Russia

MOSCOW, April 19. /TASS/. Russia is upgrading its Black Sea forces in the context of NATO’s approaching infrastructures and proportionately to its real defense requirements, Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko told TASS in an interview on Friday.

"It goes without saying that we have been upgrading our forces in view of the fact that NATO’s infrastructures are approaching our shores. All of our efforts are absolutely adequate and proportionate to the real defense security requirements," he said.

MOSCOW, April 16. /TASS/. The International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea does not have jurisdiction to consider the incident in the Kerch Strait, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement issued on Tuesday.

Ukraine earlier appealed to the international tribunal seeking release of Ukrainian sailors detained in Russia over the illegal crossing of the Russian border.

MOSCOW, April 17. /TASS/. Moscow believes that the legitimate Syrian government should retain control over the country’s northeastern region as soon as possible, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at a press conference on Wednesday.

"There is a need to resolve the issue concerning the country’s northeast and the left bank of the Euphrates River in order to achieve one of the priority tasks and ensure the restoration of the legitimate government’s control over the region," Lavrov emphasized.

MOSCOW, April 17. /TASS/. Sanctions against the Russian Federation are tough but they are good impetus to work more efficiently, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said on Wednesday.

He was presenting his annual report on the work of the government to the State Duma, lower house of parliament.

16 Apr 2019; DW: Russian Duma deputies on Tuesday overwhelmingly supported a bill allowing Russia to create its own autonomous internet. The law will create an independent infrastructure for the Russian internet, or "Runet," which will essentially allow Russia to pull up its virtual drawbridges in case of attack. 

MOSCOW, April 16 (Xinhua) -- The Moscow City Court sentenced Frode Berg, a retired Norwegian border guard, to 14 years in a high security prison for spying, his lawyer said Tuesday.

"Berg said he would not appeal the verdict. We see no use in appealing it. Berg announced his intention to ask for presidential pardon after the verdict comes into force," Berg's lawyer Ilya Novikov said in a live broadcast by the TASS news agency.

MOSCOW, April 16 (Xinhua) -- Chinese engineers and workers are busy tunneling in southwest Moscow using domestic equipment and technology for a new metro line of the city.

This is the first time for the Chinese to build a subway in Europe.

The first tunnel was holed through in early April and the remaining eight tunnels are expected to be drilled through by the end of this year, said Xue Liqiang, a manager of the project with China Railway Construction Corporation Limited (CRCC).

YEKATERINBURG, April 15. /TASS/. Advanced radio jamming systems Pole-21 will arrive for troops in Russia’s Central Military District for the first time in 2019 under the rearmament program, Electronic Warfare Chief in the District’s Staff Major-General Sergei Portnykh said on Monday.

MOSCOW, April 13. /TASS/. Washington is doing its utmost to restrict cooperation of developing countries with Russia and China, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Saturday in his address to the 27th Assembly of the Council on Foreign and Defense Policy.

YUZHNO-SAKHALINSK, April 14. /TASS/. Russia hails a tough stance of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in response to the United States’ pressure on Ankara over its deal on purchasing Russia’s S-400 missile systems, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told "Moscow. Kremlin. Putin" program on Rossiya-1 TV channel.

"The pressure has been indeed unprecedented. We welcome a rather tough and peremptory position of President Erdogan.