Russia

MOSCOW, November 17. /TASS/: Russia is critical of US attempts to spread its jurisdiction to other countries, presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said about the US Senate’s adoption of the Rodchenkov Act.

"Certainly, we took note of that," Peskov said. "As you may know, in the context of this document and in general we are extremely critical of any attempts by the United States to extend its jurisdiction to other countries."

NOVO-OGARYOVO, November 17. /TASS/: Russian President Vladimir Putin has drawn the attention of the participants in the BRICS summit to the persisting risks of an aggravation of the situation in the Middle East and North Africa. In particular, he focused on the situation in Iraq in his speech at the summit on Tuesday.

"The risks of an aggravation of the situation in Iraq, Lebanon, Afghanistan and the Persian Gulf region persist," Putin said.

PLESETSK /Arkhangelsk Region/, November 17. /TASS/: Russian Defense Minister Army General Sergei Shoigu checked preparations for the launch of a Soyuz-2 carrier rocket with a cluster of satellites scheduled for November 24, the Defense Ministry reported on Tuesday.

MOSCOW, November 17. /TASS/: Russia’s military transport planes Ilyushin-76 and Antonov-124 have delivered to Armenia 64 motor vehicles and other equipment, including armored personnel carriers and trucks, over the past 24 hours, the Russian Defense Ministry’s press service said on Tuesday.

MOSCOW, November 17. /TASS/: The main achievement of the ceasefire in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh is the fact that "cannons are silent", according to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.

"We need to ask military experts," he said when asked how the Kremlin evaluates the first week of the Nagorno-Karabakh peace. "However, we primarily need to focus on the fact that cannons are silent. This is the main achievement. People are not dying. This is the most valuable thing there can be."

MOSCOW, November 16. /TASS/: Gazprom Export signed the first deal for gas sales to Turkey in the amount of 700,000 cubic meters through an electronic trading platform, the holding said on Monday.

Delivery will take place at Malkochlar point in December 2020.

NOVO-OGARYOVO, November 16. /TASS/: Russian President Vladimir Putin has called on Russian officials to denounce fake propaganda of "civilized" use of "soft" drugs.

During a session of the Russian Security Council on Monday, the Russian leader pointed out that Russia’s anti-drug information campaign should be expanded in the media, on social networks and in schools and universities.

MOSCOW, November 16. /TASS/: The number of coronavirus patients in intensive care units has risen to 5,300 in Russia, Health Minister Mikhail Murashko said at a meeting of the presidium of the government’s Anti-Coronavirus Coordination Council on Monday.

"The number of intensive care patients has grown. As many as 5,300 hospital beds are occupied as of now. The share of reserved hospital beds that have been put into use is below 25%," the minister pointed out.

MOSCOW, November 16. /TASS/: Russia identified 22,778 coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours, hitting an all-time high, the anti-coronavirus crisis center said on Monday.

The overall case tally has reached 1,948,603.

According to the crisis center, the coronavirus growth rate has been at or below 1.2% for five days.

The rate is the lowest in Dagestan (0.6%), the Mari El, Kalmykia, Tatarstan and Khanty—Mansiysk regions (0.7%).

MOSCOW (AP) — Azerbaijan on Sunday postponed taking control of a territory ceded by Armenian forces in a cease-fire agreement, but denounced civilians leaving the area for burning houses and committing what it called “ecological terror.”