Russia

KALININGRAD, August 2. /TASS/: A private single-engine plane with three people onboard crashed in Russia’s westernmost Kaliningrad region, three people were hurt, a spokesman for the regional department of the Russian emergencies ministry told TASS on Sunday.

"According to reports that came at 15:15 local time, a Cessna private single-engine aircraft with three people - two men and one women - crashes near the village of Streltsovo near Kaliningrad. The three managed to leave the plane. Currently, they are in hospital," the spokesman said.

MOSCOW, August 2. /TASS/: Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin signed a decree lifting restrictions on entering Russia for Switzerland’s citizens, which had been imposed over the coronavirus pandemic, the cabinet’s press service said on Sunday.

"The citizens of Switzerland can arrive in Russia by planes. The flights with this country are expected to be resumed on a mutual basis since August 15," the press service said.

The flights will be performed once per week on a route Moscow-Geneva-Moscow. The airlines will be notified on the flights’ resumption.

MOSCOW, August 2. /TASS/: Russia’s Vector State Research Center of Virology and Biotechnology plans to launch production of the novel coronavirus vaccine in November, its Director-General Rinat Maksyutov told Vesti program on Rossiya-1 TV channel.

"We expect to start production already in November this year. So, closer to the end of the year and the start of the next year we can talk about switching to vaccination at least for [people] from risk groups with a further switch to massive vaccination," Maksyutov said.

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian oil and gas condensate production increased to 9.37 million barrels per day (bpd) in July, Interfax news agency reported on Sunday, citing energy ministry data, indicating it missed its output target under a global deal.

Production was up from 9.32 million bpd in June.

From August, the output cuts - agreed between the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) other major producers including Russia, a group known as OPEC+ - are due to be eased.

MOSCOW, July 31. /TASS/: Reports of a number of US media outlets about Russia’s alleged dissemination of fake news regarding the COVID-19 situation in the US are cynical and groundless, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement published Friday.

ROSTOV-ON-DON, July 31. /TASS/: A smuggler who drove his vehicle directly at border control officers in an attempt to ram through them has been detained in Russia’s Rostov Region on the Ukrainian border. He was injured, the border control service of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) told reporters Friday.

KALININGRAD, July 31. /TASS/: Over 500 artillery personnel of the Baltic Fleet’s army corps delivered strikes against a notional enemy’s targets during drills in the westernmost Kaliningrad Region, the Fleet’s press office reported on Friday.

The battalion-level tactical artillery drills took place at the Pravdinsky training range in the Kaliningrad Region. The troops practiced inter-operability of a reconnaissance artillery battalion with a gun battalion and a battery of self-propelled artillery guns, the press office said in a statement.

MOSCOW, July 31. /TASS/: The coronavirus pandemic had no impact on the timeframe of Russia’s defense procurement plan and new defense orders, Industry and Trade Minister Denis Manturov told TASS on Friday.

"Actually, it had no impact. This is because we timely formed all cooperation chains both with regions and with integrated structures in the manual mode so that they could not be destroyed," the minister said, replying to the corresponding question.

In some instances, the timeframe can be only slightly adjusted, he said.

ST. PETERSBURG, July 31. /TASS/: The Army-2020 international military and technical forum will feature 730 items of armament and military hardware, Western Military District Deputy Commander for Logistics Lieutenant-General Andrei Bulyga told reporters on Friday.

"For the purpose of organizing and preparing the dynamic and static show at the Army-2020 military and technical forum, 730 items of military hardware and armament will be involved," he noted.

MOSCOW, July 31. /TASS/: Russia’s President Vladimir Putin has instructed the Russian Government to submit the proposals to change the legislation considering the amendments that had been proposed but not included in the Constitution by December 15. As the Kremlin official website reported on Friday, he assigned this task after meeting with the members of the working group on proposals for amendments to the Russian Constitution which took place on July 3.