Russia

MOSCOW, February 21. /TASS/. Japan’s pro-American stance stands in the way of taking Russian-Japanese relations to a new level, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated on Thursday during his speech for the Association of European Businesses.

MOSCOW, February 22. /TASS/. Over 220,000 Syrian refugees have returned to their places of previous residence with the support of the Russian military, head of the Russian Center for Reconciliation of the Warring Parties in Syria Sergey Solomatin told reporters.

"The return of refugees to their previous places of residence continues. With the aid of the Russian Center for Reconciliation of the Warring Parties in Syria, ten checkpoints have been opened, including one airborne and one maritime checkpoint. As of February 20, 2019, 222,884 people have returned home," Solomatin said.

MOSCOW, February 22. /TASS/. The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has turned down Ukraine’s request for interim measures concerning the detention of Ukrainian navy ships in the Kerch Strait on November 25, 2018, the Russian Justice Ministry said in a statement published on its website on Friday.

BANGALORE /India/, February 21. /TASS/. The Russian Helicopters company (part of the Rostec State Corporation) plans to begin the delivery of the Mil Mi-171A2 helicopters to India in late 2019, the company’s CEO Andrei Bogisnky told TASS on the sidelines of the Aero India Show 2019.

"We expect that India will validate the certificate for the helicopter’s civilian version in the first half of the year so that we can start the delivery process in the fourth quarter," he said.

MOSCOW, February 21. /TASS/. A source in the aircraft industry said that the new AI system analyzes targets in the field, establishes whether they belong to the enemy, picks the appropriate weapon from the helicopter's equipment.

The new onboard system with artificial intelligence capable of destroying targets selected by pilots without their participation is being tried on Russia's Mi-28N attack helicopters, a source in the aircraft industry told TASS on Thursday.

MOSCOW, February 21. /TASS/. Russian military ships and submarines equipped with Tsircon hypersonic missiles will be capable of destroying command centers on the United States territory in five minutes, Retired Counter Admiral Vsevolov Khmyrov told reporters on Thursday.

MOSCOW, Feb. 20 (Xinhua) -- Russia does not intend to be the first to place missiles in Europe but will develop its defense capacities and take reciprocal measures if the United States deploys missiles, President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday in his address to Russia's Federal Assembly.

"Russia will be forced to create and deploy weapons that can be used not only against areas, from which a direct threat will emanate, but also against the centers making decisions on the use of missile systems that threaten us," Putin said.

MOSCOW, Feb. 20 (Xinhua) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin said in his annual address to the parliament Wednesday that the government will boost expenditures on national projects concerning social development and beef up its military might to protect the country against external threat.

The 90-minute state-of-the-nation speech at the Federal Assembly, Putin's 15th appearance of this kind, touched upon a wide range of issues from economic and demographic challenges to foreign and defense policies.

IMPROVING QUALITY OF LIFE

MOSCOW (AP) — President Vladimir Putin says in a state-of-the-nation address that Russia needs to focus on raising living standards.

Speaking on Wednesday before lawmakers and top officials, Putin said the government will increase social payments to support young families. He promised tax breaks, lower mortgage rates and housing subsidies for families with several children.

He said that the tax burden on developers will be eased to encourage them to expand housing construction.

MOSCOW, Feb. 19 (Xinhua) -- A 10-day state of emergency imposed on the Arctic Novaya Zemlya Archipelago in Russia over an invasion of polar bears has been lifted, the press office of the governor of the Arkhangelsk Region said Tuesday.

"The situation has stabilized and the state of emergency has been lifted," it said in a statement.