Russia

MOSCOW, August 11. /TASS/: The Russian vaccine against COVID-19 has become subject to coordinated information attacks, Kirill Dmitriev, head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), told an online conference on Tuesday.

"Coordinated and carefully prepared information attacks on the Russian vaccine are trying to discredit and hide the correctness of the Russian approach to drug development," he said.

According to Dmitriev, "a politicized approach to the Russian vaccine on the part of a number of Western countries endangers the lives of their citizens."

MOSCOW (AP) — Russia on Tuesday became the first country to clear a coronavirus vaccine and declare it ready for use, despite international skepticism. President Vladimir Putin said that one of his daughters has already been inoculated.

MOSCOW, August 10. /TASS/: The coronavirus situation in Russia is gradually improving, Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said at a meeting of the government’s anti-coronavirus coordination council on Monday.

"Although the coronavirus situation in the country is gradually improving, we continue monitoring activities that allow us to promptly identify the sick and provide medical treatment to them," he pointed out.

MOSCOW, August 10./TASS/: The first flight from Moscow to Antalya since Russia and Turkey imposed border restrictions aid the coronavirus pandemic, took off late on Sunday. It was operated by Rossiya carrier.

A Boeing 747 plane was filled to capacity with all 522 tickets sold. On Monday, Russia restarts flights to Turkey’s resort cities of Antalya, Bodrum and Dalaman. Within the day, flights to Antalya, Bodrum and Dalaman are also expected from Moscow, St. Petersburg and Rostov-on-Don.

MOSCOW, August 10. /TASS/: Russia’s upgraded Kamov Ka-52M combat helicopter made its debut flight, the Industry and Trade Ministry reported on Monday.

"The latest upgraded Ka-52 helicopter made its debut flight at the Progress Aircraft Company of Russian Helicopters Group (part of the state hi-tech corporation Rostec). This vehicle incorporates the best technical solutions earlier tested on helicopters produced both under the defense procurement plan and for exports," the ministry said.

MOSCOW (Reuters) - President Alexander Lukashenko said on Monday that authorities would not let Belarus be ripped apart by instability after huge protests erupted following a presidential election on Sunday, the Belta news agency reported.

Opposition candidate Svetlana Tikhanouskaya has rejected the official results handing President Alexander Lukashenko a landslide victory, saying the poll was rigged and that protests which turned bloody on Sunday would continue.

SOLNECHNOGORSK /outside Moscow/, August 8. /TASS/: Kiev’s statements about "the incomprehension" of the Minsk accords proves that the country is not willing to resolve the Donbass crisis, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Saturday.

MOSCOW, Aug. 8 (Xinhua) -- U.S. efforts to clamp down on popular short video-sharing app TikTok are an "egregious" example of unfair economic competition for U.S. dominance in the international information space, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said Saturday.

"The actions of the U.S. authorities run counter to the basic principles of a free market economy and violate rules of the World Trade Organization," Zakharova said in a commentary posted on the foreign ministry's website.

MOSCOW, August 8. /TASS/: The number of registered terrorism-and extremism-related crimes in Russia grew in the first half of this year, the Prosecutor-General’s Office has said.

"It is noteworthy that the number of terrorism-related crimes grew by 21.7%. Most of them were committed in the North Caucasus Federal District (550 out of 1,183)," its report said.

MOSCOW, August 8. /TASS/: Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev has described the events in Abkhazia and South Ossetia of 12 years ago "when Russia responded to the criminal behavior of the then president of Georgia" as "essentially a declaration of war on the Russian Federation."