Russia

MOSCOW, August 23. /TASS/:  More than 40% Russians are ready to get vaccinated against the novel coronavirus with Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine, the Russian Public Opinion Research Center VTsIOM’s head, Valery Fedorov, said.

"Russia’s new vaccine Sputnik V: Are we ready to get vaccinated or not? 42% say "yes, most likely." 52% - no we won’t," he said on Saturday.

According to the VTsIOM survey, almost 60% of Russians expect the second wave of the pandemic in Russia.

MAGAS, August 23. /TASS/: Two members of illegal armed formations were eliminated in a counter-terror operation in the village of Troitskoye in the Sunzha district of Ingushetia, a source in the republic’s law-enforcement agencies told TASS on Sunday.

"Two were eliminated in a special operation," the source said.

As was reported earlier, the security forces and militants were exchanging fire in the area of the counter-terror operation.

MOSCOW, August 23. /TASS/: A contract on the delivery of the second batch of S-400 anti-aircraft missile systems to Turkey has been signed and the sides are discussing the contract’s financial terms, Head of Russia’s state arms seller Rosoboronexport Alexander Mikheyev told reporters on Sunday.

"The contract has been signed," the chief executive said, replying to the corresponding question.

The sides are now discussing "the financial arrangement of implementing the contract," he specified.

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, who fell gravely ill on Thursday after what his allies believe was a poisoning, was under intense police surveillance in preceding days, a Russian tabloid newspaper cited law enforcement sources as saying.

Before he collapsed on a flight during a trip to Siberia Navalny was followed by plainclothes FSB officers and his movements were closely monitored via CCTV, the report in the Moskovsky Komsomolets newspaper said.

MOSCOW (Reuters) - The Belarus army will take over responsibility for protection of national memorials from protesters, the defence ministry said on Sunday as people began to gather in Minsk for an opposition rally in the third week of unrest in the country.

Any unrest near such monuments and statues would no longer be responded to by police forces but by the army, the statement said.

KRASNOYARSK, August 22. /TASS/: A passenger plane, en route from Khabarovsk to Moscow, made an emergency landing at the airport in Krasnoyarsk after smoke was detected in the baggage compartment, a source in the law enforcement agencies told TASS on Saturday.

"The plane has successfully landed," the source said.

The Boeing 747-412 owned by Rossiya airline was carrying 421 people.

MOSCOW, August 22. /TASS/: The fifth and final volume of the US Senate’s Select Intelligence Committee’s report on alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election neither contains any real facts nor evidence, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in her commentary on Saturday.

MOSCOW, Aug 22 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Britain’s AstraZeneca has received regulatory approval to conduct part of a Phase III trial of its potential COVID-19 vaccine in Russia, a filing in the Russian registry of clinical trials showed.

The trial of the AZD1222 vaccine will involve 150 participants and will be handled by four medical facilities in St Petersburg and Moscow, the filing, dated Friday, showed.

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Around 1,500 people marched through the streets of the Russian far eastern city of Khabarovsk on Saturday, marking the seventh consecutive weekend of protests after the region’s governor was detained in early July.

Residents of Khabarovsk, 6,110 km (3,800 miles) east of Moscow, have protested since the detention of Sergei Furgal, the region’s popular governor, on July 9 in connection with murder charges which he denies.

His supporters say the detention is politically motivated.

MOSCOW, Aug. 22 (Xinhua) -- The United States has no rights to restore United Nations (UN) sanctions on Iran as it has withdrawn from the Iran nuclear deal and failed to honor its obligations, the Russian Foreign Ministry has said.

The United States continues its "dangerous" steps in the UN Security Council in hope of realizing its own anti-Iranian plans, the ministry said in a statement Friday on the U.S. "illegal actions" to restore lifted sanctions against Iran.