, has grown to 546,021.

MOSCOW, August 14. /TASS/: Russia’s coronavirus fatalities grew by 819 in the past 24 hours reaching 169,683, the anti-coronavirus crisis center told reporters on Saturday.

This is the highest number since the start of the pandemic. On Thursday, the crisis center reported 808 coronavirus deaths, and on Friday - 815.

The conditional mortality rate stands at 2.58%, based on data provided by the crisis center.

VLADIKAVKAZ, August 14. /TASS/: The Leninsky District Court of Vladikavkaz has placed Vladimir Pliev, the chief physician of North Ossetia’s republican hospital where nine patients died to a failure in the oxygen supply system, under house arrest, a source in court informed TASS.

"The head physician has been placed under house arrest for two months," the source said.