Russia

MOSCOW, May 13. /TASS/: Russian President Vladimir Putin and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres held a video conversation on Thursday to discuss, among other things, the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. They voiced support for a two-state solution to the problem, the Kremlin's press service said on Thursday.

Putin and Guterres held a "detailed exchange of opinion on a number of crucial regional issues."

MOSCOW, May 13. /TASS/: The school shooting incident in the Russian city of Kazan was a terrible catastrophe and a barbaric crime, President Vladimir Putin said at a meeting with cabinet members on Thursday.

"We will open by addressing the tragedy that recently occurred in Kazan. As you know, a terrible catastrophe took place two days ago. The victims of this barbaric crime were several children and teachers at School Number 175," the head of state said.

He asked the meeting’s participants to observe a minute of silence in memory of those killed in the school attack.

(Reuters) --- An ally of jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny said on Thursday his team could no longer organise formal street protests after a Russian state crackdown, but that "spontaneous" protests would take their place.

The comments, by Lithuania-based Leonid Volkov, are the latest sign that a legal onslaught against Navalny's movement has forced it to rethink the way it does things. 

MOSCOW, May 12. /TASS/: No cases of India’s COVID-19 variant have been detected in Russia, Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova told reporters on Wednesday.

"No," she said in response to a corresponding question.

Golikova pointed out that Russia’s vaccines are effective against those variants.

"Maybe not as [effective] as against the reference strain, which we have already gotten used to, but nevertheless, studies prove that we are protected," the deputy prime minister assured.

MOSCOW, May 12. /TASS/: Over 24 mln Russians have completed the first stage of COVID-19 vaccination or received both doses of the vaccine already, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said delivering a report on the government’s work in 2020 in the Russian State Duma (lower house) on Wednesday.

He recalled that Russia had launched voluntary free mass vaccination in late 2020. "By now, over 24 mln people have completed various stages of vaccination," the PM said.

MOSCOW, May 12. /TASS/: Moscow has no plans to interfere in Ukraine’s case against Chairman of the Political Council of the Opposition Platform - For Life party Viktor Medvedchuk but would like to make sure that the case is not politically motivated, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Wednesday.

MOSCOW, May 12. /TASS/: No specific complications have been found after people have been inoculated with the Sputnik Light one-dose coronavirus vaccine, said Fyodor Lisitsyn, a leading specialist with the Virology Institute at the Gamaleya National Research Center of Epidemiology and Microbiology, on Wednesday.

"There are no complications so far, except for the usual temperature increase among 7% of patients… There are no other specific complications," the expert said in a live broadcast on the Doktor TV Channel.

MOSCOW, May 12. /TASS/: A Russian Su-27 fighter jet was scrambled to intercept two Mirage 2000 tactical combat planes and a C-135 aerial refueling tanker of the French Air Force over the Black Sea, Russia’s National Defense Control Center reported on Wednesday.

"The Russian fighter’s pilot identified the aerial targets as two Mirage 2000 tactical aircraft and a C-135 aerial refueling tanker of the French Air Force and shadowed them over the Black Sea," the statement says.

MOSCOW, May 11. /TASS/: Over 800,000 people have been inoculated against the coronavirus infection in the Russian Armed Forces, the vaccination plan has been completed, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said during a conference call on Tuesday.

"To date, the Defense Ministry has obtained 850,000 doses of the Sputnik V jab, more than 800,000 people have been inoculated. The vaccination plan has been completed but active work in this direction in the armed forces continues," he said.

MOSCOW, May 11. /TASS/: An employee of the Romanian Embassy in Russia has been declared persona non grata in response to the expulsion of a Russian diplomat from Bucharest, the Russian Foreign Ministry informed on Tuesday.