Russia

MOSCOW, August 1. /TASS/: The forest fire situation in Siberia and the Far East has been deteriorating because regional authorities have failed to take enough measures to combat blazes, Deputy Chief of the Russian Emergencies Ministry’s Disaster Management Center Sergei Abanin told reporters.

"The Emergencies Ministry, the Federal Service for Hydrometeorology and Environmental Monitoring and the Federal Forestry Agency provided forecasts to the Siberian regions but regional authorities have failed to take enough measures to prevent wildfires and extinguish them," he said.

MOSCOW, July 31. /TASS/: The head of Russia’s Central Election Commission (CEC), Ella Pamfilova, said on Wednesday she discussed the ongoing election campaign, including in Moscow, with Secretary General of the Council of Europe Thorbjorn Jagland.

"I informed him in detail about our stance on the election situation so that he could have the entire picture," Pamfilova told the Central Election Commission’s meeting on Wednesday.

MOSCOW, July 31. /TASS/: Iranian Ambassador to Russia Mehdi Sanai and Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov have exchanged opinions on the situation around the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on the Iranian nuclear program and on the developments in the Persian Gulf region, the Iranian embassy wrote on Telegram.

PSKOV, July 31. /TASS/: The Airborne Platoon contest of the annual Army Games will open in the Pskov Region on August 3 with a show of waltzing combat vehicles, the press-service of the region’s administration issued a news release on Wednesday.

"After the gala opening of the contest at the Zavelichye proving ground the audience will be treated to a vast and diversified entertainment program. Combat vehicles’ drivers will demonstrate their skill to the tune of a waltz on a tiny strip of land," the news release says.

MOSCOW, July 31. /TASS/: An air regiment of the Western Military District stationed in the Tver Region in central Russia has completed its rearmament with the generation 4++ Su-35S fighter jets under the defense procurement plan, the District’s press office told TASS on Wednesday.

MOSCOW, July 31. /TASS/: Russia calls on Twitter to unblock the official account of the Russian diplomatic mission in Damascus, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Twitter on Wednesday.

"The official account of the Russian Embassy in Syria was blocked by Twitter yesterday without any explanation. We consider it an act of censorship and flagrant violation of freedom of speech committed by the social media administration," the ministry stressed. "We urge Twitter to immediately unblock the Russian Embassy in Syria."

MOSCOW, July 31. /TASS/: A terror attack at an infrastructure facility in Russia’s Tatarstan in the Volga Federal District has been thwarted and two militants of the Islamic State terror group (outlawed in Russia), who are suspected of plotting it, have been detained, the Federal Security Service said.

"The Russian Federal Security Service jointly with the Russian Interior Ministry have foiled a terror attack at an infrastructure facility in Tatarstan as part of an earlier opened criminal case," the FSB said.

31 July 2019; DW: Russia's military will join the combat against wildfires raging in Siberia as they rip through several remote regions, Kremlin officials said. The fires are affecting Arctic snow, a climate expert told DW.

As residents of several Russian cities struggle with the effects of smoke from vast Siberian wildfires, President Vladimir Putin ordered the military to assist the firefighting effort.

ROSTOV-ON-DON, July 29. /TASS/: Army engineers from Russia’s Southern Military District have eliminated WWII munitions found during restoration works at the Motherland Calls! monument in Volgograd devoted to the heroes of the Battle of Stalingrad, the District’s press office reported on Monday.

"The combat engineers of a motor rifle unit of the Southern Military District eliminated the munitions found at the foot of the Motherland Calls! sculpture on Mamayev Hill in Volgograd," the press office reported.

SEVASTOPOL, July 29. /TASS/: Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, who is on a working visit to the city of Sevastopol, will chair a meeting dedicated to the implementation of the National Projects in Crimea, the cabinet press service said, adding that the focus would be on healthcare, education and culture.