Russia

SUKHUM, August 5. /TASS/: Abkhazian President Raul Khadzhimba has commended the relations with Russia during an interview with the Abkhazian TV within the framework of his re-election campaign.

The Abkhazian presidential election is set for August 25.

MOSCOW, August 6. /TASS/: The Russian Emergencies Ministry has confirmed that more than 16,500 people had left their homes after a series of explosions at an ammunition depot in the Krasnoyarsk Region’s Achinsky District.

"To prevent threats to life and health of the population living in close proximity, the evacuation of 9,533 people from nine inhabited communities and the Sokol recreation camp has been organized. In addition, about 7,000 people have left the hazardous area on their own," the ministry’s press service informed TASS.

MOSCOW, August 5. /TASS/: US allies who choose to place American intermediate and short-range missiles on their territory are agreeing to become a potential nuclear target, chairman of the Russian Federation Council's  Foreign Affairs Committee Konstantin Kosachev told TASS on Monday.

MOSCOW, August 6. /TASS/: The Russian Defense Ministry’s satellite, which was launched from the Baikonur spaceport on Tuesday, has been successfully delivered into orbit, the ministry told reporters.

"The heavy lift Proton-M carrier rocket, which was launched from the Baikonur space center at 00:56 Moscow Time today, August 6, successfully delivered the Defense Ministry’s spacecraft into the designated orbit as scheduled," the ministry said.

06 August 2019; DW: Thousands of locals have been moved to safety after the blast at an ammunition warehouse. Authorities have declared a state of emergency in the Siberian Krasnoyarsk region.

Russia's Defense Ministry said on Monday that explosions at a storage facility for gunpowder charges prompted the evacuation of 6,000 residents in the town of Achinsk, as well as towns and villages within a 20-kilometer (12.4-mile) radius.

MOSCOW, August 5. /TASS/: Moscow will take into account the deployment of US missile launchers to Japan, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told a briefing on Monday.

"The MK-41 launching systems that are likely to be deployed to Japan sooner or later can also be used for launching intermediate-range cruise missiles," he noted. "This is why once such systems are deployed to Japan, we will take them into consideration," the senior Russian diplomat added.

MOSCOW, August 5. /TASS/: Moscow’s Tverskoy court on Monday arrested in absentia a businessman and ex-leader of Moldova’s ruling-turned-opposition Democratic Party, Vladimir Plahotniuc, on charges of setting up and participating in a criminal group, a TASS correspondent has reported from the courtroom.

MOSCOW, August 5. /TASS/: The crews of Su-25SM3 close air support aircraft from the air regiment of the Southern Military District based in the Stavropol Region in south Russia have switched to practicing the skills of piloting at ultra-low altitudes for covert movements using terrain features, the District’s press office reported on Monday.

MOSCOW, August 5. /TASS/: Armed formations have shelled the area of the Hmeymim airbase in the Syrian province of Latakia, where Russian Aerospace Forces are based, the SANA agency informed citing Syrian military sources.

"The terrorists opened fire at 15:30 Moscow time, several munitions exploded in the area of the air base," the message informs. "There are casualties in the wake of the attack, and significant material damage has been caused."

The agency does not provide any additional details regarding the attack.

MOSCOW, August 5. /TASS/: A batch of generation 4++ Su-30SM fighter jets with the upgraded turbojet engine will arrive for the air regiment stationed in the Tver Region in west Russia in 2021, the press office of Russia’s Western Military District reported on Monday.