Russia

MOSCOW, February 26. /TASS/. A representative of the US Embassy in Moscow on Tuesday visited Michael Calvey, founder of the Baring Vostok fund, who was arrested on charges of embezzling 2.5 bln rubles ($37.5 mln) from Vostochny Bank. This is according to a statement by the US diplomatic mission posted on Twitter.

"On the 12th day after the detention of Michael Calvey, a US citizen, we finally received permission from the Russian authorities to visit him. Today, an embassy representative visited Calvey to support him and offer him embassy assistance," the tweet says.

MOSCOW, Feb. 26 (Xinhua) -- Russia on Tuesday launched a submarine fiber-optic communication line linking Russia's Sakhalin island with the Southern Kuril Islands, known in Japan as the Northern Territories.

The new optical line, connecting Sakhalin with three of the four Pacific islands claimed by both Russia and Japan, was part of the program "social and economic development of the Kuril Islands for 2016-2025," according to Russia's TASS news agency.

MOSCOW, Feb. 26 (Xinhua) -- Russia plans to launch seven spacecraft to the International Space Station (ISS) this year, the Russian state space corporation Roscosmos said Tuesday.

It said in a statement that the Soyuz MS-12 manned spacecraft will carry Russian cosmonaut Alexei Ovchinin and U.S. astronauts Christina Koch and Nick Haig on March 14.

MOSCOW, February 25. /TASS/. The first direction-finding system designed to trace radio interference and thus provide for the stable operation of radio-electronic equipment has undergone trials in field conditions, the press office of Russia’s RTI hi-tech firm told TASS on Monday.

MOSCOW, February 25. /TASS/. The preliminary date set for the first space flight by a United Arab Emirates astronaut has been set for September 25, the chief of the Gagarin Space Training Center, Pavel Vlasov, has told TASS.

"At this point, yes (it’s September 25). This agreement is to be confirmed by the Russian side later today in the form of an authorized program for flights to the ISS this year," Vlasov said when asked if it was true the UAE’s first astronaut would be put in space on September 25.

MOSCOW, February 26. /TASS/. Specialists of the Russian Mission Control Center have adjusted the International Space Station’s orbit, raising it to the medium altitude of 408.5 km, a spokesman for the Central Research Institute of Machine-Building (TsNIImash) said on Tuesday.

"The orbit adjustment was performed as scheduled. As a result of the maneuver the medium altitude of the space station’s orbit was raised to 408.5 km," the spokesman said.

MOSCOW, February ·24. /TASS/. Moscow has not been negotiating a peace treaty with Japan on Tokyo’s terms, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Sunday in an interview to Vietnam’s national broadcaster Vietnam Television (VTV), China’s CCTV and Phoenix TV.

According to Russia’s top diplomat, solving such complicated tasks requires not only creating a proper atmosphere, but also filling economic, political and diplomatic relations with practical contents.

MOSCOW, February 24. /TASS/. The Russian military police can be deployed in the buffer zone currently being created on the border between Syria and Turkey, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Sunday.

Lavrov said that in 1998, Turkey and Syria signed a document about setting up a buffer zone.

MOSCOW, February 24. /TASS/. Moscow, Tehran and Ankara have no plans to carry out joint military operations in Syria, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview with Vietnam’s national broadcaster Vietnam Television (VTV), China’s CCTV and Phoenix TV.

MOSCOW, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- A U.S. OC-135B observation aircraft flew over Russia on Feb. 18-23 under the international Treaty on Open Skies, the Russian Defense Ministry said Saturday.

The U.S. plane took off from the Far Eastern city of Khabarovsk, and Russian specialists on board ensured the aircraft flew along the agreed route and the equipment was used in accordance with the deal, the ministry said.