Russia

11 June 2021; MEMO: Russia is preparing to provide Iran with an advanced satellite that would enable it to track potential military targets across the Middle East, the Washington Post reported yesterday.

The plan would deliver a Russian-made Kanopus-V satellite equipped with a high-resolution camera which could be launched from Russia within months, Reuters reported the Post saying.

(Reuters) --- Jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny's health has improved, and he is keeping in touch with measures being taken against his campaigning group, his ally Ivan Zhdanov said on Friday.

Navalny's allies said in April his health was dire, and he was moved to a prison hospital for treatment.

"Alexei Navalny is in a much better condition now and every time he is told some news he says he is shocked," Zhdanov told the Ekho Moskvy radio station, referring to the banning of Navalny's anti-corruption foundation. 

MOSCOW, June 10 (Xinhua) -- Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin has signed an order to nullify the Russian-U.S. memorandum of understanding (MOU) on "open ground" that facilitated travels for diplomats in their host country.

Mishustin asked the Russian Foreign Ministry to inform the U.S. side of the termination, according to the order published on Thursday on the country's official legal information website.

MOSCOW, June 10. /TASS/: Russia’s economy is actively recovering after the coronavirus pandemic-related crisis, Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said on Thursday.

"The economy and industry are actively recovering now," he said, adding that "amid this background, the pharmaceutical and medical industries demonstrated growth of over 23% last year and over 40% in the first quarter of this year."

MOSCOW, June 10. /TASS/: Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Vershinin discussed with Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) Philippe Lazzarini the current situation in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict zone and issues of providing urgent assistance to the affected Palestinians.

MOSCOW, June 10. /TASS/: Russia confirmed 11,699 COVID-19 cases over the past day, a new high since February 24, the anti-coronavirus crisis center told reporters on Thursday.

Since the start of the pandemic in the country the total case tally hit 5,167,949. The number of cases grew by 0.23% in relative terms.

MOSCOW, June 10. /TASS/: Russia is interested in the reduction of the list of unfriendly countries, and not its expansion, the director of Russia's foreign intelligence service SVR, Sergey Naryshkin, told TASS on Thursday.

"I would like to tell you quite definitely that Russia is interested to see this list get shorter, and not longer," Naryshkin said, when asked if the list of unfriendly countries might be expanded in the near future.

MOSCOW, June 10 (NNN-AGENCIES) –An improvised explosive device killed one Russian soldier and wounded three more on patrol in northern Syria, the Russian defence ministry reported.

“On June 9, during a patrol by the Russian military police in the province of Hassakeh in the Syrian Arab Republic, an armoured car was hit in the explosion of an unidentified device,” said a ministry statement carried by news agencies.

“One Russian serviceman died as a result of the explosion,” it added.

10 June 2021; MEMO: Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov yesterday warned the United States over backing Syrian separatists, saying it "may end badly".

Speaking at the Primakov Readings International Forum, Lavrov said: "We stress every time the illegality and illegitimacy of the American presence on Syrian territory, especially since this presence is accompanied by the looting of the natural resources of the Syrian Arab Republic."

MOSCOW (AP) — A Moscow court is expected Wednesday to outlaw the organizations founded by Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny — part of authorities’ efforts to muzzle critics ahead of a crucial parliamentary election in September.