Russia

MOSCOW, September 5. /TASS/: The practice of granting additional powers to governors amid the epidemic helped Russia not to stifle its economy and cope with the outbreak, Russian President Vladimir Putin said an interview for Sergei Brilev’s documentary shown on the Rossiya 24 TV channel on Saturday.

New Delhi, Sep 4 (PTI) Five-nation influential grouping BRICS, which includes India and China, on Friday said conflicts should be resolved by peaceful means and diplomatic engagement through political dialogue and negotiations irrespective of their historic background.

The BRICS stressed on resolution of conflicts in a declaration issued after a virtual meeting of foreign ministers of the member nations of the grouping. The meeting was attended by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi.

MOSCOW, Sept 5 (NNN-TASS) — Moscow outpatient clinics No. 2, No. 220, and No. 62 have received the first batch of a vaccine against the coronavirus, Deputy Moscow Mayor Anastasia Rakova told reporters.

“Today Moscow medical institutions received the first batch of a vaccine against the coronavirus for post-registration trials. Municipal outpatient clinics No.2, No. 220, and No. 62 became pioneers. The medical institutions are completely ready for the study launch which will begin next week,” she said.

MOSCOW, September 4. /TASS/: A Russian MiG-31 fighter jet of the Northern Fleet was scrambled to intercept a Norwegian Orion patrol aircraft approaching the Russian border over the Barents Sea, Russia’s National Defense Control Center reported on Friday.

MOSCOW, September 3. /TASS/: The Gamaleya Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology under the Russian Health Ministry may be granted permission to release a batch of the newly-developed vaccine Sputnik V against the novel coronavirus for civilian use next week, the institute’s deputy director for research, associate member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Denis Logunov, said on Friday.

MOSCOW, September 4. /TASS/: The coronavirus situation in Moscow may get more complicated this fall due to the beginning of the school year and people’s return from their summer cottages, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin wrote in a blog post on Friday.

"The pandemic is not over yet. Moreover, in the fall we may face the aggravation of the situation. Children went to schools, students to the universities, many people returned from their summer cottages. All that will create conditions for a certain increase in the number of infected people," he stressed.

MOSCOW, September 4. /TASS/: Belarusian intelligence data proving blogger Alexei Navalny’s alleged poisoning was a fake have been handed over to the federal security service FSB and the special service will now report them to President Vladimir Putin, presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday.

MOSCOW (AP) — President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman brushed off allegations Thursday that the Kremlin was involved in poisoning the Russian leader’s most determined critic, accusing Germany of not providing Moscow with any evidence about the condition of Russian dissident Alexei Navalny.

Navalny, a politician and corruption investigator, fell ill on a flight to Moscow on Aug. 20 and was taken to a hospital in the Siberian city of Omsk. He has been in an induced coma in a Berlin hospital after being flown from Siberia to Germany for treatment more than a week ago.

MOSCOW, September 3. /TASS/: There is no reason to blame Russia for what happened to blogger Alexei Navalny, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Thursday.

"I would choose words carefully when speaking about accusations against the Russian state because there are no accusations at the moment and there is no reason to accuse the Russian state," he pointed out. "We aren’t inclined to accept any accusations in this regard," the Russian presidential spokesman added.

YEKATERINBURG, September 3. /TASS/: The teams of Msta-B towed howitzers eliminated a notional enemy’s armor at a maximum range during drills in the Kemerovo Region, the press office of the Central Military District reported on Thursday.