Russia

MOSCOW, May 5. /TASS/: Presidents of Russia and Turkey Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdogan expect that the countries will be able to resume tourism thanks to measures against the spread of the coronavirus taken by Turkey.

"The mutual opinion is that the measures taken to counter the epidemic will make it possible to achieve cardinal improvement of the situation and resume bilateral ties in the tourism sphere," the Kremlin said in a statement on Wednesday following their phone call.

The Kremlin added that Erdogan thanked the Russian side for cooperation.

(Reuters) --- Russia is seeking an additional 24 million roubles ($321,586) in fines from U.S. tech giant Twitter (TWTR.N) for failing to remove content banned in Russia, the TASS news agency cited a court as saying on Wednesday.

State communications regulator Roskomnadzor said last week that Twitter was complying with a demand to remove banned content, but taking too long to do so. A punitive slowdown on the service has been extended until May 15. 

MOSCOW, May 4. /TASS/: Two people died in a fire that engulfed the Vechny Zov hotel in Moscow in the early hours of Tuesday, a spokesperson for the city’s Health Department told TASS.

"Fourteen people were rushed to hospitals following the fire, with eight children among them. Two of the adults who had suffered injuries in the blaze died later. One of the adults is in highly critical condition. The kids who have been taken to hospitals are receiving all necessary medical treatment, their condition is viewed as stable and their lives are out of danger," the spokesperson noted.

MOSCOW, May 4. /TASS/: Moscow’s Gagarinsky District Court has sentenced a Ukrainian national to a three-year prison term for an attempt to smuggle spare parts for a MiG-29 fighter jet into Ukraine, a source in law enforcement agencies told TASS on Tuesday.

MOSCOW, May 3. /TASS/: The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Russia went up by 8,489 in the past 24 hours to reach 4,831,744, the national anti-coronavirus crisis center told reporters on Monday.

The relative growth rate stands at 0.18%.

The lowest increase rates in the past 24 hours are reported from the Jewish Autonomous the Nenetsk and the Chukotsk Autonomous Regions (0% each), the Tyva, Altai and Magadan Regions (0.02%), the Murmansk, Sakhalin and Khabarovsk Regions (0.04%).

MOSCOW (AP) — While at the Park House shopping mall in northern Moscow, Vladimir Makarov saw it was offering the coronavirus vaccine to customers, so he asked how long it would take.

“It turned out it’s simple here — 10 minutes,” he said of his experience last month.

But Makarov, like many Muscovites, still decided to put off getting the Sputnik V shot.

MOSCOW, May 2. /TASS/: The situation with COVID-19 in Russia remains tense, with more than 300,000 infected people under supervision, Health Minister Mikhail Murashko told Vesti program on Rossiya-1 TV channel on Sunday.

"The situation with coronavirus still remains tense. More than 300,000 patients remain under supervision," Murashko said.

The minister also noted that the May holidays were extended in the country to stop the infection spread.

MOSCOW, May 2. /TASS/: Russia confirmed 8,697 COVID-19 cases over the past day, reaching 4,823,255, the anti-coronavirus crisis center told reporters on Sunday.

In relative terms, the growth rate stood at 0.18%.

The lowest growth rates were registered over the past day in the Jewish Autonomous Region, the Nenets Autonomous Region and the Chukotka Autonomous Region (0%), the Republic of Tuva (0.01%), the Murmansk and Magadan Regions, the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Region, the Khabarovsk Region and the Republic of Altai (0.04%).

MOSCOW, May 1. /TASS/: Russia will oblige all migrants, willing to stay in Russia for a long period of time, to receive an electronic document valid for ten years, the ministry’s press service said in a response to a TASS request.

"Receiving a single document equipped with a digital data storage device will become an obligatory requirement for a foreigner who had applied for a long-term stay in Russia. This unified document will be issued to a foreign citizen for a period of ten years, and will be replaced after expiry," a spokesperson for the ministry said.

MOSCOW, May 1. /TASS/: Russia confirmed 9,270 COVID-19 cases over the past day, bringing the total case tally to 4,814,558, the anti-coronavirus crisis center told reporters on Saturday.

In relative terms, the growth rate reached 0.19%.

Over the past day, 737 COVID-19 cases were confirmed in St. Petersburg, a new high since March 27, 649 in the Moscow Region, 228 in the Rostov Region, 166 in the Nizhny Novgorod Region and 160 in the Samara Region.

Moscow’s COVID-19 case tally rose by 3,208 over the past day to 1,096,019.