Russia

MOSCOW, February 8. /TASS/: Bitcoin rose in price by 11.8% to $43,800, according to CoinDesk on Monday. At the same time, at its peak, bitcoin reached $44,900. Thus, the value of the cryptocurrency has renewed its historical maximum.

As of 15:54 Moscow time, the cryptocurrency was trading above $42,000 mark. As of 16:38 Moscow time, bitcoin was at $43,700 (+12.6%).

NOVO-OGARYOVO, February 8. /TASS/: Three coronavirus vaccines developed by Russia are a major scientific achievement, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Monday at a meeting of the Council for Science and Education.

According to Putin, thanks to its scientists, Russia "has leading positions in the world" in developing coronavirus vaccines. "Moreover, we are the only country that already has three vaccines of its own, which are domestically developed," he said.

"Without a doubt, this is a major scientific achievement," the Russian president stressed.

MOSCOW, February 7. /TASS/: The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) expects that Russia’s Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine will be registered in 25 countries by the end of next week, the sovereign wealth fund’s CEO Kirill Dmitriev told Vesti Nedeli program on Rossiya-1 TV channel.

"By the end of next week we expect that a total of 25 regulators, 25 countries will approve our vaccine [Sputnik V]," Dmitriev said.

To date, Russia’s coronavirus vaccine has been approved by 19 regulators, Dmitriev said.

MOSCOW, February 7. /TASS/: Russia’s Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine has been capable of overcoming political opposition to its use around the world, Deputy Director of the Institute of Europe of the Russian Academy of Sciences Vladislav Belov told TASS on Saturday.

"Sputnik V has proved its effectiveness. It is not interior to any other leading vaccines. There is an understanding that all the vaccines have not gone through all the stages, but Sputnik V was eventually recognized as a worthy opponent to all the other vaccines that are being purchased," he said.

MOSCOW, February 7. /TASS/: Russia’s coronavirus cases rose by 16,048 in the past day, a record low since October 22, and the total case tally hit 3,967,281, the anti-coronavirus crisis center told reporters on Sunday.

The average growth rate in new cases reached 0.41%.

The lowest growth rates were registered in the past day in the Tuva Republic (0.1%), the Chukotka Autonomous Region, the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Region, the Jewish Autonomous Region, the Magadan Region, the Nenets Autonomous Region and the Khakassia Republic (0.2%).

MOSCOW, February 6. /TASS/: Aeroflot’s Moscow-Amsterdam flight has made a scheduled landing at the Russian capital’s Sheremetyevo Airport after a partial failure of the radio communication system, a source with air agencies told TASS on Saturday.

"The plane has made a scheduled landing at the departure airport. The cause of the failure [of the radio communication system] will be established," the source said.

Russia’s major carrier Aeroflot confirmed the reports on a scheduled landing.

MOSCOW, February 5. /TASS/: Russia has declared a Swedish, a Polish and a German diplomat personae non gratae because of their participation in the January 23 unauthorized rallies in Moscow and St. Petersburg, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Friday.

"In compliance with the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations of April 18, 1961, diplomats who took part in unauthorized rallies have been declared personae non gratae. They must leave Russia as soon as possible," the ministry said.

MAKHACHKALA, February 6. /TASS/: Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) has exposed a two-member terrorist cell in the Dagestan region, the FSB said in a statement on Saturday.

"On February 5, FSB officers in the Republic of Dagestan carried out an operation together with the regional Interior Ministry, exposing an underground terrorist cell consisting of two members. The two were detained, an improvised explosive device, firearms and ammunition were seized from them," the statement reads.

MOSCOW, February 6. /TASS/: Russia’s coronavirus cases rose by 16,627 to 3,951,233 in the past 24 hours, the anti-coronavirus crisis center said on Saturday.

According to data from the crisis center, the coronavirus growth rate is 0.42%.

The rate is the lowest in the Tuva region (0.1%), the Yamalo-Nenets autonomous region, the Jewish autonomous region, the Magadan region, Ingushetia and Khakassia (0.2%).

MOSCOW, Feb. 6 (Xinhua) -- Wuhan's Huanan seafood market may have made it possible for the novel coronavirus to spread, but it does not mean the virus originated there, a Russian expert has said.

"There is no evidence that the virus originated there" but "hypothetically, there are all conditions for the spread of the virus there," Vladimir Dedkov, a member of the World Health Organization's (WHO) expert team, was quoted as saying by Sputnik on Thursday.