Russia

MOSCOW, May 24. /TASS/: Russian scientists opened a new mechanism, explaining influence from salt migration emerging from decomposition of huge gas (methane) hydrates reserves on the Arctic shelf, the Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology’s (Skoltech) press service said. Results of the studies are published on Geosciences magazine’s website.

MOSCOW, May 24. /TASS/: Russian Human Rights Ombudsperson Tatyana Moskalkova has sent a letter to US Attorney General William Barr, asking that Russian national Konstantin Yaroshenko, who is serving a 20-year sentence in the in the Danbury prison in Connecticut, be transferred to Russia, the ombudsperson’s office said on Friday.

"For humanitarian reasons alone, I would like to ask you to show goodwill and agree to transfer Yaroshenko to his home country, taking into consideration the long time he has spent in prison and his deteriorating health," the letter reads.

MOSCOW, May 24. /TASS/: The prosecution has not used any violence against US national Paul Whelan accused of espionage, his earlier statements relate to "unnatural conditions" of his detainment, attorney Vladimir Zherebenkov told TASS on Friday.

"There have been no direct threats towards Whelan from the side of the investigation. When mentioning a threat, Whelan means that he may be wrongfully charged. He is also talking about tough condition of detention - there are some issues with his living conditions - there is no dentist, no translator," he said.

MOSCOW, May 23. /TASS/: Drugs have been found in an apartment of former Russian minister Mikhail Abyzov who is facing bribery charges, an investigator told a Moscow district court on Thursday.

"A narcotic substance has been found in Abyzov’s apartment during the search. Investigators have already received chemical analysis data," the investigator said at the Moscow Bamanny District Court session. He did not say however whether Abyzov had been charged with drug possession. Neither did he tell about the amount of drugs and their type.

INNOPOLIS /Tatarstan/, May 23. /TASS/: The Bruk Institute of Electronic Control Computers within Avtomatika Group (part of the state hi-tech corporation Rostec) has developed jointly with RSC Conglomerate the first super-computer based on the Russian Elbrus-8S eight-core processor. Avtomatika Group unveiled its super-computer at the ‘Digital Industry of Industrial Russia’ conference on Thursday.

MOSCOW, May 23. /TASS/: The alert air defense force destroyed four rockets, which terrorists fired from multiple launch systems at the Hmeymim airbase in Syria, Russia’s Defense Ministry reported on Thursday.

"At about 19:00 hours on May 22, terrorists fired four rockets from a multiple rocket launcher at the Hmeymim airbase. All the rockets were timely detected by the Russian air defense capabilities and destroyed," the ministry said in a statement.

MOSCOW, May 23. /TASS/: Russian scientists came to the conclusion that the polar bears’ population in the Arctic is growing, the Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution’s Director Vyacheslav Rozhnov told reporters.

"We see that it [the population] is not only stable, it even grows," he said. "This is what experts say: we can see bears more often, and thus we suppose the population is growing."

MOSCOW, May 23. /TASS/: Russia is interested in normalizing relation with Ukraine and is ready for dialogue with it, speaker of Russia’s Federation Council upper parliament house Valentina Matviyenko said on Thursday.

"We are interested in and are ready for dialogue, including between the parliaments, but it should be a serious and meaningful dialogue on the basis of mutual respect. We will not accept any conditions for the beginning of such dialogue," she said.

MOSCOW, May 23. /TASS/: Moscow’s Zamoskvoretsky Court has satisfied a motion filed by Russian blogger Alexei Navalny’s lawyer to unblock his accounts and securities that had been frozen during the investigation into the Yves Rocher case, TASS reported from the courtroom.

"The court satisfies the motion to unblock the funds and securities that had been frozen by Moscow’s Basmanny Court in 2013 filed by Alexei Navalny’s counsel," Judge Natalya Cheprasova announced the verdict.

BLAGOVESCHENSK, May 22. /TASS/: The Meteor-M No 2-2 spacecraft has been delivered to the Vostochny spaceport in Russia's Far East in preparation for the upcoming launch, the press service of the Center for operating ground-based space infrastructure facilities said on Wednesday.

"On May 20, the Meteor-M No 2-2 and all the accompanying equipment arrived to the Ignatievo airport in the Amur region. On My 21, the space cargo was transported from the airport to the Vostochny spaceport," the center said.