Russia

MOSCOW, September 17. /TASS/: Crew members of a North Korean vessel have attacked Russian border guards in the Sea of Japan, wounding three servicemen, Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) told TASS on Tuesday.

"The crew of a North Korean vessel [with over 45 people onboard] carried out an armed attack on the members of a monitoring group of the border guards’ ship. Three servicemen received various injuries," the FSB said.

The FSB’s border guards in the Primorye Region have been taking decisive measures on curbing illegal activity, it said.

MOSCOW, September 16. /TASS/: The declining production in Saudi Arabia, caused by attacks on Saudi Aramco’s facilities, would not lead to a force majeure on the oil market. OPEC is monitoring the situation together with the International Energy Agency (IEA), a senior OPEC official told TASS.

"Saudi Arabia and Saudi Aramco in particular are on top of the situation. So far, they have handled the disruption admirably. There is no force majeure," the source said.

MOSCOW, September 16. /TASS/: Russian athlete Yulia Zykova has come in first in the 50m rifle prone event held within the ISSF (International Shooting Sport Federation) European Shooting Championships. The championships takes place in Bologna, Italy.

The 23-year-old Russian athlete came in first in the 50m rifle prone event, scoring 627.8 points. Germany’s Eva Rosken came in second (624.9 points), followed by Hungary’s Gitta Bajos (624.4 points).

MOSCOW, September 16. /TASS/: Russia may re-evaluate and ramp up security at oil production facilities in the country following the attack by drones on facilities of the Saudi Arabian Saudi Aramco, the world’s biggest company in terms of production volumes, Energy Minister Alexander Novak told reporters on Monday.

MOSCOW, September 16. /TASS/: Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told the Telegram channel Rasstriga during an interview that the former employee of the Russian presidential staff, Oleg Smolenkov, whom the media has suspected of being a CIA agent, had worked for some time at the Russian embassy in Washington.

"He worked at our embassy in Washington for a certain period in his career. There is nothing for me to comment on. He was in charge of administrative matters," she said.

MOSCOW, Russia, Sept 16 (NNN-ITAR TASS) – Russia’s Black Sea Fleet ships are constantly monitoring the U.S. navy ship, USNS Yuma, which passed through the Bosporus Strait on Saturday evening, the Ministry of Defence said, Sunday.

The purpose of the U.S. expeditionary fast transport vessel is unknown, and it is the third time the ship entered the Black Sea this year, the ministry’s Zvezda broadcasting service said.

MOSCOW, September 15. /TASS/: Both Islamic world and the leading powers should join efforts to prevent the creation of a hotbed in the Middle East, Ramzan Kadyrov, head of the Russian North Caucasus region of Chechnya, said.

Kadyrov commented on the Saturday attack on oil installations in Saudi Arabia. Drone strikes started fire at two oil facilities of Saudi Aramco company, AP reported citing the Saudi authorities’ statement.

KRASNOYARSK, September 15. /TASS/: A Yakovlev Yak-42 aircraft has landed at the airport in Siberia’s Krasnoyarsk after reporting a technical malfunction, the Emergencies Ministry’s regional department told TASS on Sunday.

"The Yak-42 was flying over Krasnoyarsk. It reported a malfunction and landed in a routine mode. There was no emergency landing," a spokesman said.

Earlier on Sunday, the plane, which was en route Talakan-Krasnoyarsk-Omsk-Ufa with 116 passengers onboard, reported an engine malfunction.

MOSCOW, September 15. /TASS/: Russia’s Black Sea Fleet is monitoring the US Spearhead-class expeditionary fast transport USNS Yuma (T-EPF-8) that entered the Black Sea on Saturday, the National Defense Management Center (part of the Russian Defense Ministry) said on Sunday.

"The Black Sea Fleet is escorting the US fast transport USNS Yuma that entered the Black Sea’s waters at nearly 17:30 on September 14," the center said.

The Russian military notes that the Black Sea Fleet’s forces on duty "are continuously monitoring the US vessel."

15 September 2019; AFP: A Taliban delegation held talks with Russian officials in Moscow after US negotiations with the Afghan insurgents collapsed, the Russian foreign ministry said Saturday.

"The Russian president's special representative for Afghanistan... Zamir Kabulov, hosted a Taliban delegation in Moscow," a ministry spokesman said, quoted by RIA Novosti state-funded news agency.

No date for the talks was given.