Russia

MOSCOW, June 12. /TASS/: Keeping quiet about crimes committed by the Western coalition in Iraq is impermissible and those responsible must be brought to justice, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told a news briefing on Thursday.

MOSCOW, June 12. /TASS/: The Dutch prosecutor’s office in its statements concerning the investigation of the Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 disaster over Donbass tries to divert suspicion from the Ukrainian armed forces, while investigators ignore discrepancies in testimonies made by the Ukrainian side, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told a news briefing on Thursday.

In particular, she pointed to conflicting statements by prosecutors concerning the Ukrainian air defense systems Buk, which were in the zone of the tragedy.

MOSCOW, June 11. /TASS/: The Kremlin is hoping that the new anti-Russian sanctions proposed by the Republicans in the US House of Representatives will not be imposed. Moreover, such impulses do not improve bilateral relations, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov is certain.

MOSCOW, June 12. /TASS/: Russia’s coronavirus cases rose by 8,987 in the past day, reaching 511,423, the anti-coronavirus crisis center reported on Friday.

According to the crisis center, the daily growth was 1.8% like a day earlier.

New 1,714 COVID-19 cases were confirmed in Moscow, 730 in the Moscow Region, 320 in the Sverdlovsk Region, 274 in St. Petersburg and 227 in the Voronezh Region.

Currently, 235,338 COVID-19 patients are receiving treatment in Russia.

MOSCOW, June 11./TASS/: Vice-Speaker of the Russian State Duma (lower house) Irina Yarovaya has excoriated House Republicans over their latest scheme they are cooking up to impose "the toughest sanctions ever proposed by Congress against the Chinese Communist Party, Russia and the Putin regime, and Iran," by labelling Moscow a "State Sponsor of Terrorism."

MOSCOW, June 11. /TASS/: Brent oil futures with delivery in August 2020 fell by 5.6% to $39.4 a barrel on the London-based ICE on Thursday, according to trading data.

WTI futures lost 6.5% down to $37.18 per barrel.

Brent futures later lost 5.9% to $33.27 a barrel, while WTI futures declined 6.8% to $37.06 per barrel.

MOSCOW, June 11. /TASS/: Moscow citizens have started developing immunity to the novel coronavirus infection and some 17.4% of those tested have anti-bodies to the infection, Deputy Moscow Mayor Anastasiya Rakova said on Thursday.

MOSCOW, June 11. /TASS/: Belgium is interested in development of contacts with Russia on issues of military history, Russian envoy to Brussels Alexander Tokovinin said Thursday.

"The War Heritage Institute expresses its interest in development of contacts on military issues with its Russian colleagues. Agreements on working contacts have been achieved with representatives of the Russian Historical Society, but, unfortunately, those contacts were postponed due to the coronavirus-related restrictions. But we hope that this dialogue will continue," the envoy said.

KRASNOYARSK, June 11. /TASS/: The court in Norilsk arrested Pavel Smirnov, the director of CHPP-3 power plant where the fuel oil spill had taken place, until July 31, press service of the Krasnoyarsk District Court told TASS on Thursday.

"[He] was arrested for one month and 21 days, until July 31 inclusive," a court spokesperson said.

The Russian Investigative Committee earlier laid charges against CHPP-3 shop superintendent Vyacheslav Starostin. He was taken into custody.

MOSCOW, June 11. /TASS/: The Russian government will allocate additional 15 bln rubles ($217 mln) to support promising domestic developments, in particular projects to combat the coronavirus, Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said at a cabinet meeting on Thursday.