Russia

MOSCOW, June 30. /TASS/: Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project requires comprehensive support, not merely political but from construction contractors as well, CEO of Austria’s OMV Rainer Seele (one of European partners of the project) said at the press conference on Tuesday.

Nord Stream 2 construction participants are communicating with politicians on a going basis, explaining advantages of the project implementation to them, the top manager said.

KERCH, June 30. /TASS/: Russia is considering Turkey’s proposal to resume flights between the countries starting July 15, Russian Transport Minister Yevgeny Dietrich told reporters on Tuesday.

"We are considering that," he said when asked about Russia’s position on the proposal made by Turkey.

MOSCOW/MINSK/TVER, June 30. /TASS/: The presidents of Russia and Belarus, Vladimir Putin and Alexander Lukashenko, will attend the ceremony to unveil a monument to Soviet soldiers in the central Russian city of Rzhev.

It will be the Russian leader’s first trip outside the Moscow Region since the start of the pandemic. Putin’s previous domestic visit took place on March 18-19, when he visited Crimea.

According to the Kremlin press service, Putin and Lukashenko will take part in the unveiling ceremony of the Rzhev monument dedicated to Soviet soldiers.

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia’s foreign ministry accused the United States on Tuesday of taking a “destructive” stance over the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) and of preparing for a possible resumption of nuclear testing.

Moscow, which ratified the CTBT 20 years ago on Tuesday, said the non-proliferation and arms control regime was facing serious challenges and urged Washington to reconsider its position. It said the situation around the CTBT was “seriously deteriorating”.

MOSCOW, June 30 (Xinhua) -- The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) said Tuesday it had detained a Russian citizen on suspicion of plotting a terrorist attack in the country's North Caucasus.

The detainee, born in 1990, is suspected of preparing to detonate a makeshift explosive device near an administrative building in Vladikavkaz, the capital city of the Republic of North Ossetia-Alania, an FSB statement said.

The suspect planned to go to the Middle East to join the terrorist organization Islamic State after the attack, it said.

NIZHNY TAGIL, Russia (AP) — In 2011, the industrial city of Nizhny Tagil was dubbed “Putingrad” for its residents’ fervent support for Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Nine years later, it appears the city 1,400 kilometers (870 miles) east of Moscow no longer lives up to that nickname.

Workers are speaking out against the constitutional changes that would allow Putin to stay in office until 2036 amid growing frustration over their dire living conditions, which have not improved despite all the promises.

ZVENIGOROD, June 29. /TASS/: International railway service may be resumed this year, Russian Transport Minister Yevgeny Dietrich told reporters on Monday.

"This year," he said when asked a respective question.

Russia’s transport ministry is discussing resumption of service with Finland, the minister added, noting that it is necessary "to synchronize safety rules requirements."

Earlier Russian Railways fully suspended service of international passenger trains amid the pandemic.

SEVASTOPOL, June 29. /TASS/: The crew of the Black Sea Fleet frigate Admiral Makarov repelled an attack by a notional enemy’s underwater saboteurs and aircraft during drills in the Mediterranean Sea, the Fleet’s press office reported on Monday.

"The crew of the Black Sea Fleet’s frigate Admiral Makarov performing its missions within the Navy’s permanent Mediterranean taskforce held planned drills for providing air defense and repelling an attack by notional underwater saboteurs," the press office said in a statement.

MOSCOW, June 29. /TASS/: Terrorists have moved their trade in weapons, explosives, and drugs online due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Head of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) Anti-Terrorism Center (ATC) Andrei Novikov said in an interview with TASS.

He pointed out that at the early stages of the pandemic practically all CIS intelligence services noted a certain confusion of terrorist organizations regarding their financial support.

MOSCOW, June 29. /TASS/: The measurements of the radiation level conducted by the Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing (Rospotrebnadzor) indicate its stability, the agency’s press service said.

On June 26, a number of media reported that nuclear and radiation safety monitoring agencies of Sweden, Norway and Finland detected a slight rise in the concentration of radioactive isotopes over Northern Europe, of the so-called reactor origin.