Russia

MOSCOW, June 7. /TASS/: Russia confirmed 8,984 daily coronavirus cases, bringing the total tally to 467,673, the anti-coronavirus crisis center told reporters on Sunday.

According to the crisis center, the daily growth reached 2% like the day earlier.

Some 3,458 new COVID-19 patients (38.5%) have not shown any symptoms. Now more than 235,000 are undergoing treatment for the coronavirus in Russia.

New 1,956 COVID-19 cases were recorded in Moscow, 754 in the Moscow Region, 340 in St. Petersburg, 317 in the Nizhny Novgorod Region and 240 in the Sverdlovsk Region.

MOSCOW, June 6. /TASS/: The G20 member states agreed to allocate more than $21 billion in funding for efforts to tackle the novel coronavirus pandemic, according to a statement posted on the organization’s official website on Saturday.

"The G20, with invited countries, has coordinated the global efforts to support the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. To date, G20 members and invited countries have pledged over US$21 billion to support funding in global health," the statement says.

MOSCOW, June 6. /TASS/: The Czech authorities’ decision to expel two Russian diplomats is a provocation that won’t go unanswered, Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) Director Sergei Naryshkin told reporters on Saturday.

"Retaliatory measures will be taken but generally speaking, it was a vile and heinous provocation on the part of the Czech authorities," he said.

NORILSK, June 6. /TASS/: Over 324 tonnes of diesel fuel that spilled out of a power station in Russia’s Norilsk have been cleaned up, a source in the regional crisis center told TASS on Saturday.

"Over 324 tonnes of spilled fuel were cleaned up as of the morning on June 6. In particular, 96 tonnes of fuel were pumped out of the river Ambarnaya," he said.

In addition, response teams used sorbents to dispose of over 14,000 square meters of fuel-contaminated soil. "Efforts continue to collect oil products," the source said.

MOSCOW, June 6. /TASS/: Russia’s coronavirus reproduction rate has dropped to 0.97, according to a TASS analysis based on data from the national anti-coronavirus crisis center.

Moscow’s coronavirus reproduction rate has fallen to 0.81. On Friday, the rate was 0.98 in Russia and 0.83 in Moscow.

Russia’s regions with a large number of coronavirus patients and the coronavirus reproduction rate below also 1 include Dagestan (0.98) and the Kaluga region (0.97). The rate stands at 1 in St. Petersburg, as well as in the Tula and Rostov regions.

MOSCOW, June 6. /TASS/: The number of people interested in studying the Russian language is growing across the world, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said in a statement on Russian Language Day.

MOSCOW/DUBAI/LONDON (Reuters) - OPEC and its allies led by Russia meet on Saturday over plans to extend record oil production cuts and to push countries such as Iraq and Nigeria to comply better with existing curbs.

Nigeria’s oil minister said he expected a deal on an extension, which has the backing of Saudi Arabia and Russia, to be concluded in the video conference talks despite “reservations of one or two member countries,” which he did not name.

MOSCOW, June 5. /TASS/: People’s refusal to undergo vaccination against the coronavirus, should an available vaccine be created, may have dire effects and reduce to nothing the success achieved in the struggle against the pandemic, the World Health Organization’s representative to Russia, Melita Vujnovic, told TASS.

"Such a sentiment reflects common reluctance of some people to participate in the vaccination," she said, when asked about the reasons behind the skepticism many people express over the possibility of mass vaccination against the coronavirus.

MOSCOW, June 5. /TASS/: The guard tank army of Russia’s Western Military District was reinforced to protect the country on the Western strategic direction, the military district told journalists Friday.

In late May, Minister of Defense Sergei Shoigu said that the Western strategic direction remains under the highest threat for Russia’s military security, adding that, in accordance with the 2019-2025 plan of action, Russia conducts a complex of measures to neutralize the emerging threats.

NOVO-OGAREVO, June 5. /TASS/: The situation with the petroleum products spill in Norilsk should be under total control and causes should be found out uncompromisingly, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday.