Russia

MOSCOW, August 25. /TASS/: The crew of the International Space Station (ISS) has completed its isolation in two Russian modules and is beginning to open hatches, Russia’s State Space Corporation Roscosmos told TASS on Tuesday.

"The Flight Control Center has given a command to the ISS crew to open the hatches between the Russian and American segments of the station," Roscosmos said.

The process of opening the hatches will take about one hour, it specified.

MOSCOW (Reuters) - The Kremlin said on Tuesday it saw no need for now to investigate the circumstances leading up to opposition politician Alexei Navalny’s illness and that a German clinic’s initial diagnosis of poisoning was not yet conclusive.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Monday called on Russia to investigate the suspected poisoning of Navalny and to hold the perpetrators accountable after German doctors found indications of a toxic substance in his body.

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia’s Defence Ministry said on Tuesday that a Russian armoured vehicle was attacked during a joint Russian-Turkish patrol in Syria’s Idlib province, the Interfax news agency reported.

The ministry added that two servicemen had been injured in the attack.

MOSCOW, August 24. /TASS/: Russian authorities provided all permissions to transfer blogger Alexey Navalny from Omsk to Berlin very fast, this matter did not require President Vladimir Putin’s intervention, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists Monday.

"No, this is entirely not a president’s prerogative," Peskov said, answering a question whether Putin took part in negotiations or decision-making on Navalny’s transfer to Germany for treatment. According to the spokesman, "it was an entirely medical decision, tied to the patient’s health condition."

KUBINKA /Moscow Region/, August 24. /TASS/: The Samara-based Progress Space Rocket Center is carrying out work jointly with the Energia Space Rocket Corporation on the conceptual design of a new Soyuz-6 carrier rocket, the Progress Space Rocket Center’s press office told TASS at the Army-2020 international military and technical forum on Monday.

MOSCOW, August 24. /TASS/: Moscow notes that the Belarusian protesters’ actions do not lead to clashes with the law enforcement, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Monday, expressing hope that clashes will also be avoided in the future.

"So far, we note that no provocation from the protesters took place. We note that the law enforcement agencies perform their duties correctly. […] We hope that any provocations in this regard will be successfully avoided and prevented in the future," Peskov told journalists.

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Doctors at the Siberian hospital that first treated Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny said on Monday that they had saved his life but that they had not found traces of poison in his system.

Navalny, a long-time opponent of President Vladimir Putin, fell gravely ill on Thursday after what his allies believe was a poisoning and was airlifted to Germany for treatment on Saturday.

“We saved his life with great effort and work,” head doctor Alexander Murakhovsky told reporters at a news conference in the Siberian city of Omsk.

MOSCOW, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- Russia is interested in cooperation with China on 5G technology, TASS news agency reported on Sunday, citing Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

"We will definitely not follow the example of the Americans, who simply demand that everyone not cooperate on 5G with China, in particular with Huawei," Lavrov said at the All-Russian Youth Educational Forum "Territory of Meanings."

"On the contrary, we are interested in interacting with countries in order to jointly create modern technologies and implement them into practical life," he added.

SOLNECHNOGORSK /Moscow Region/, August 23. /TASS/: The situation in Belarus is clearly normalizing but there are those who wish to implement the Ukrainian scenario, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at the youth educational forum ‘Territory of Senses’ on Sunday.

"The Belarusian people will decide itself how to resolve this situation," Lavrov stressed.

MOSCOW, August 23. /TASS/: The engineering development of Russia’s super-heavy carrier rocket is scheduled for completion in October 2021, the company’s press service of the Progress Rocket and Space Center told TASS.

"At present, technical design specification is being coordinated with the head contractor [Energiya Rocket and Space Corporation] of the super-heavy carrier rocket. In line with it, the work is scheduled for completion for October 2021," the press service said.