Russia

MOSCOW, February 17. /TASS/: Russia continues to support the Syrian military in its fight against terrorists, who ramped up its activity in Idlib, says Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, commenting on the remark made by US President Donald Trump, who condemned Russian support for Syria in a phone call with his Turkish colleague Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

"Russian Armed Forces, Russian advisors continue to support the Syrian Armed Forces in their fight against terrorists. We continue to deplore the terrorists’ ramped up activity in Idlib," the Kremlin spokesman said.

MOSCOW, February 17. /TASS/: The state of affairs in Libya has not transformed following the Berlin conference on Libya, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview with Italian La Stampa newspaper published on Monday.

MOSCOW, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has raised doubts about the efficiency of the U.S.' plan for a peaceful settlement of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, known as the "Deal of the Century."

Washington's proposal for a solution through unilateral concessions favor Israel, Lavrov said in an interview with Italian newspaper La Stampa, which was published by the Russian Foreign Ministry Monday.

MOSCOW, February 15. /TASS/: Russia’s State Commission has set a preliminary date of February 20 for the launch from Plesetsk of the Soyuz-2.1a rocket with a military satellite atop, which was previously canceled, a source in the rocket and space industry told TASS on Saturday.

"The State Commission decided on Saturday to preliminarily fix the launch of Soyuz-2.1a with Meridian satellite atop for February 20," said the source

SIMFEROPOL, February 16. /TASS/: The Kerch City Court has arrested for ten days four Ukrainian nationals, who were detained by Russian border guards in the Sea of Azov over illegal fishing, the Border Service of the Federal Security Service in Crimea said on Sunday.

The Ukrainian nationals were detained on Saturday by the FSB personnel for committing an administrative offense, in particular for defying the security services’ legal demands and violating the rules of catching biological resources.

MOSCOW, February 16. /TASS/: A man attacked worshippers with a knife in a church in downtown Moscow on Sunday, wounding two persons, Russian Interior Ministry Spokeswoman Irina Volk told TASS.

The suspect has been detained. "Police detained in hot pursuit a 26-year-old resident of the Lipetsk Region, who entered a church on Bakuninskaya Street in the morning of February 16 and injured two persons with a knife. The victims have been sent to hospitals to receive medical assistance," Volk said.

Police are investigating the causes and circumstances of the attack, she noted.

MOSCOW, February 14. /TASS/: Scientists from Russia’s Far Eastern Federal University, University of Geneva and Fuzhou University have discovered a protein that takes part in development of lung cancer and melanoma. This discovery opens new possibilities for effective cure for metastases of these two types of cancer by targeted therapy medicine, the Far Eastern Federal University told TASS Friday.

TASS, February 15: Seven Russian passengers have left the troubled Westerdam cruise ship docked in Cambodia’s port of Sihanoukville on Saturday to return home, the Russian embassy in Cambodia told TASS. The Westerdam was forced to sail around Asian ports looking for one to dock for more than a week because of coronavirus fears.

KIEV, Feb 15 (NNN-Xinhua) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had a telephone conversation with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin and discussed implementing agreements reached during a summit in Paris, the Ukrainian president’s press service said.

At the last meeting of the Normandy Four leaders in Paris earlier this month after a three-year interval, Ukraine and Russia agreed on a comprehensive implementation of a ceasefire in Donbass by the end of 2019.

MOSCOW, February 14. /TASS/: Russia’s Tactical Missiles Corporation is carrying out work on developing small-size munitions for unmanned aerial vehicles, Corporation Chief Boris Obnosov said on Friday.

"This issue is important and developers are trying to reduce both the dimensional and weight characteristics of air-launched weapons. The items in the weight category of 50 kg to 100 kg will enjoy strong demand," the chief executive said at a news briefing on the results of the corporation’s performance in 2019.