Russia

MOSCOW, February 21. /TASS/: Russia’s Khrunichev Space Center has built a Proton-M carrier rocket to deliver the Nauka (Science) multi-functional laboratory module to the International Space Station (ISS), Head of the State Space Corporation Roscosmos Dmitry Rogozin said on Friday.

"The Proton for this launch has already been built and I am confident that the multi-functional laboratory module will fly [to the International Space Station]," Rogozin said at the 11th international conference of the Russian Association of Aviation and Space Insurers.

MOSCOW, February 21. /TASS/: A military court of Moscow ruled on Friday to sentence in absentia former Defense Minister of Ukraine Anatoly Gritsenko to a six-year prison term after he was found guilty of calling for terrorist attacks on the territory of Russia.

"The court took into account arguments of both sides, found Gritsenko guilty of violating Article 205.2 Part 2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and ruled to sentence him in absentia to a 6-year term in a standard regime penal colony," Judge Daniil Logachev said as he announced the verdict.

MOSCOW, February 21. /TASS/: The Kremlin expects that as the US presidential election approaches, there will be an increasing number of reports about Russia’s alleged attempts to interfere in the vote, Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, commenting on a New York Time article claiming that Moscow "was interfering in the 2020 campaign to try to get President Trump re-elected."

MOSCOW, February 20. /TASS/: Turkey's support for militants who tried to attack positions of Syrian government forces in Idlib represents a violation of the agreements between Moscow and Ankara, Russian Foreign Ministry's official spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in response to a question about terrorists' attacks at positions of the Syrian government forces in Idlib. Zakharova's response was published on the official website of the Russian Foreign Ministry on Friday.

MOSCOW, February 21. /TASS/: Russia’s MiG Aircraft Company (part of the United Aircraft-Building Corporation) has patented a system of a fighter jet’s automatic approach for landing in adverse weather conditions for MiG-29M/M2 and MiG-35 aircraft, the Company’s press office announced on Friday.

MOSCOW, February 21. /TASS/: Russian oil producers suggested a new pricing formula to Belarus, where the exporters’ premium is reduced by $2/tonne annually in proportion to the export duty decline, Energy Minister Alexander Novak told reporters on Friday.

"An approach was offered that addresses the export duty reduction, that is, slashing the premium by approximately $2 per tonne every year, in proportion to the export duty decline. This will make possible to partly compensate the effect from the export duty reduction," the minister said.

MOSCOW, February 21. /TASS/: Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov noted that good relations between Russia and Ukraine are not beneficial to certain states; however, he refused to name these countries.

"It is clear that [Russian President Vladimir] Putin meant a number of states that steadily work towards maintaining the relations between Russia and Ukraine in their current sad state," the Kremlin spokesman told reporters on Friday. "I would rather not name any specific states."

MOSCOW, Feb. 20 (Xinhua) -- Syrian government troops covered by Russian warplanes on Thursday repelled several massive attacks of militants supported by Turkey in Syria's Idlib, according to the Russian military.

Militants supported by artillery fire of the Turkish Armed Forces managed to break through the defense of the Syrian army, the Russian Center for Reconciliation of the Warring Parties in Syria said in a statement.

MOSCOW, February 20. /TASS/: The new military mission on Libyan arms embargo supervision, with which the EU wants to replace its ongoing Operation Sophia, must be agreed upon with the UN Security Council, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Thursday.

MOSCOW, February 20. /TASS/: Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov plans to take part in the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) session on February 24-25 in Geneva, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said during Thursday’s briefing.

"On February 24-25, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov plans to visit Geneva to take part in the high-level 43rd session of the UN Human Rights Council and to address the Disarmament Conference," she stated.