Russia

MOSCOW, August 23. /TASS/: Over 130 wildfires are registered on the territory of nearly 44,000 hectares in Russian regions early Friday, the press service of the Aerial Forest Protection Service said.

"As of 12am on 23 August 2019, 136 wildfires are registered on the territory of 43,976 hectares in Russia, with active firefighting efforts underway," the press service said.

A total of 1,400 people and 80 units of equipment are involved in combating wildfires.

MOSCOW, August 23. /TASS/: The lawyer of Kirill Vyshinsky, the Chief Editor of the RIA Novosti Ukraine news outlet arrested in Ukraine, is not involved in talks on the possible exchange of his client for Ukrainian nationals jailed in Russia, as the lawyer, Andrei Domansky, told the Izvestia daily.

The lawyer pointed out that on August 20, a court hearing on an appeal against Vyshinsky’s arrest had failed to take place due to a judge’s illness and a date for a new hearing hadn’t been set.

UNITED NATIONS, August 23. /TASS/: The New START (Strategic Arms Reduction) Treaty is now in jeopardy after Washington’s withdrawal from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, Russian acting Permanent Representative to the United Nations Dmitry Polyansky cautioned on Thursday.

MOSCOW, August 23. /TASS/: Russian fighter jets have been scrambled 20 times in the last week on interception missions near Russian borders, the Krasnaya Zvezda (Red Star) newspaper quoted the Russian Defense Ministry as saying.

According to the defense ministry, 27 foreign aircraft were conducting reconnaissance near Russian borders in the past week. The ministry said that violations of the Russian airspace were prevented.

MOSCOW, August 23. /TASS/: One third of foreign investment in Russia over the last years has been allocated to the Far East, Russian presidential envoy for the Far Eastern Federal District Yury Trutnev told Rossiya-24 TV channel on Friday.

23 August 2019; AFP: Russia will launch the world's first floating nuclear reactor and send it on an epic journey across the Arctic on Friday, despite environmentalists warning of serious risks to the region.

Loaded with nuclear fuel, the Akademik Lomonosov will leave the Arctic port of Murmansk to begin its 5,000 kilometre (3,000-mile) voyage to northeastern Siberia.

MOSCOW (Reuters) - A former U.S. Marine held in Russia on suspicion of spying said on Friday that prison authorities in Moscow have hurt him, Interfax news agency reported.

Paul Whelan, who holds U.S., British, Canadian and Irish passports, was detained in a Moscow hotel room on Dec. 28 and accused of espionage. He had been given a flash drive that his lawyer said Whelan thought contained holiday photos, but that actually held classified information.

PYATIGORSK /Stavropol region/, August 22. /TASS/: Moscow, backed by Beijing, has requested the United Nations Security Council to hold a briefing on the United States’ development of intermediate-range missiles, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Thursday.

PYATIGORSK /Stavropol Territory/, August 22. /TASS/: Russia and the United Nations will organize the second international Safeguarding Sport from Corruption Conference to be held in Vienna on September 3 and 4, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Thursday.

MOSCOW, August 22. /TASS/: A Sukhoi Su-24MR (NATO reporting name: Fencer-E) reconnaissance plane has entered service with an air regiment in Russia’s Central Military District, the District’s press office reported on Thursday.

"The Su-24MR has arrived for the composite air division of the 14th Air Force and Air Defense Army of the Central Military District stationed in the Chelyabinsk Region," the press office said in a statement.