Russia

MOSCOW, October 17. /TASS/: The number of coronavirus cases in Russia increased by 14,922 over the past day against 15,150 a day before, the federal operational headquarters for the fight against the new infection told reporters on Saturday.

In relative terms, the growth for the second day in a row is 1.1%.

In total, 1,384,235 people were infected in Russia.

MOSCOW (Reuters) - The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) and Dr Reddy’s Laboratories Ltd have received renewed approval to conduct late-stage clinical trials in India of the Russian COVID-19 vaccine, the sovereign wealth fund said on Saturday.

Large-scale trials of the Sputnik V vaccine in India were first announced and then knocked back by Indian regulators, who said the scale of Phase I and II trials conducted in Russia earlier this year was too small, requesting that they be repeated.

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman discussed energy markets and the implementation of agreements by the oil producers group known as OPEC+, the Kremlin said in a statement on Saturday.

“Both sides have reiterated their willingness to continue close coordination in this area in order to maintain stability on the global energy market,” it said.

The two leaders also discussed cooperation in combating the spread of coronavirus infections and the prospect of using the Russian vaccine Sputnik V in Saudi Arabia.

GELENDZHIK, October 16. /TASS/: The Russian PD-8 engine for the SSJ 100 airliner and the Be-200 amphibious plane may be ready in 2022 and the work to mount it on the aircraft is scheduled to begin in 2023, United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) Chief Yuri Slyusar said at the Hydroaviasalon 2020 air show on Friday.

"There is hope that we will get the engine in 2022. In 2023, we will primarily mount it on the SSJ 100 and subsequently on the Be-200 to achieve 100% import independence from Ukraine," the UAC chief said.

MOSCOW, October 16. /TASS/: The number of COVID-19 fatalities over the past 24 hours increased by 232 compared to 286 the day before, the anti-coronavirus crisis center told reporters on Friday.

It is for the eighth time that over 200 deaths in one day have been recorded in the country since the beginning of the pandemic and the fifth time since the beginning of the month.

According to the crisis center, in all, 23,723 patients have died. The provisional lethality of the disease (the final one will be determined when the epidemic ends) remains at the level of 1.73%.

MOSCOW, October 16. /TASS/: Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed to extend the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) for at least one year without any preconditions. He voiced this proposal during the Russian Security Council meeting Friday.

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Belarus has put opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya on its wanted list for allegedly making calls to overthrow the constitutional order, the interior ministry of close ally Russia said on Friday.

Tsikhanouskaya fled to neighbouring Lithuania shortly after a disputed Aug. 9 election and has since met European political leaders and called for her country’s longtime president Alexander Lukashenko, to leave power.

MOSCOW (AP) — Kyrgyzstan’s embattled President Sooronbai Jennbekov said Thursday he was resigning following protests over a disputed parliamentary election, the third time in 15 years that a leader of the Central Asian country has been ousted by a popular uprising.

MOSCOW, October 15. /TASS/: Speaker of the Russian Federation Council (upper house of parliament) Valentina Matviyenko does not see anyone among the US presidential candidate a person who can break the impasse in the Russian-US ties, she said in an interview with TASS.

"We would very much like to see such a person among the candidates for US president but there are no grounds to say that, to be honest," Matviyenko noted when asked if the US candidates can break the current deadlock and reload the relations.

MOSCOW, October 15. /TASS/: Russia’s coronavirus cases grew by 13,754 in the past day and the total case tally climbed to 1,354,163, the anti-coronavirus crisis center told reporters on Thursday.

A day earlier some 14,231 COVID-19 cases were recorded, setting a record high during the entire pandemic.

The average daily growth rate dropped to 1%.

The lowest growth rates in the past day were recorded in the Chechen Republic (0.2%), the Chuvash Republic (0.4%), the Tyva and Tatarstan Republics (0.5%).