Russia

10 September 2019; AFP: US agents extracted a high-level mole in the Russian government who had confirmed Vladimir Putin's direct role in interfering in the 2016 presidential election, American media reported.

The individual had been providing information to US intelligence for decades, had access to Putin and had sent pictures of high-level documents on the Russian leader's desk, CNN said.

But the spy was pulled out of Russia, both CNN and the New York Times reported late Monday.

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia is close to completing preparations for a like-for-like response following a U.S. missile test that was carried out last month, the RIA news agency cited Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko as saying on Tuesday.

The Pentagon said last month it had tested a conventionally-configured cruise missile that hit its target after more than 500 km (310 miles) of flight, its first such test since the demise of the landmark INF nuclear arms limitation treaty.

MOSCOW, September 9. /TASS/: Russian President Vladimir Putin tasked Chief Executive Officer of Gazprom Alexei Miller with considering the issue of gas supplies to China from Yamal through Mongolia at a meeting on Monday.

"I would like to refer to the issue that we have repeatedly discussed with you and with Chinese partners, I mean the possibility of using the resources of the Irkutsk and Krasnoyarsk regions. Also, have a look at the reserves in Yamal for supplies to China via the western route through Mongolia," he said.

MOSCOW, September 9. /TASS/: The results of Sunday’s elections to the Moscow City Duma (legislature) indicate that deliberations of political analysts about protest voting were not true, Russian president’s press secretary, Dmitry Peskov told journalists on Monday.

MOSCOW, September 9. /TASS/: Eleven criminal cases have been opened during the recent election campaign, Chairwoman of the Russian Central Election Commission (CEC) Ella Pamfilova stated on Monday.

"Eleven criminal cases have been opened, two in 24 hours (September 8)," she said.

According to the chairwoman, 90 requests to start criminal proceedings have been rejected. In total, 3,654 reports of possible violations have been sent to the Interior Ministry, 1,915 of them are still under review. Pamfilova added that 237 reports on administrative offences had been issued.

MOSCOW, September 9. /TASS/: Russian President Vladimir Putin has walked his part of the walk to have a swap of detainees between Russia and Ukraine, meeting them at the airport is not the leader’s prerogative, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Monday, responding to a question why Putin did not arrive at the airport to personally welcome and greet the swap participants unlike Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky.

MOSCOW, September 9. /TASS/: Russia’s top brass is ready for close cooperation with the French military, Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu told a meeting with his French counterpart Florence Parly on Monday.

"We held substantive talks with you on September 3 to discuss the bulk of issues related to our common interests and security interests in Europe. We exchanged views on key issues of our today’s meeting," Shoigu said.

MOSCOW, September 9. /TASS/: Self-nominated candidates received 26 out of 45 seats during Sunday’s elections to the Moscow City Duma (parliament), the head of the city election commission, Valentin Gorbunov, told reporters after 100% of ballots were counted.

9 September 2019; AFP: Pro-Kremlin candidates suffered major losses in a Moscow city election, results showed Monday, following a police crackdown on a wave of anti-government protests over the summer.

But Kremlin-backed candidates dominated in other local and regional elections held outside of the capital at the weekend.

MOSCOW, Sept 9 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Russia’s ruling United Russia party, which supports President Vladimir Putin, has lost a slew of seats in the Moscow parliament, RIA news agency said on Monday, suggesting a tactical voting strategy pushed by opponents may have worked.

Sunday’s poll was one of the most closely watched local elections in years after the exclusion of many opposition candidates triggered the Russian capital’s biggest protests in nearly a decade.