Russia

MOSCOW, December 5. /TASS/: More than 10 Moscow schools received anonymous messages containing bomb threats, and more than 10,000 pupils and teachers were evacuated out of security concerns, an emergency source told TASS on Thursday.

"An unknown person is disseminating reports again about explosives having been planted in schools. More than 10 schools received this information. Teachers and school students are being evacuated for security concerns - approximately more than 10,000 people have vacated the general educational facilities," he said.

MOSCOW, December 5. /TASS/: The latest Project Yasen-M multirole nuclear-powered submarine Kazan test-fired torpedo weapons from its submerged position in the White Sea, the press office of Russia’s Northern Fleet reported on Thursday.

"The crew of the nuclear-powered submarine Kazan made a salvo of two torpedoes from its submerged position against an underwater target. According to a preliminary estimate, the torpedo test-fire passed successfully," the press office said.

The test-fire was held as part of the sub’s sea trials, the Fleet’s press office specified.

MOSCOW, December 5. /TASS/: Continuous doping abuse accusations of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) against Russian sports look like an ‘endless anti-Russian soap opera,’ Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said in an interview with Russian television channels on Thursday.

"Everything that is connected with a doping scandal reminds me already of an endless anti-Russian soap opera as they have made a decision, introduced punishments and declared suspensions," Medvedev said.

MOSCOW, Dec 5 (NNN-TASS) – Russian President, Vladimir Putin, and his Serbian counterpart, Aleksandar Vucic, agreed to develop cooperation in various spheres, primarily in the energy sector.

“All aspects of interaction between Russia and Serbia have a character of genuine strategic partnership,” Putin said, at a joint press conference with Vucic, following their talks in the Black Sea resort of Sochi.

According to the Russian leader, bilateral trade amounted to 2.2 billion U.S. dollars in 2018, and it grew 9.5 percent in Jan-Sept this year.

MOSCOW, December 4. /TASS/: Russia’s Aerospace Force tracked 5,000 combat planes in 2019, Aerospace Force Deputy Commander-in-Chief Lieutenant-General Andrei Yudin said on Wednesday.

During its combat alert missions to ensure the country’s aerospace defense in the 2019 training year, the Aerospace Force "detected and monitored over 1,900,000 aircraft, including about 5,000 combat planes, or 8% more compared to the previous year," the Defense Ministry’s Krasnaya Zvezda newspaper quoted him as saying.

MOSCOW, December 4. /TASS/: The latest Atlet armored vehicle developed by Military Industrial Company will enter state trials in the spring of 2020, the company’s press office told TASS on Wednesday.

"The Atlet is completing preliminary tests and the stage of state trials is scheduled to begin for it in the spring of next year. One prototype is currently in disassembly and will probably go for state trials. The second prototype will undergo tests for its resistance to shelling and explosions," the company said.

MOSCOW, December 4. /TASS/: Eight out of 12 flats in a four-story apartment building were severely damaged as a result of a gas explosion in the community of Yakovlevo, in the Belgorod Region, the press service of the Emergencies Ministry’s regional directorate told TASS on Wednesday.

"According to preliminary information, eight out of 12 flats were damaged," a source said, noting that there were no further plans to examine the house in question, because earlier the regional governor reported that "the building is bound to be torn down," the source said.

MURMANSK, December 4. /TASS/: Sailors from a Russian trawler, which caught fire in northern Norway’s port, have been evacuated, the vessel’s owner Murmanrybflot-2 told TASS on Wednesday.

"The crew members of our trawler have been evacuated to the shore, no one has been injured," a spokesman for the company said.

According to the ship owner, four crew members were onboard the vessel, which was being prepared for sailing. "Now we only have information about smoke onboard the trawler. The situation is under control," a spokesman said.

MOSCOW, December 4. /TASS/: One person died and two others were wounded after a citizen of Perm, in Russia’s Urals, opened gunfire, a source in local law enforcement agencies told TASS on Wednesday.

"A drunk man in Perm killed his wife from a hunting weapon and started firing at the passers-by. He wounded an eyewitness and one of the National Guard (Rosgvardia) members, who arrived to detain him. Other National Guard members apprehended the attacker," the source said. The life of the National Guard member is not under threat.

Moscow, Dec 3 (AFP/PTI) Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a controversial law allowing independent journalists and bloggers to be labelled as "foreign agents", a move that critics say will violate media freedom.

Russian legislation passed in 2012 already gave authorities the power to brand media organisations and NGOs as foreign agents, a term that has Soviet-era overtones.