Russia

MOSCOW, December 21. /TASS/: Moscow has opened coronavirus vaccination appointments for additional categories of residents. The jab can now be administered to workers of industrial, energy, transport and media workers, Deputy Mayor of Moscow Anastasia Rakova told reporters Monday.

MOSCOW, December 21. /TASS/: The number of coronavirus infections in Russia went up by record-high 29,350 in the past 24 hours, bringing the total to 2,877,727, the national anti-coronavirus crisis center told reporters Monday.

According to the crisis center, the increase does not exceed 1%

The slowest infection increases in the past 24 hours are reported from the Nenets Region (0.3%), Tuva, the Yamalo-Nenets Region, the Khanty-Mansi Region, Mari El, the Kemerovo Region and the Novosibirsk Region (0.6%).

MOSCOW, Dec. 20 (Xinhua) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday demanded the country's intelligence agencies better safeguard national security.

Putin visited the headquarters of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) in Moscow, laid flowers at the monument erected to mark the 100th anniversary of the SVR, and congratulated the staff and veterans of all special services on the country's Security Agency Worker's Day.

MOSCOW, December 19. /TASS/: Russian Energy Minister Nikolai Shulginov will hold a meeting with Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh on Sunday, the Russian Energy Ministry told TASS on Saturday.

"Yes, the meeting is taking place on Monday," the ministry confirmed.

Shulginov was appointed Russia’s energy minister in November, when his predecessor Alexander Novak became a deputy prime minister.

A source at the ministry told TASS that the meeting was arranged to introduce the ministers to each other.

MOSCOW, December 20. /TASS/: Russia’s coronavirus cases rose by 28,948 in the past day, the highest number since December 6, the anti-coronavirus crisis center told reporters on Sunday.

Since the start of the pandemic the total case tally has reached 2,848,377 or more than 1.9% of citizens. The highest daily caseload in the country was registered two weeks ago when the crisis center reported as many as 29,039 cases.

19 Dec 2020; MEMO: TATNEFT Company suspended its operations in Libya following the revolution of 17 February, 2011 – NOC

A Russian oil company intends to resume production and exploration operations in a number of sites in Syria and Libya, after its activities were halted following the events of the 17 February Revolution.

MOSCOW, December 17. /TASS/: Russian military experts named the S-500 surface-to-air missile/anti-ballistic missile system and a modernized interceptor missile as a possible ‘antidote’ against an enemy’s hypersonic weapons mentioned by Russian President Vladimir Putin during his annual press conference.

MOSCOW, December 19. /TASS/: Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin is confident that the most acute period of the fight against the spread of coronavirus should end in a few months, he said in an interview with Rossiya 1 TV channel.

"I think we will fight COVID-19 for a long time, but the most acute period should end in a few months," Sobyanin said.

Earlier, he said that the situation in the capital, which ranks first in Russia in terms of the number of cases, remains difficult, and almost 13,000 patients with coronavirus remain in hospitals.

MOSCOW, December 19. /TASS/: Russia’s Roscosmos will be able to send an additional supply of oxygen to the ISS in February, if necessary, General Director of the organization Dmitry Rogozin told reporters.

"First, the station itself has oxygen reserves. That is, if it is necessary to replenish oxygen and nitrogen in the event of atmospheric pressure losses, we have such reserves. And we are going to send a cargo ship to the ISS, our Progress from Baikonur, in February. It already has a supply of oxygen," Rogozin said.

MOSCOW, December 19. /TASS/: The coronavirus pandemic may end in Russia by spring or even earlier, Head of the Federal Service for Supervision of Consumer Rights Protection and Human Welfare Anna Popova said on Saturday.

"Well, it will be over by spring, if we try, it may end earlier. It depends on everyone today," she said in an interview with Rossiya 1 TV channel.

Russian Health Minister Mikhail Murashko confirmed that vaccination will help in the fight against the pandemic, but "the circulation of the virus is likely to remain to a certain extent.".