Russia

MOSCOW, October 25. /TASS/: American mass media outlets are steadily losing their grip on reality and are getting more unhinged as the US presidential election gets closer, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said in the wake of US media rumors that President Donald Trump was in debt to Moscow, because he had allegedly laundered money through Russia.

MOSCOW, October 25. /TASS/: A serviceman of the repair and maintenance base in the Chita Region shot eight soldiers dead and wounded two others, the Defense Ministry of Russia reported on Friday.

"At 6:20 p.m. local time on October 25, a serviceman of the repair and maintenance base stationed on the territory of the Trans-Baikal Region opened fire against his fellow servicemen from this service firearm during a change of the guard. As a result, eight servicemen were killed on the spot while two others received wounds of various severity," the ministry said in a statement.

SOCHI (Russia), Oct 24 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Russia and Ethiopia have signed an intergovernmental agreement on cooperation in the peaceful use of nuclear energy.

The two countries signed the agreement on the sidelines of the Russia-Africa Summit in the Russian resort city of Sochi.

SOCHI, October 23./TASS/: The Kremlin is confident that all foreign military deployed in Syria illegitimately, must leave the country, Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday.

"As for the presence of American soldiers in Syria, our position is well known — only the Russian units are present in Syria legitimately at the invitation of the Syrian leadership," Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

ST. PETERSBURG, October 24. /TASS/: The St. Petersburg-based Sredne-Nevsky Shipyard in northwest Russia (part of the United Shipbuilding Corporation) plans to float out the country’s first ship with the crewless navigation technology in 2020, Shipyard CEO Vladimir Seredokho told TASS on Thursday.

The breakthrough vessel Pioneer-M will operate all year round in the Black and Azov Seas, the chief executive said.

MOSCOW, October 24. /TASS/: Most witnesses under US national Paul Whelan’s case say that he is not involved in spying against Russia, lawyer for the defendant Vladimir Zherebenkov told TASS.

"Much in the case is in Whelan's favor. In particular, all witnesses say that he is not involved in spying. Only one person claimed that he had conducted intelligence activities and told of a USB flash drive with secret information. Whelan believes it to be the FSB’s provocation,"Zherebenkov stated.

Moscow’s Lefortovo Court prolonged Whelan’s arrest until December 29 on Thursday.

SOCHI, October 24. /TASS/: Venezuela has not suggested resuming negotiations on its debt to Russia. The debt is serviced and Russia is satisfied with performance of the agreement, Deputy Finance Minister Sergei Storchak told reporters on Thursday on the sidelines of the Russia-Africa Economic Forum.

"This did not take place," Storchak said. "The system is working, the agreement was signed and we were fairly satisfied with its performance," he commented.

Caracas is servicing the debt and all the term payments were made in due time.

MOSCOW, October 24. /TASS/: Russia and South Africa plan to work together to develop and manufacture weapons and military equipment, Director of the Russian Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation Dmitry Shugayev said on Thursday.

"There are some promising cooperation projects related to the joint development and manufacture of weapons and military equipment both for our countries’ national armed forces and in the interests of third countries," he told reporters.

MOSCOW, October 24. /TASS/: Moscow’s Lefortovo Court has extended the arrest of US citizen Paul Whelan charged with spying against Russia on Thursday, TASS reported from the courtroom.

“The court satisfies the investigators’ motion and will prolong the duration of Whelan’s arrest until December 29,” the judge announced.

The court session on extending the US citizen’s arrest was held behind closed doors, since there is classified information in the case, according to the investigators.

MOSCOW, October 24. /TASS/: The launch of a Progress MS-13 resupply ship has been rescheduled for December 1, the press office of Russia’s State Space Corporation Roscosmos told TASS on Thursday.

"The state commission for manned spacecraft’s flight tests has made a decision to reschedule the launch of the Progress MS-13 resupply ship from December 6 to December 1," the press office reported.